Colts-Patriots rivalry

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The rivalry between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots of the National Football League is one of the NFL's newest.^{[citation needed]} fueled by the quarterback rivalry between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. These two teams have combined for four of the last seven Super Bowl victories (three by the Patriots), and both are noted for their organizational excellence^{[citation needed]}. The Patriots owned the beginning of the series, defeating the Colts in six consecutive contests, including the 2003 AFC Championship game and a 2004 AFC Divisional game. The Colts won the next three matches, notching two regular season victories and a win in the 2006 AFC Championship game on the way to their win in Super Bowl XLI. In the most recent matchup, on November 4, 2007, both teams entered undefeated (the Patriots at 8-0, the Colts at 7-0); the Patriots won 24-20 in a game that set ratings records for regular season NFL games. The nature of this rivalry is ironic because while the Colts and Patriots were division rivals from 1970 to 2001, it did not become prominent in league circles until after Indianapolis left for the AFC South.

[edit] Rivalry statistics

[edit] Game results

[edit] Notable moments

• December 19, 1971:

The Patriots stood at 5-8 with the Baltimore Colts fighting for a playoff spot. The Patriots grabbed a 14-10 lead in the fourth and finished off the Colts on an 88-yard touchdown from Jim Plunkett to Randy Vataha in the final two minutes, securing a 21-17 Patriots win.^[2]

• October 7, 1973:

The 0-3 Patriots under new coach Chuck Fairbanks hosted the 1-2 Baltimore Colts, and after a first-quarter exchange of field goals the Patriots took over, rushing for 146 yards. John Tarver scored twice for the Patriots while receiver Randy Vataha recovered a fumble and ran 46 yards for the touchdown. Fumbles were a problem for the Patriots in this game as they had eight, losing three. They nonetheless scored the first win for coach Fairbanks 24-16. ^[3]

• November 14, 1976:

Battling the Colts for the AFC East title, the Patriots traveled to Baltimore with a 6-3 record. The Patriots picked off Bert Jones twice and stormed to a 21-14 win behind 141 rushing yards by Don Calhoun and two rushing touchdowns by Steve Grogan. The win accelerated a six-game winning streak for the Patriots to their first playoff berth since 1963. ^[4]

• December 17, 1977:

Battling to make the playoffs, the Patriots were eliminated in a 30-24 loss to the Colts in Baltimore. The Patriots led 21-3 in the third quarter after Raymond Clayborn returned a Colts punt 101 yards for a touchdown. But the Colts answered with three Bert Jones touchdown throws and a Don McCauley rushing score to overtake the Patriots. Chuck Fairbanks later acknowledged getting conservative too early.^[5]

• September 18, 1978:

On Monday Night Football the Colts stormed to a 34-27 win in a rain-soaked Schaefer Stadium behind the one-man scoring stampede of Joe Washington. Washington threw a 54-yard score to Roger Carr, then caught a 23-yarder from Bill Troup, and following a Sam Cunningham touchdown ran back the ensuing kick 90 yards. Washington single-handedly accounted for 20 of the Colts' 27 fourth-quarter points (Troup's 67-yard score to Carr accounting for the other seven points). ^[6]

• October 9, 1983:

The Patriots lost to the Baltimore Colts 12-7 in Baltimore; it turned out to be the final meeting between the Patriots and the Baltimore Colts, as the team moved to Indianapolis for 1984; it was also New England's last game against a Baltimore NFL team until the Baltimore Ravens debuted in 1996.

• November 18, 1984:

In their first meeting with the now-Indianapolis Colts, the Patriots made their first trip to the Hoosier Dome and slaughtered the Colts 50-17; the win was the second for new coach Raymond Berry. Tony Eason threw four touchdowns, three of them to Derrick Ramsey and another to Stanley Morgan.

• October 25, 1987:

Following six straight losses, the Colts scored their first win over the Patriots since moving to Indianapolis, winning 30-16 behind three Dean Biasucci field goals and touchdowns by Matt Bouza, Albert Bentley, and Donnell Thompson off a fumble return.

• December 8, 1991:

The Colts stormed to a 17-3 lead after three quarters in Foxboro Stadium, but Hugh Millen (21-40 for 330 yards) led two fourth-quarter touchdown drives that included the game-tying score to rookie tight end Ben Coates, and then ended the game in overtime on a 45-yard strike to Michael Timpson for a 23-17 Patriots win.

• November 15, 1992:

The Colts hosted the winless Patriots and the two teams lit up the Hoosier Dome scoreboard in an overtime thriller. The game lead tied or changed ten times and the Patriots scored twice off Jeff George interceptions (by defensive back David Pool and linebacker Chris Singleton). Charlie Baumann accounted for the Patriots' final nine points of a 37-34 triumph that came amid illness to coach Dick McPherson.^[7]

• 1995 Season

In their run to their first playoff appearance since 1987, the Colts swept the Patriots, beating them 24-10 in Foxboro and 10-7 in Indianapolis.

• September 19, 1999:

In Peyton Manning's second career trip to Foxboro he led the Colts to a 28-7 halftime lead. The Patriots behind Drew Bledsoe scored a third-quarter touchdown to Terry Allen, then in the fourth scored 17 unanswered points off Colt turnovers (fumbles by Marcus Pollard and Edgerrin James) and a three-and-out; Bledsoe threw two touchdowns to Ben Coates and the game-winning Adam Vinatieri field goal came in the final thirty seconds.

