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1996 Indianapolis Colts season
44th season in franchise history
44th season in franchise history
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| team | Indianapolis Colts |
| year | 1996 |
| record | 9–7 |
| division_place | 3rd AFC East |
| owner | Robert Irsay |
| general_manager | Bill Tobin |
| coach | Lindy Infante |
| off_coach | Lindy Infante |
| def_coach | Jim Johnson |
| stadium | RCA Dome |
| playoffs | Lost [Wild Card Playoffs](1996-97-nfl-playoffs) |
| (at [Steelers](1996-pittsburgh-steelers-season)) 14–42 | |
| shortnavlink | Colts seasons |
(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.
Offseason
NFL draft
Main article: 1996 NFL draft
Personnel
Staff
-
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 coach – Lindy Infante
-
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 coordinator – Jim Johnson
-
Defensive line – Greg Blache
-
Linebackers – Chuck Bresnahan
-
Secondary – Pat Thomas
-
Defensive assistant – Fred Bruney
-
Special teams – Hank Kuhlmann
-
Strength and conditioning – Tom Zupancic
Roster
Regular season
Schedule
| Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | Week | Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | Date | Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | Opponent | Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | Result | Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | Record | Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | Venue | Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | Attendance | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1 | [Arizona Cardinals](1996-arizona-cardinals-season) | **W** 20–13 | 1–0 | RCA Dome | 48,133 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| September 8 | at **[New York Jets](1996-new-york-jets-season)** | **W** 21–7 | 2–0 | The Meadowlands | 63,534 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| September 15 | at [Dallas Cowboys](1996-dallas-cowboys-season) | **W** 25–24 | 3–0 | Texas Stadium | 63,021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| **[Miami Dolphins](1996-miami-dolphins-season)** | **W** 10–6 | 4–0 | RCA Dome | 60,891 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| *Bye* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 6 | at **[Buffalo Bills](1996-buffalo-bills-season)** | **L** 13–16 (OT) | 4–1 | Rich Stadium | 79,401 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 13 | [Baltimore Ravens](1996-baltimore-ravens-season) | **W** 26–21 | 5–1 | RCA Dome | 56,978 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 20 | **[New England Patriots](1996-new-england-patriots-season)** | **L** 9–27 | 5–2 | RCA Dome | 58,725 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| October 27 | at [Washington Redskins](1996-washington-redskins-season) | **L** 16–31 | 5–3 | RFK Stadium | 54,254 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 3 | [San Diego Chargers](1996-san-diego-chargers-season) | **L** 19–26 | 5–4 | RCA Dome | 58,484 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 10 | at **[Miami Dolphins](1996-miami-dolphins-season)** | **L** 13–37 | 5–5 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 66,623 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 17 | **[New York Jets](1996-new-york-jets-season)** | **W** 34–29 | 6–5 | RCA Dome | 48,322 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| November 24 | at **[New England Patriots](1996-new-england-patriots-season)** | **L** 13–27 | 6–6 | Foxboro Stadium | 58,226 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 1 | **[Buffalo Bills](1996-buffalo-bills-season)** | **W** 13–10 (OT) | 7–6 | RCA Dome | 53,804 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 5 | [Philadelphia Eagles](1996-philadelphia-eagles-season) | **W** 37–10 | 8–6 | RCA Dome | 52,689 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 15 | at [Kansas City Chiefs](1996-kansas-city-chiefs-season) | **W** 24–19 | 9–6 | Arrowhead Stadium | 71,136 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 22 | at [Cincinnati Bengals](1996-cincinnati-bengals-season) | **L** 24–31 | 9–7 | Cinergy Field | 49,389 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | **Note**: 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.
| Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | Round | Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | Date | Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | Opponent (seed) | Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | Result | Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | Record | Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | Venue | Indianapolis Colts | year=1996 | border=2}}" | Attendance | Wild Card |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 29 | at [Pittsburgh Steelers](1996-pittsburgh-steelers-season) (3) | **L** 14–42 | 0–1 | Three Rivers Stadium | 58,078 |
References
References
This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.
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