Schedule Note: Intra-division opponents are in
bold text.
Game summaries Week 1: at New York Giants Indianapolis opened the regular season on the road against the
New York Giants on September 10, 2006. In a much-hyped and highly anticipated matchup dubbed
"The Manning Bowl", Colts
QB Peyton Manning led the
Colts against the Giants and QB
Eli Manning, who is his younger brother. This contest marked the first time in
NFL history that two brothers started at QB opposite one another. On an opening drive that lasted nearly nine minutes, the Colts went 58 yards on 17 plays, only to be held to a 26-yard
Adam Vinatieri field goal in his first regular-season appearance as a Colt. Indianapolis scored again on another Vinatieri field goal, this one a 32-yarder, before finally finding the endzone on a 2-yard pass from Peyton Manning to
TE Dallas Clark. The Giants trimmed the Colts' lead on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Eli Manning to
WR Plaxico Burress, though the Colts responded promptly with another field goal before the half expired. The Giants struck first in the third quarter with another touchdown pass from Eli Manning, this time 15 yards to TE
Jeremy Shockey. It proved to be too little too late, however, as the Colts increased their lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by
RB Dominic Rhodes. A 1-yard touchdown run by Giants RB
Brandon Jacobs made the game interesting in the final minutes, but Indianapolis responded with one last field goal and timely defensive plays down the stretch, and were able to seal the victory.
Week 2: vs. Houston Texans In their Week 2 home-opener against
AFC South rival
Houston,
Indianapolis continued its offensive dominance by starting the game with a 10-yard touchdown pass from
QB Peyton Manning to
WR Brandon Stokley and a 21-yard touchdown pass from Manning to rookie
running back Joseph Addai. In the second quarter, kicker
Adam Vinatieri successfully converted a 39-yard field goal attempt to push the Colts' lead to 17–0. The Texans responded with a field goal of their own, but the Colts tacked on another field goal as time expired to end the half. The third quarter witnessed more scoring as Peyton Manning completed a touchdown drive on the first possession of the half, this one a 15-yard touchdown pass to
TE Bryan Fletcher. Five minutes later, Adam Vinatieri converted another field goal for Indianapolis, this time from 38 yards out. Houston showed signs of life in the fourth quarter as QB
David Carr completed a 33-yard touchdown pass to TE
Owen Daniels. Indianapolis would respond, however, with a 2-yard touchdown run by RB
Dominic Rhodes. The Texans answered on Carr's 1-yard touchdown pass to TE
Mark Bruener, but the Colts scored yet again, this time on a 3-yard TD run by RB
Ran Carthon. Houston scored one more time in the final moments as David Carr completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to WR
Andre Johnson, but the game was never as close as the final score indicated. This victory improved the Colts' record against the Texans to 9–0. Also noteworthy, QB
Peyton Manning surpassed
Johnny Unitas for the most pass completions in franchise history. Manning accomplished this feat on his third completion of the game. Peyton Manning finished the game 26 of 38 with 400 yards passing and three touchdowns. David Carr finished with 219 passing yards on 22 of 26 passes completed and also had three touchdown passes as well. Neither quarterback threw an interception, but Carr did fumble the football three times. Colts RB Joseph Addai finished the game with a career-high 82 rushing yards, and also had a touchdown reception. Peyton Manning was sacked twice in this game, and David Carr was sacked four times.
