Personnel
Staff
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
| Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
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| 1996 Indianapolis Colts season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Robert Irsay |
| General manager | Bill Tobin |
| Head coach | Lindy Infante |
| Offensive coordinator | Lindy Infante |
| Defensive coordinator | Jim Johnson |
| Home stadium | RCA Dome |
| Results | |
| Record | 9–7 |
| Division place | 3rd AFC East |
| Playoffs | Lost 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.
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. [1]
| 1996 Indianapolis Colts draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 19 | Marvin Harrison † | Wide receiver | Syracuse | |
| 2 | 51 | Dedric Mathis | Defensive back | Houston | |
| 3 | 82 | Scott Slutzker | Tight end | Iowa | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
| Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
|
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 1 | Arizona Cardinals | W 20–13 | 1–0 | RCA Dome | 48,133 | ||
| 2 | September 8 | at New York Jets | W 21–7 | 2–0 | The Meadowlands | 63,534 | ||
| 3 | September 15 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 25–24 | 3–0 | Texas Stadium | 63,021 | ||
| 4 | September 23 | Miami Dolphins | W 10–6 | 4–0 | RCA Dome | 60,891 | ||
| 5 | Bye | |||||||
| 6 | October 6 | at Buffalo Bills | L 13–16 (OT) | 4–1 | Rich Stadium | 79,401 | ||
| 7 | October 13 | Baltimore Ravens | W 26–21 | 5–1 | RCA Dome | 56,978 | ||
| 8 | October 20 | New England Patriots | L 9–27 | 5–2 | RCA Dome | 58,725 | ||
| 9 | October 27 | at Washington Redskins | L 16–31 | 5–3 | RFK Stadium | 54,254 | ||
| 10 | November 3 | San Diego Chargers | L 19–26 | 5–4 | RCA Dome | 58,484 | ||
| 11 | November 10 | at Miami Dolphins | L 13–37 | 5–5 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 66,623 | ||
| 12 | November 17 | New York Jets | W 34–29 | 6–5 | RCA Dome | 48,322 | ||
| 13 | November 24 | at New England Patriots | L 13–27 | 6–6 | Foxboro Stadium | 58,226 | ||
| 14 | December 1 | Buffalo Bills | W 13–10 (OT) | 7–6 | RCA Dome | 53,804 | ||
| 15 | December 5 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 37–10 | 8–6 | RCA Dome | 52,689 | ||
| 16 | December 15 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 24–19 | 9–6 | Arrowhead Stadium | 71,136 | ||
| 17 | December 22 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 24–31 | 9–7 | Cinergy Field | 49,389 | ||
| Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text. | ||||||||
| AFC East | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | |
| (2) New England Patriots | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 418 | 313 | W1 |
| (4) Buffalo Bills | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 319 | 266 | W1 |
| (6) Indianapolis Colts | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 317 | 334 | L1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 339 | 325 | W2 |
| New York Jets | 1 | 15 | 0 | .063 | 279 | 454 | L7 |
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.
| Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Card | December 29 | at Pittsburgh Steelers (3) | L 14–42 | 0–1 | Three Rivers Stadium | 58,078 |
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| Franchise | |
| Stadiums | |
| Culture | |
| Lore | |
| Rivalries | |
| Division championships (16) | |
| Conference championships (7) | |
| League championships (5) | |
| Retired numbers | |
| Media | |
| Current league affiliations |
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