1996 Indianapolis Colts season

Last updated

1996 Indianapolis Colts season
Owner Robert Irsay
General manager Bill Tobin
Head coach Lindy Infante
Home stadium RCA Dome
Results
Record9–7
Division place3rd AFC East
PlayoffsLost Wild Card Playoffs
(at Steelers) 14–42

The 1996 Indianapolis Colts season was the 44th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL) and 13th in Indianapolis.

Contents

Despite leading the Colts to the AFC Championship Game the previous season, head coach Ted Marchibroda left the team after failing to come to terms with the club on a contract extension. The decision enraged many of the Colts, who loved playing for Marchibroda and blamed the front office for driving him away (Tony Siragusa often, and profanely, brought up his fury by stating "We had a great thing going, and this guy (GM Tobin) dismantled it"). Offensive coordinator Lindy Infante was promoted to head coach. Ironically, Marchibroda would quickly be hired to coach the newly relocated & then-unnamed NFL franchise in Baltimore that would eventually be named the Baltimore Ravens, thus returning to the city where he had previously coached the Colts when they were still based in Maryland.

On October 13 Indianapolis hosted the Ravens, thus not only pitting the Colts against the team based in their former home but also matching up Marchibroda against his former team. The Colts won 26–21. This game also has the distinction of being the first NFL on TNT broadcast after TNT's parent Turner Broadcasting System completed its merger with Time Warner only three days earlier.

The season saw the Colts draft Marvin Harrison. Harrison would go on to become a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, after spending his entire career as a Colt. Harrison was named to Pro Bowl several times and later helped the Colts win a Super Bowl in 2006. He continued to play for the team until 2008 and retired during the 2009 season.

The Indianapolis Colts finished the National Football League's 1996 season with a record of 9 wins and 7 losses, finished third in the AFC East division and reached the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Their Wild Card round game would be a rematch of the previous season's AFC title game, but would not be nearly as close as the Colts would be blown out 42–14 by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Offseason

NFL draft

1996 Indianapolis Colts draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
119 Marvin Harrison    Wide receiver Syracuse
251 Dedric Mathis   Defensive back Houston
382 Scott Slutzker   Tight end Iowa
      Made roster        Pro Football Hall of Fame     *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1996 Indianapolis Colts staff

Front office

  • President emeritus – Robert Irsay
  • Senior executive vice president/general manager/coo – Jim Irsay
  • Vice president/director of football operations – Bill Tobin
  • Assistant general manager – Bob Terpening
  • Director of pro player personnel – Clyde Powers
  • Director of college player personnel – George Boone

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

  • Running backs – Gene Huey
  • Receivers – Jimmy Robinson
  • Tight ends/quality control – Tom Batta
  • Offensive line – Ron Blackledge
  • Assistant to the offensive line – Charlie Davis
  • Offensive assistant/assistant quarterbacks – Buddy Geis
Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Tom Zupancic

Roster

1996 Indianapolis Colts roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams (ST)

Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 8 reserve, 3 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordGame SiteTV Time (ET)TV AnnouncersAttendance
1September 1 Arizona Cardinals W 20–131–0 RCA Dome FOX 1:00 pm Kenny Albert & Tim Green 48,133
2September 8at New York Jets W 21–72–0 The Meadowlands NBC 1:00 pm Tom Hammond & Bob Trumpy 63,534
3September 15at Dallas Cowboys W 25–243–0 Texas Stadium NBC 4:00 pm Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms 63,021
4September 23 Miami Dolphins W 10–64–0 RCA Dome ABC 9:00 pm Al Michaels, Frank Gifford & Dan Dierdorf 60,891
5Bye
6October 6, 1996at Buffalo Bills L 13–16 (OT)4–1 Rich Stadium NBC 4:00 pmTom Hammond & Bob Trumpy79,401
7October 13 Baltimore Ravens W 26–215–1 RCA Dome TNT 8:00 pm Verne Lundquist & Pat Haden
56,978
8October 20 New England Patriots L 9–275–2 RCA Dome NBC 1:00 pmTom Hammond & Bob Trumpy58,725
9October 27at Washington Redskins L 16–315–3 RFK Stadium NBC 1:00 pmDick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms54,254
10November 3 San Diego Chargers L 19–265–4 RCA Dome NBC 1:00 pm Tom Hammond, Bob Trumpy & Sam Wyche 58,484
11November 10at Miami Dolphins L 13–375–5 Joe Robbie Stadium NBC 1:00 pmDick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms66,623
12November 17 New York Jets W 34–296–5 RCA Dome NBC 1:00 pm Charlie Jones & Randy Cross 48,322
13November 24at New England Patriots L 13–276–6 Foxboro Stadium NBC 1:00 pmTom Hammond & Bob Trumpy58,226
14December 1 Buffalo Bills W 13–10 (OT)7–6 RCA Dome NBC 1:00 pm Marv Albert & Sam Wyche 53,804
15December 5 Philadelphia Eagles W 37–108–6 RCA Dome ESPN 8:00 pm Mike Patrick & Joe Theismann 52,689
16December 15at Kansas City Chiefs W 24–199–6 Arrowhead Stadium NBC 4:00 pm Dan Hicks & Bob Trumpy 71,136
17December 22at Cincinnati Bengals L 24–319–7 Cinergy Field NBC 1:00 pm Jim Lampley & Bob Golic 49,389
Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
WLTPCTPFPASTK
(2) New England Patriots 1150.688418313W1
(4) Buffalo Bills 1060.625319266W1
(6) Indianapolis Colts 970.563317334L1
Miami Dolphins 880.500339325W2
New York Jets 1150.063279454L7

Playoffs

The team received a Wild Card playoff berth to the playoffs and traveled to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers. The Colts came back from a 13-point lead in the first half but the Steelers scored 29 unanswered points in the second half and went on to beat the Colts.

Playoff RoundDateOpponent (seed)ResultRecordGame SiteTV TimeAttendance
Wild CardDecember 29, 1996at Pittsburgh Steelers (3)L 14–420–1 Three Rivers Stadium NBC 12:30 pm58,078

See also