Week 3: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars Playing again in front of the home crowd, the
Colts faced a big test in their
AFC South rivals, the
Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville scored first on a 4-yard touchdown run by
QB Byron Leftwich. The Colts were not able to respond until early in the second quarter when
WR/
PR Terrence Wilkins returned a punt 82 yards for a touchdown. Indianapolis grabbed the lead for the first time in the game during the third quarter on QB
Peyton Manning's 30-yard touchdown pass to
TE Dallas Clark. In the fourth quarter, Manning increased Indianapolis' lead on an uncharacteristic two-yard touchdown run. That score put the Colts up 21–7. The Jaguars, though, would get to within a touchdown late in the game on Byron Leftwich's 7-yard TD pass to
RB Maurice Jones-Drew. That score, however, proved to be the last of the game as Indianapolis hung on for the victory, and improved their record to 3–0. Quarterback Peyton Manning finished the game 14 of 31 with 219 passing yards for one touchdown pass, while Byron Leftwich finished 16 of 28 with 107 passing yards for one touchdown pass. Leftwich also threw two interceptions. RB Maurice Jones-Drew had 103 rushing yards for Jacksonville, and
Marvin Harrison had 6 catches for 94 yards receiving. Jacksonville
Kicker Josh Scobee missed both of his field goals, and they proved crucial in the game in the late stages.
Week 4: at New York Jets The Colts traveled to
The Meadowlands for a showdown with the
New York Jets. This would be the second time this season that the Colts played at Giants Stadium, as they played the
New York Giants in the
regular season opener. Indianapolis scored first on a 6-yard touchdown run by
running back Dominic Rhodes. The second quarter, though, was taken over by the
Jets as they tied the game on
QB Chad Pennington's 33-yard touchdown pass to
WR Jerricho Cotchery, and took the lead on RB
Kevan Barlow's 1-yard touchdown run. The Colts tied the game just before halftime on a 2-yard touchdown run by
rookie RB
Joseph Addai. After a scoreless third quarter,
kicker Martin Gramatica, filling in for the injured
Adam Vinatieri, made a 20-yard field goal early in the fourth to give Indianapolis the lead, 17–14. But New York regained the lead, scoring on a Kevan Barlow 5-yard touchdown score. Colts QB
Peyton Manning rallied the Colts on their next possession, leading them on a scoring drive that led to a 2-yard touchdown pass to
TE Bryan Fletcher. Illustrating perfectly the back-and-forth nature of the contest, the lead changed hands once again as
DB Justin Miller returned the ensuing kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown to quickly move all the momentum to New York's side. But Indianapolis took the setback in stride as Manning methodically marched the Colts up the field and scored the game's final points on a 1-yard
quarterback sneak. Facing a long field and with only eight seconds on the clock, on the game's last play Chad Pennington completed a pass up the middle to RB
Leon Washington, who
lateraled the ball to wide receiver
Brad Smith in a desperate attempt to score a touchdown reminiscent of "
The Play" between
Stanford University and the
University of California. Five laterals and three fumbles later, the Colts ended any hope of a Jets miracle comeback by recovering the final fumble of the play as time expired. Quarterback Peyton Manning finished the game 21 of 30 for 217 passing yards and one touchdown, Chad Pennington was 17 of 23 for 207 yards passing and had one touchdown pass and one interception. Manning was sacked twice while Pennington was sacked three times. Colts rookie running back Joseph Addai had a career-high 84 yards rushing as the Colts improved their record to 4–0.
Week 5: vs. Tennessee Titans Following their close win against the
Jets, the
Colts returned home for a Week 5 matchup with
AFC South rival
Tennessee. The Titans took the lead early as
rookie QB Vince Young ran 19 yards for a
touchdown in what would be the first quarter's only score. In the second quarter, Tennessee expanded its lead to 10–0 on a 22-yard
Rob Bironas field goal. Indianapolis cut the deficit with six minutes left in the third quarter on QB
Peyton Manning's 13-yard touchdown strike to
WR Marvin Harrison. However, Tennessee countered on Rob Bironas' 47-yard field goal, which gave the Titans a 13–7 lead going into the fourth quarter. Showing the resolve that allowed them to come from behind in their two previous games, the Indianapolis offense delivered what turned out to be the game-clinching score with only five minutes left in the fourth quarter on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Manning to WR
Reggie Wayne to give the Colts a 14–13 lead. That ended up being the final score after Vince Young could not convert on a
hail mary pass in the
end zone. With the win, the Colts stayed undefeated and expanded their lead in the AFC South to two games over second place
Jacksonville. Peyton Manning finished the game 20 of 31 for 166 passing yards with 2 touchdown passes and one interception, and Vince Young finished with 63 passing yards on 10 of 21 pass attempts and threw one interception also. Tennessee running back
Travis Henry had 123 rushing yards in the loss.
