History of the Colts part 6: The Greatest of all Time
2004 and 2005 was a magical time to be a Colts fan. 2006 was great for it's own reason, but we'll talk about that next time. 2005 was the exact halfway point through Manning's career and by God were those some of the best football teams we will ever see. Manning might have been the biggest part, but those teams were stacked with talent and seemed to always be on the winning side.
#2004
2004 Belonged to Peyton Manning. He had one of the most dominant season ever breaking Dan Marino's single season TD record (Manning threw 49). Later the record was broken by Tom Brady in 07 (50) and again by Manning in '13 (55), but it wouldn't surprise me if this was broken again within the next 10 years.
While Manning had a monster season in 04, other members of the Colts were trucking right along with him. Edgerrin James ran for over 1500 yards and scored 18 times (9 rushing, 9 receiving). Dwight Freeney piled up 16 sacks and Mathis added 11 more on his own. Tony Dungy was implementing his Tampa 2 scheme which paired well with the high octane offense of the Colts.
But even with the stellar performance, the Colts would finish 12-4, destroy the Broncos in the Wildcard round, and then lose to the Patriots in the Divisional.
For more about this season, please watch these videos and/or read these articles. There is some quality information and some of the best football you will ever see here.
Video:
Week 3: Packers vs Colts Full Game - This is an amazing shootout between Favre and Manning.
Colts vs Vikings week 9 Highlights
Colts vs Lions Thanksgiving day Highlights - Manning with 6 TDs
Week 16 Colts vs Chargers Full Game - Manning breaks the record here.
Articles:
#2005
05 is special to me because it was this year that I first began watching football. I remember hearing my friends talking about all these football players and I thought it was amazing that they could name all these hundreds of players and know exactly why each one would fit on different teams or why they were considered good. After that I started reading the sports section and paying the most attention to the Colts, since I was originally from Indiana.
Anyways, 2005. Holy shit what a season. Mostly highs and incredible lows. Our team dynamic changed that year. Instead of outscoring the world, we would win with defense and a much more conservative offensive philosophy. We would be rewarded by starting the year with 14 straight wins and constantly the hot topic about if we would go undefeated yet.
2005 was the last year Edgerrin James was with the Colts, he left the most productive back in Colts history. That year he rushed for another 1500 and scored another 13 times on the ground. Wayne and Harrison both eclipsed 1k yards, the 7th straight time for Marvin and the 2nd straight for Reggie. Our defense would get 18 interceptions, 26 forced fumbles, and 46 sacks.
We were in cruise control, winning every game and predicted to be Super Bowl favorites....everything changed on Dec 22nd. Tony Dungy got a call stating that his son, James, had taken his own life in Florida. He was a good kid that was always spending time with Tony and the players knew him well. A terrible tragedy that I as a parent would never wish upon my worst enemy. I beg anyone that thinks that someone might be at risk to reach out (1-800-273-8255) and get them help. It affects much more than the individual life that was taken.
I wish this would get better after that, but we then played the Steelers in the Wildcard. A 6-seed team vs one of the best teams of all-time. The game was a mess. Manning and the offense didn't get going until late in the game. They drove hard for a comeback to force overtime. We were lined up for the field goal and then Mike fucking Vanderjagt misses it wide. He wasn't on the team the next season.
Video:
Steelers vs Colts Wildcard Full Game
Articles:
#History of the Colts series
Part 1: The Mayflower Chronicles
Posted Mar 20, 2017, 11:19 PM UTC · edited