1991 Indianapolis Colts season

Offseason

NFL draft

Main article: 1991 NFL draft

Personnel

Staff

• President/treasurer – Robert Irsay

• Vice president/general manager – Jim Irsay

• Assistant general manager – Bob Terpening

• Director of player personnel – Jack Bushofsky

• Head coach – Ron Meyer/Rick Venturi

• Assistant head coach/offensive line – Bill Muir

• Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Leon Burtnett

• Running backs – Sylvester Croom

• Receivers – Milt Jackson

• Tight ends – Brad Seely

• Defensive coordinator/linebackers – Rick Venturi

• Defensive line – Steve Furness

• Secondary – George Catavolos

• Special teams – Brad Seely

• Strength and conditioning – Tom Zupancic

Roster

Preseason

Regular season

The Colts were victorious only once in the regular season, finishing last in the AFC East, and their fifteen losses tied an NFL record that was initially set by the 1980 New Orleans Saints and tied by the 1989 Dallas Cowboys and 1990 New England Patriots in the previous two NFL seasons. The 1991 Colts had a much weaker schedule to play than either the 1990 Patriots or 1989 Cowboys, playing eleven games against teams with non-winning records, as against only five for the 1990 Patriots and four for the 1989 Cowboys. The Colts lost nine consecutive games to start the season before rallying to defeat the playoff-bound New York Jets by a single point in Week 11. The win against their division rivals came at Giants Stadium; the Colts went 0–8 in the Hoosier Dome. (Incidentally, the Jets would become the next team to finish 1–15, doing so five years later.)

Since the Colts finished with the worst record in the NFL, they won the right to draft Steve Emtman, a defensive lineman from Washington whose career was derailed by injuries. It would take them until 1995 to reach the playoffs again, and the Colts did not become consistently successful until Peyton Manning joined the team near the end of the 1990s.

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. New England Patriots

Week 2: at Miami Dolphins

Week 3: at Los Angeles Raiders

Week 4: vs. Detroit Lions

Week 5: at Seattle Seahawks

Week 6: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

Week 7: at Buffalo Bills

Week 8: vs. New York Jets

Week 10: vs. Miami Dolphins

Week 11: at New York Jets

First quarter

• Jets — Brad Baxter 4 yard run (Pat Leahy kick). Jets 7–0 Second quarter
• Jets — Chris Burkett 15 yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick). Jets 14–0
• Colts — Jessie Hester 49 yard pass from Jeff George (Dean Biasucci kick). Jets 14–7 Third quarter
• Colts — Clarence Verdin 88 yard kickoff return (Dean Biasucci kick). 14–14
• Jets — Brad Baxter 1 yard run (Pat Leahy kick). Jets 21–14
• Colts — Jessie Hester 7 yard pass from Jeff George (Dean Biasucci kick). 21–21
• Colts — Bill Brooks 7 yard pass from Jeff George (Dean Biasucci kick). Colts 28–21 Fourth quarter
• Jets — Pat Leahy 22 yard field goal. Colts 28–24
• Jets — Pat Leahy 25 yard field goal. Colts 28–27 Colts
• Jeff George — 16/26, 296 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT
• Ken Clark — 20 rushes, 50 yards
• Jessie Hester — 5 receptions, 100 yards, 2 TD Jets
• Ken O'Brien — 23/36, 329 yards, TD
• Blair Thomas — 11 rushes, 58 yards
• Al Toon — 6 receptions, 93 yards

Week 12: vs. Chicago Bears

Week 13: at Green Bay Packers

Week 14: vs. Cleveland Browns

Week 15: at New England Patriots

Week 16: vs. Buffalo Bills

Jim Kelly and Frank Reich managed just thirteen completions, but four of them were touchdowns as the Bills romped in 35–7. Jeff George was benched after completing just 83 yards and Mark Herrmann was even worse, throwing three interceptions. The win secured the #1 playoff seed for the Bills.

Week 17: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Standings

Notes

References

References

1. "The 25 Worst NFL Teams of All Time".
2. The 1991 Colts’ total is now second-lowest of all-time, behind the 140 points the [[1992 Seattle Seahawks season. Seattle Seahawks]] put up in [[1992 NFL season. 1992]].
3. "In a single season, from 1940 to 2017, in the Regular Season, requiring Touchdowns = 0, sorted by most games in season matching criteria".
4. Schatz, Aaron. "1991 DVOA Ratings and Commentary".
5. (September 25, 2013). "Bill Swerski's Super Fans: Thanksgiving - SNL". [[Saturday Night Live]].
6. "1991 Indianapolis Colts (NFL)". Pro Football Archives.
7. [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/tgl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=game&year_min=1991&year_max=1991&game_type=R&game_num_min=0&game_num_max=99&week_num_min=0&week_num_max=99&game_day_of_week=&game_time=&time_zone=&game_location=&surface=&roof=&game_result=&overtime=&league_id=&team_id=clt&opp_id=&conference_game=&division_game=&tm_is_playoff=&opp_is_playoff=&tm_is_winning=&opp_is_winning=0&tm_scored_first=&tm_led=&tm_trailed=&c1stat=&c1comp=gt&c1val=&c2stat=&c2comp=gt&c2val=&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=game_date&order_by_asc=Y 1991 Indianapolis Colts against opponent with non-winning record]
8. [https://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/tgl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=game&year_min=1989&year_max=1989&game_type=R&game_num_min=0&game_num_max=99&week_num_min=0&week_num_max=99&game_day_of_week=&game_time=&time_zone=&game_location=&surface=&roof=&game_result=&overtime=&league_id=&team_id=dal&opp_id=&conference_game=&division_game=&tm_is_playoff=&opp_is_playoff=&tm_is_winning=&opp_is_winning=0&tm_scored_first=&tm_led=&tm_trailed=&c1stat=&c1comp=gt&c1val=&c2stat=&c2comp=gt&c2val=&c3stat=&c3comp=gt&c3val=&c4stat=&c4comp=gt&c4val=&order_by=game_date&order_by_asc=Y 1989 Dallas Cowboys against opponent with non-winning record]
9. "New England Patriots at Indianapolis Colts — September 1st, 1991".
10. "Indianapolis Colts at Miami Dolphins — September 8th, 1991".
11. "Indianapolis Colts at Los Angeles Raiders — September 15th, 1991".
12. "Detroit Lions at Indianapolis Colts — September 22nd, 1991".
13. "Indianapolis Colts at Seattle Seahawks — September 29th, 1991".
14. "Pittsburgh Steelers at Indianapolis Colts — October 6th, 1991".
15. "Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills — October 13th, 1991".
16. "New York Jets at Indianapolis Colts — October 20th, 1991".
17. "Miami Dolphins at Indianapolis Colts — November 3rd, 1991".
18. "Indianapolis Colts at New York Jets — November 10th, 1991".
19. "Chicago Bears at Indianapolis Colts — November 17th, 1991".
20. "Indianapolis Colts at Green Bay Packers — November 24th, 1991".
21. "Cleveland Browns at Indianapolis Colts — December 1st, 1991".
22. "Indianapolis Colts at New England Patriots — December 8th, 1991".
23. "Buffalo Bills at Indianapolis Colts — December 15th, 1991".
24. "Indianapolis Colts at Tampa Bay Buccaneers — December 22nd, 1991".