Week 7: vs. Washington Redskins Coming off their bye week, the
Colts gave a solid offensive performance at home against the
Washington Redskins. Indianapolis won the contest 36–22 despite being down 14–13 at halftime.
QB Peyton Manning, who was hit hard by defenders twice in the first half, rebounded resoundingly in the second half with 3
touchdown passes in the third quarter. On a day when Manning was almost perfect, he and
WR Marvin Harrison connected for two touchdowns. The performance also saw the pair move up in their respective career yardage lists; Manning passed
Jim Hart to move into 14th place in all-time passing yards and Harrison passed
Irving Fryar to move into eighth on the career receiving yardage chart. Washington QB
Mark Brunell threw for two touchdowns and no interceptions, but his performance could not prevent the Redskins' third consecutive loss going into their bye week. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning finished the game 25 of 35 for 342 yards passing and four touchdowns, while Washington quarterback Mark Brunell completed 27 of his 37 pass attempts for 226 yards passing and two touchdowns. Colts
rookie RB Joseph Addai had a career-high 85 yards rushing on 11 carries, and Redskins RB
Ladell Betts carried the football 10 times for 52 yards. Colts WR
Reggie Wayne had his first big game of the season, as he had 7 catches for 122 yards receiving and one touchdown. In 2011,
Tony Dungy speculated that the hard hits Peyton Manning suffered in the first half of the game were the start of the neck issues that would ultimately lead to
Peyton Manning leaving the Colts in 2012.
Week 8: at Denver Broncos After a convincing win over a struggling
Redskins team in Week 7, the
Colts faced one of their toughest opponents of the year in the
Denver Broncos. The Broncos sat atop the
AFC West standings with a 5–1 record thanks in large part to a strong running game and a dominating defense that had only allowed two touchdowns on the season. Both defenses played well in the first quarter, which ended with the Colts leading 3–0. Denver took the lead early in the second quarter on a
Jake Plummer one-yard
touchdown run. Indianapolis cut the lead to one on their next drive, which ended in a 30-yard
Adam Vinatieri field goal, but the Broncos answered with a 15-yard touchdown pass from
QB Jake Plummer to
WR Javon Walker just before halftime to expand their lead to 14–6. On their first drive of the half Indianapolis came within one point of the lead on a 12-yard touchdown pass from QB
Peyton Manning to WR
Reggie Wayne. On the Colts' next possession, Wayne and Manning hooked up again for another touchdown, this one a 5-yard TD pass to take the lead 20–14. But the Broncos came back with a one-yard touchdown run by
Mike Bell, giving them a one-point lead at the end of the third quarter. After a Vinatieri field goal and another Denver touchdown, the Colts were down by 5 points with a little over half of the fourth quarter remaining. After the Colts received the kickoff, they marched down the field. The drive ended with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Wayne, the third time they hooked up for a touchdown in the game. The Colts were now up by one point and decided to go for the two-point conversion to go up by a field goal. The conversion was a success as Manning found Reggie Wayne in the
end zone again.
Jason Elam came through for Denver and made a 49-yard field goal to tie the game at 31. The final drive of the game resulted in an Adam Vinatieri field goal with two seconds left to put Indianapolis up by three. Manning ended the game with three touchdown passes, all of them to Reggie Wayne.
Rookie RB Joseph Addai had a career-high 93 yards rushing on only 17 carries.
DE Dwight Freeney was credited with half a sack, his first of the season.
