The Indianapolis Colts have been a part of two of the best games in the NFL over the last 25 years.
The Indianapolis Colts have been a part of two of the best NFL games over the last 25 years.
Frank Schwab of Yahoo! Sports recently ranked what he believes are the 25 best NFL games since the year 2000. The Colts made the list twice, and both for good reasons.
The first appearance came at No. 23 in Schwab’s rankings with the Colts’ come-from-behind win over the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2013 AFC Wildcard round.
“The Colts fell behind the Chiefs early in a 2013 wild-card game, and it was 38-10 not long into the third quarter,” wrote Schwab. “That set the stage for a wild comeback from the Colts, who won 45-44 on a fourth-quarter bomb from Andrew Luck to T.Y. Hilton. It’s the highlight of Luck’s short NFL career.”
The Colts would outscore the Chiefs 35-13 in the second half. Luck would finish the game completing 29-of-45 passes for 443 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions.
TY Hilton had a masterful performance, catching 13 passes for 224 yards with two touchdowns.
The Colts’ second appearance in Schwab’s rankings came all the way at No. 4 with Peyton Manning’s comeback win over the New England Patriots in the 2006 AFC Championship Game.
“The 2006 season AFC championship might be the most underrated great game in NFL history,” Schwab wrote. “The Patriots took a 21-3 lead and it looked like another disappointment for Peyton Manning. But Manning led a brilliant comeback, the Colts got a game-sealing interception off Tom Brady late and finally Manning was heading to his first Super Bowl. There were many great Manning-Brady duels, but this was the best of the bunch.”
Trailing 21-6 at half, the Colts would score 32 points in the second half of this game while the defense held the Patriots and Tom Brady to only 13 points between the third and fourth quarters.
Manning was 27-for-47 passing overall for 349 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes combined for over 100 rushing yards, while Dallas Clark led the way through the air with 137 receiving yards.
The Colts would go on to win the Super Bowl that season over the Chicago Bears.