• September 30, 2001:

In Week Three Tom Brady made his first NFL start when the 2-0 Colts came to Foxboro. The Colts had scored 87 points in their two wins but were buried 44-13 as Brady threw for 168 yards and Peyton Manning threw three interceptions, two returned for touchdowns.

• October 21, 2001:

David Patten became the first player since Walter Payton in 1979 to score touchdowns three separate ways - by throwing (a 60-yard bomb to Troy Brown), catching (a 91-yard strike from Brady), and rushing. He accounted for the Patriots' first 21 points in a 38-17 rout in the RCA Dome. Peyton Manning managed one touchdown throw and was sacked four times.

• November 30, 2003:

In their first trip to the RCA Dome since 2001 the Patriots rushed to a 31-10 lead but surrendered three Manning touchdowns (two of them off Tom Brady interceptions), only to triumph 38-34 on a goalline stand in the final minute^[8].

• September 9, 2004:

The Patriots opened the 2004 NFL season on a Thursday Night game in Foxboro celebrating the raising of the Super Bowl XXXVIII banner. The Colts tried to spoil the party, taking a 17-13 halftime lead, but Tom Brady threw two third-quarter touchdowns. Deion Branch then muffed a Colts punt, which helped lead to a Peyton Manning touchdown to Brandon Stokley early in the fourth. In the final minute the Colts reached the Patriots' red zone but on third down Manning was sacked well outside the Pats' 30 by Willie McGinest. The Colts tried a 48-yard field goal try with kicker Mike Vanderjagt taunting the Patriots sideline by rubbing his fingers together in a "money" motion; he'd connected on 42 straight field goals but this time shanked it, ending the game in a 27-24 Patriots win.

• January 21, 2007:

The 2006 AFC Championship Game. In a virtual repeat of the Patriots' 2003 game in the RCA Dome, they again blew a big lead (21-6 at the half), then stormed back to lead 34-31, only to collapse in a goal line stand against Joseph Addai, falling short 38-34. The win sent the Colts to Super Bowl XLI, where they would be crowned Super Bowl champions after defeating the Chicago Bears 29-17. It was the game that had even fans of other teams praising the Colts for knocking off the Patriots, particularly Jets and Chargers fans, who had been defeated by the Patriots earlier in the playoffs.

• November 4, 2007:

In the most-anticipated regular season game in many years, the Patriots made their fifth trip of the decade to the RCA Dome holding an 8-0 record to face the 7-0 Colts. The Colts played very physical football and overcame a Rodney Harrison interception of Peyton Manning to lead 20-10 in the final 10 minutes. But Tom Brady led two touchdown drives, aided by deep kick returns by Wes Welker, to take a 24-20 lead in the final three minutes. Manning was hit and threw another interception to Rosevelt Colvin, ending the Colts' final drive.

• November 2, 2008

The Patriots are scheduled to play the Colts in Lucas Oil Stadium on NBC Sunday Night Football, in the debut season of the Colts' new home. It will be the fourth regular season home game for the Colts on their 2008 schedule. The Patriots held a 14-7 career record in games in the Colts' former home, the RCA Dome, as opposed to a 6-8 road record against the Colts when they were in Baltimore.

[edit] Connections between the two teams

Upton Bell was personnel director of the Colts in their loss in Super Bowl III and win in Super Bowl V and in 1971 took over as GM of the Patriots on the recommendation of Colts team owner Carroll Rosenbloom. Bell clashed with coach John Mazur because Mazur objected to Bell's policy of picking up waiver-wire free agents for him to train during the season. Eventually the two all but stopped speaking (the corridor between their two offices at Schaefer Stadium became known as "the DMZ")^[9] and Bell wanted to fire Mazur; the Patriots' board of directors agreed to the move provided the Patriots lost to the Colts by more than seven points in the 1971 season finale. Bell expected the Colts to win, since he knew the Colts team having helped build it, but instead of losing, Jim Plunkett's 88-yard touchdown pass caught by Randy Vataha secured a 21-17 Patriots win; Bell was heard furiously screaming for Vataha not to score, for the win guaranteed Mazur would continue as coach for 1972. Mazur and Bell were both released in the 1972 season.

Ron Meyer coached the Patriots from 1982 until mid-October 1984. He became coach of the Colts in December 1986 until October 1991, leading the team to a 36-35 record and one playoff appearance, in the 1987 AFC Divisional Playoffs where the Colts lost 38-21 to the Cleveland Browns. Meyer was fired after the Colts lost their first five games of 1991. His record against the Patriots in nine games was 3-6.

Dan Klecko won Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX with the Patriots (2003-4), and Super Bowl XLI with the Colts (2006).

Adam Vinatieri won three Super Bowls (2001, 2003-4) with the Patriots. After the 2005 season, the Patriots chose not to place the franchise tag on Vinatieri as they had the year before, allowing him to become a free agent. He joined the Colts in 2006 and won that season's Super Bowl. Ironically, in his three career meetings with the Patriots, Vinatieri has missed three field goal tries versus just one miss against the Colts by his New England successor, Stephen Gostkowski.

Dexter Reid won one Super Bowl with the Patriots (2004) before signing with the Colts.

[edit] See also

• Rivalries in the NFL

[edit] Notes and references