Week 9: at New England Patriots The
Colts headed to
Gillette Stadium for a highly anticipated
Sunday Night Football matchup with the
New England Patriots in Week 9. In the first quarter, an interception in the
end zone by Colts
rookie FS Antoine Bethea set up the Colts' first scoring drive, a 68-yard march that ended with a 5-yard touchdown pass from
QB Peyton Manning to
WR Marvin Harrison for the only score of the quarter. Already banged up on defense, the Patriots lost
SS Rodney Harrison to a shoulder injury in the first quarter, and he never returned to the game. The second quarter was a lot more eventful after two scores by Patriots
RB Corey Dillon, a TD run by Colts rookie RB
Joseph Addai, and a field goal by Colts
kicker Adam Vinatieri. The Patriots played from behind for the rest of the game and could not catch up to the Colts. Patriots QB
Tom Brady was intercepted four times in the defeat, and Colts
LB Cato June intercepted two of those passes. Also of note, Colts WR Marvin Harrison had 8 catches in the game for 145 yards and two touchdowns. The victory marked the Colts' second straight versus the Patriots after having lost the previous six. With the win, the Colts became just the second team in NFL history to begin consecutive seasons 8–0 (the
Green Bay Packers began three consecutive seasons 8–0 from 1929 to 1931). Also, with 326 yards passing QB Peyton Manning threw for over 300 yards in three consecutive games for the first time in his career.
Week 10: vs. Buffalo Bills The
Colts defeated the
Buffalo Bills in Week 10, 17–16, becoming the first team in NFL history to start consecutive seasons 9–0. The game's scoring consisted of four touchdowns and three field goals. Buffalo struck first, as they converted a field goal attempt by
K Rian Lindell. The Colts then followed with a score of their own, a 1-yard TD pass from
QB Peyton Manning to
WR Reggie Wayne to take the lead with 11:14 left in the half. The Colts had a 7-point lead near the end of the half, but Buffalo swung the momentum their way as
Terrence McGee returned a fumble 68-yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 10. On the opening possession of the third quarter, the drive ended in a 5-yard touchdown run by Colts
rookie RB Joseph Addai.
Terrence McGee then took
Adam Vinatieri's kickoff 88 yards to the Colts 12-yard line. Buffalo could not come up with anything on the rest of the drive and had to settle for another field goal. On the opening drive of the fourth quarter, Lindell made another field goal for the Bills to reduce the Colts' lead to 1 point. When the Bills drove down the field on their next possession, they had a chance to take the lead, but Rian Lindell missed his field goal, and the Colts ran out the clock to move to 9–0. With the Colts' win and a loss by the
Jacksonville Jaguars, 13–10 to the
Houston Texans, the Colts were now four games ahead in the
AFC South.
Week 11: at Dallas Cowboys The
Colts suffered their first defeat of the season, 21–14, at the hand of the
Dallas Cowboys and became the last team to lose during the
2006 NFL season. The game was full of turnovers, and neither team could take care of the scoring opportunities. Colts
QB Peyton Manning threw two interceptions and one of those was returned for a touchdown by Cowboys
OLB Kevin Burnett early in the second half. The first quarter was back-and-forth as each possession ended with turnover after turnover. After Cowboys QB
Tony Romo was sacked by
DE Dwight Freeney, Colts
WR Marvin Harrison fumbled, and after the Cowboys punted, Manning was sacked by
Jay Ratliff and
Bradie James recovered the fumble. After a couple of punts by both teams, Peyton Manning & Co. pushed the Cowboys deep in their own territory thanks to the great rushing by
rookie RB Joseph Addai. The Colts reached the 4-yard line, and on third down, Manning attempted a pass to the endzone, but in a controversial situation,
SS Roy Williams nudged
TE Dallas Clark near the end zone, and while Clark fell down, Williams intercepted a Peyton Manning pass for the second time in his career, and gave the Cowboys the ball at their own 7-yard line. The Cowboys scored all of their points in the second half after a first half that was full of turnovers. Colts QB Peyton Manning went 20 of 39 for 254 passing yards with two touchdown passes and two interceptions, Cowboys QB Tony Romo was 19 of 23 with 226 passing yards and had one interception. Colts WR
Reggie Wayne had 7 catches for 111 yards, and Cowboys RB
Julius Jones rushed the football 22 times for 79 yards. Also of note, former Colts
kicker Mike Vanderjagt missed two of his three field goals during the game.
