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.
Offseason
NFL draft
Personnel
Staff
Roster
Regular season
Schedule 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 Miami Dolphins W 10–6 4–0 RCA Dome 60,891 5 Bye 6 October 6 at Buffalo Bills L 13–16 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 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 49,389Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text.
Standings
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.
RoundDateOpponent (seed)ResultRecordVenueAttendance Wild Card December 29 at Pittsburgh Steelers (3) L 14–42 0–1 Three Rivers Stadium 58,078
See also History of the Indianapolis Colts List of Indianapolis Colts seasons Colts–Patriots rivalry
References