1996 Indianapolis Colts season

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1996 Indianapolis Colts season
Head coachLindy Infante
Home fieldRCA Dome
Results
Record9–7
Division place3rd AFC East
Playoff finishLost Wild Card Playoffs (at Steelers) 14–42

The 1996 Indianapolis Colts season was the 44th season for the team in the National Football League and 13th in Indianapolis. The Indianapolis Colts finished the National Football League's 1996 season with a record of 9 wins and 7 losses, and finished third in the AFC East division.

On October 13, the Colts hosted the newly established Baltimore Ravens, based in the Colts' previous city. The Colts won 26–21. This game 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 3 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.

Offseason[]

NFL draft[]

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

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

  • Head Coach – Lindy Infante

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 final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics

Regular season[]

Schedule[]

Week Date Opponent Result Record Game Site TV Time (ET) TV Announcers Attendance
1 September 1, 1996 Arizona Cardinals W 20–13 1–0 RCA Dome FOX 1:00 pm Kenny Albert & Tim Green
48,133
2 September 8, 1996 at New York Jets W 21–7 2–0 The Meadowlands NBC 1:00 pm Tom Hammond & Bob Trumpy
63,534
3 September 15, 1996 at Dallas Cowboys W 25–24 3–0 Texas Stadium NBC 4:00 pm Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms
63,021
4 September 23, 1996 Miami Dolphins W 10–6 4–0 RCA Dome ABC 9:00 pm Al Michaels, Frank Gifford & Dan Dierdorf
60,891
5 Bye
6 October 6, 1996 at Buffalo Bills L 13–16 4–1 Rich Stadium NBC 4:00 pm Tom Hammond & Bob Trumpy
79,401
7 October 13, 1996 Baltimore Ravens W 26–21 5–1 RCA Dome TNT 8:00 pm Verne Lundquist & Pat Haden
56,978
8 October 20, 1996 New England Patriots L 9–27 5–2 RCA Dome NBC 1:00 pm Tom Hammond & Bob Trumpy
58,725
9 October 27, 1996 at Washington Redskins L 16–31 5–3 RFK Stadium NBC 1:00 pm Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms
54,254
10 November 3, 1996 San Diego Chargers L 19–26 5–4 RCA Dome NBC 1:00 pm Tom Hammond, Bob Trumpy & Sam Wyche
58,484
11 November 10, 1996 at Miami Dolphins L 13–37 5–5 Joe Robbie Stadium NBC 1:00 pm Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms
66,623
12 November 17, 1996 New York Jets W 34–29 6–5 RCA Dome NBC 1:00 pm Charlie Jones & Randy Cross
48,322
13 November 24, 1996 at New England Patriots L 13–27 6–6 Foxboro Stadium NBC 1:00 pm Tom Hammond & Bob Trumpy
58,226
14 December 1, 1996 Buffalo Bills W 13–10 7–6 RCA Dome NBC 1:00 pm Tom Hammond & Bob Trumpy
53,804
15 December 5, 1996 Philadelphia Eagles W 37–10 8–6 RCA Dome ESPN 8:00 pm Mike Patrick & Joe Theismann
52,689
16 December 15, 1996 at Kansas City Chiefs W 24–19 9–6 Arrowhead Stadium NBC 4:00 pm Dan Hicks & Bob Trumpy
71,136
17 December 22, 1996 at Cincinnati Bengals L 24–31 9–7 Cinergy Field NBC 1:00 pm Jim Lampley & Bob Golic
49,389

Standings[]

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

Playoffs[]

The team received 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 Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Game Site TV Time Attendance
Wild Card December 29, 1996 at Pittsburgh Steelers (3) L 14–42 0–1 Three Rivers Stadium NBC 12:30 pm
58,078

See also[]

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