Week 12: vs. Philadelphia Eagles This Week 12 showdown between the
Colts and
Eagles was originally scheduled for 1:00 ET, but due to the NFL's
"flexible-scheduling" system this year, the NFL moved the game to
Sunday night at 8:15 ET. This was the Colts' third primetime game this year on
NBC, and the Eagles' first. There were 10 scores in this game, 5 each half. The first three scores of the game were by Colts
rookie RB Joseph Addai. He had a 15-yard TD run, a 10-yard TD run, and another 15-yard TD run after that. His fourth rushing touchdown of the game came in the second half. The Eagles' first score came with about a minute to go in the half.
Quarterback Jeff Garcia threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to
L.J. Smith on that drive. On the Colts' next drive, combined with a couple of passes and a 13-yard run by
Dominic Rhodes, the Colts put
K Adam Vinatieri in field goal range to get some more points before the end of the half. At the half, the Colts had a 17-point lead, 24–7. After a
Reggie Wayne touchdown catch, the Colts were up big on the Eagles, 31–7. On the ensuing possession for the Eagles, Garcia found
Reggie Brown in the
end zone for a 3-yard score. But with less than 11 minutes left in the game, the Eagles scored once more and reduced the Colts' lead to 10 points. On the following possession, the Colts ran the ball 13 times with no passes and Joseph Addai had the last 8 carries on that drive including another 4-yard scamper, his fourth touchdown of the game. That touchdown also tied the Colts franchise record for the most rushing touchdowns in a single game. With less than four minutes to go in the game, the Eagles were desperate to score some points, but while Jeff Garcia was deep in his own territory, he dropped back to pass and was hit by both
DE Robert Mathis and DE
Dwight Freeney. Mathis knocked the ball out of Garcia's hand right before his arm started going forwards and
CB Kelvin Hayden picked up the ball and ran it back for a touchdown. The Colts were up by 24 points after that last score. On the next possession, the Eagles put in backup QB
A. J. Feeley in place of Garcia, and Feeley ended up getting the football knocked out of his hand by Robert Mathis (his second forced fumble of the game) and the Colts recovered and ended up running out the clock to conclude the game. Joseph Addai tied the NFL record for most touchdowns in a game by a rookie, with 4 touchdowns in this game. During this game, the Colts lost
SS Antoine Bethea,
TE Dallas Clark and
OT Ryan Diem all to injuries in the first half, and they did not return.
Week 13: at Tennessee Titans This game at the
Tennessee Titans saw the return of two crucial players for the
Colts:
WR Brandon Stokley and
FS Bob Sanders. The Colts started hot in this game, and the only score of the first quarter came off a 68-yard touchdown pass from
QB Peyton Manning to WR
Marvin Harrison. The next score for the Colts came in the second quarter, as
RB Dominic Rhodes had a 2-yard run for a touchdown. With less than seven minutes to go in the half, the Colts were up 14–0 on Tennessee. But, within a few minutes Titans
K Rob Bironas made a 25-yard field goal to cut the lead to 11 points. The Colts' next possession uncharacteristically ended abruptly when Peyton Manning's pass intended for
TE Bryan Fletcher was intercepted by
OLB Keith Bulluck with 31 seconds left in the half. 20 seconds later, Titans QB
Vince Young connected with WR
Drew Bennett for a 20-yard touchdown pass to shrink the Colts' lead to 4 points. With 11 seconds left, the Titans' kickoff went out of bounds and the Colts had the ball at their own 40-yard line. On the following play, Manning hooked up with Bryan Fletcher for a 25-yard pass to the 35-yard line. The Colts brought out K
Adam Vinatieri to attempt a 53-yard field goal, but the kick stayed right and just missed the upright. At the half, the Colts were in the lead, 14–10. The third quarter did not yield a score, but Vince Young ran wild. The Colts' rushing defense was at its worst towards the end of the regular season. Three minutes into the last quarter, Vince Young hooked up with WR
Brandon Jones for a touchdown to give Tennessee its first lead of the game. Ten minutes later, the Colts tied the game with a Vinatieri field goal from 20 yards out. On what ended up being the last possession of the game, the Titans were trying to defeat the Colts for the first time since the
2002 NFL season. After two first downs, the Titans had the ball at the Colts' 41-yard line with 31 seconds to go. After a short pass for 4 yards and an incomplete pass, the Titans had one last shot at a field goal to win the game. Kicker Rob Bironas had very high winds at his back and he made the 60-yard field goal with a lot of help from wind. He cleared the crossbar by almost 3 yards, and made the game-winning field goal for the Titans for the second straight week. With the brutal loss, the Colts went to 10–2 on the season.
Week 14: at Jacksonville Jaguars The
Colts came into this game three games ahead of the
Jaguars in the
AFC South standings, and with a win in this game, the Colts can clinch a playoff spot and the AFC South Championship for the fourth straight year. On the Jaguars' first play from scrimmage,
RB Fred Taylor ran up the middle for 76 yards down to the Colts' 18-yard line. On the following play
rookie RB
Maurice Jones-Drew rushed 18 yards for the first score of the game. The Colts led the Jaguars at one point in the game, 10–7, but after Jacksonville scored six times before the Colts scored again, there was no way to catch up. The Colts allowed 375 rushing yards in this game, the second-highest total since the
NFL-
AFL merger in 1970. Jacksonville RB Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 166 yards and RB Fred Taylor ran for 131 yards. Third-string RB
Alvin Pearman also ran for 71 yards. To further emphasize how effective the Jacksonville running game was, Jaguars
QB David Garrard was only 8 for 14 with 79 yards passing. While he only threw the ball 14 times, Colts QB
Peyton Manning threw the ball 50 times, completing 25 of those passes for 313 passing yards. Neither quarterback threw a touchdown pass, but both of them threw one interception each. The Colts WR tandem of
Marvin Harrison and
Reggie Wayne did well in this game. Harrison had 8 catches for 110 yards receiving, and Wayne had 6 catches for 101 yards. Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew did not just succeed on offense—he ran back an
Adam Vinatieri kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown also. The Colts lost
SS Antoine Bethea to a shoulder injury, and he would not return. As a consequence, the Colts fell to 10–3, losing first place in the
AFC, while the Jaguars improved to 8–5, with the embarrassing loss.
Week 15: vs. Cincinnati Bengals Hoping to rebound from their blowout road loss to the Jaguars, the Colts went home for a
Monday Night Football matchup with the
Cincinnati Bengals. In the first quarter, Indianapolis struck first with
K Adam Vinatieri nailing a 30-yard field goal. The Bengals would respond with K
Shayne Graham converting a 27-yard field goal. In the second quarter, the Colts began their breakout with
QB Peyton Manning completing a 4-yard touchdown pass to
WR Marvin Harrison. Harrison would end up catching three touchdown passes in this game. Even though Cincinnati responded with 12-yard touchdown run by
RB Rudi Johnson, Indianapolis responded with Manning completing a 3-yard touchdown pass to Harrison. In the third quarter, the Bengals converted another field goal, and the Colts continued their power with Manning completing another touchdown pass to Marvin Harrison. Afterwards, Manning would complete another touchdown pass, this one an 18-yarder to WR
Reggie Wayne. In the fourth quarter, the Bengals' only response was another field goal. After that last field goal by Shayne Graham, Adam Vinatieri responded with a 44-yard field goal to close out the game. With the win, the Colts improved to 11–3. Colts QB Peyton Manning finished the game 29 of 36 for 282 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions, while Bengals QB
Carson Palmer was 14 of 28 for 176 passing yards. Palmer also fumbled the football four times in this game. Colts
DE Dwight Freeney forced three fumbles in the game and also had three sacks on Carson Palmer.
Week 16: at Houston Texans Coming off a primetime victory over
Cincinnati, the
Colts flew to
Reliant Stadium for an
AFC South rematch with the
Houston Texans. Heading into this game, Indianapolis had never lost a game to the Texans, winning their first 9 games against them. In the first quarter, the Colts got an early shock as
RB Ron Dayne ran for a 3-yard touchdown and a 6-yard touchdown run. Indianapolis would respond with 37-yard touchdown pass from
QB Peyton Manning to
WR Marvin Harrison. In the second quarter, the Colts tied the game with Manning completing a 9-yard touchdown pass to WR
Aaron Moorehead. However, Houston reclaimed its lead with QB
David Carr's 3-yard touchdown pass to RB
Vonta Leach. In the third quarter, Indianapolis crept closer with
K Adam Vinatieri making a 33-yard field goal for the only score of the period. In the fourth quarter, the Texans responded with kicker
Kris Brown's 42-yard field goal. Afterwards, the Colts tied the game with Manning hooking up with Harrison again on a 7-yard touchdown pass, Harrison's second of the game. However, Houston managed to pull off a huge upset with Kris Brown's game-winning 48-yard field goal as time expired, giving Indianapolis their first ever loss against them. With the loss, the Colts fell to 11–4. Colts QB Peyton Manning finished the game 21 of 27 for 205 yards passing with three touchdowns and Texans QB David Carr finished with 163 passing yards on completing 16 of 23 passes with one touchdown.
Rookie RB Joseph Addai ran the ball 15 times for 100 yards and former
Heisman Trophy winner Ron Dayne finished the game with 153 rushing yards on 32 carries. After this game, the Colts were now 11–4, having lost 4 of 6 after a 9–0 start and dropped to 4–4 on the road.
Week 17: vs. Miami Dolphins Following their first-ever loss to the
Texans, the
Colts wrapped up the
regular season at home against the
Miami Dolphins. So far, the Colts were 7–0 at the RCA Dome during the regular season. In the first quarter, the Dolphins scored first with
K Olindo Mare's 28-yard field goal for the only score of the quarter. In the second quarter, Indianapolis took the lead with
QB Peyton Manning completing a 2-yard touchdown pass to
DT Dan Klecko. The Dolphins would follow Indianapolis' touchdown with a 38-yard Olindo Mare field goal. The Colts struck right back with Peyton Manning's 11-yard scamper into the
end zone. After Dolphins QB
Cleo Lemon was intercepted on his first pass of the possession by
LB Cato June, Indianapolis had the ball on the Dolphins' 37-yard line. Kicker
Adam Vinatieri would come out and convert a 46-yard field goal to close out the half. In the third quarter, the Dolphins managed to get another field goal from Mare, and Indianapolis answered back with Adam Vinatieri making a 34-yard field goal. Mare would kick yet another field goal for Miami to reduce the Indianapolis lead to 8 points, but to keep up with the Colts, they needed to score a touchdown. In the fourth quarter, the Dolphins sent out Mare to kick another field goal, his fifth of the game, yet the Colts managed to score another touchdown with Peyton Manning completing a 27-yard touchdown pass to
WR Marvin Harrison. With less than ten minutes remaining in the last game of the season for Miami, they finally found the end zone when Cleo Lemon completed a 6-yard touchdown pass to
TE Randy McMichael. The Colts ran out the clock and closed the season with a win at home, to improve their record to 8–0 in the RCA Dome. With the win, Indianapolis wrapped up the regular season at 12–4 and the
AFC's No. 3 seed.
Standings ==Postseason==