2001 Indianapolis Colts season
OwnerJim Irsay
General managerBill Polian
Head coachJim Mora
Home fieldRCA Dome
Results
Record6–10
Division place4th AFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersWR Marvin Harrison
TE Ken Dilger

The 2001 Indianapolis Colts season was the 49th season for the team in the National Football League and 18th in Indianapolis. The Indianapolis Colts finished the National Football League's 2001 season with a record of 6 wins and 10 losses, and finished fourth in the AFC East division. In the process the Colts allowed 486 points in sixteen games, an average of 30 points per match and the franchise worst since the 1981 Colts who allowed 533. At the time only the aforementioned Colts, the 1980 Saints and the 1966 Giants (in a 14-game schedule) had ever allowed more points.[1] This would be the last time the Colts would miss the playoffs until 2011 and the only time in the 2000s decade in which they didn't qualify.

This was the Colts' final season as a member of the AFC East, as they would move to the newly-formed AFC South in the 2002 league re-alignment.

Offseason

AdditionsSubtractions
CB Thomas Smith (Bears)QB Kelly Holcomb (Browns)
LB Donnel Thompson (Steelers)

NFL draft

2001 Indianapolis Colts draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 30 Reggie Wayne *  WR Miami (FL) from NY Giants
2 37 Idrees Bashir  FS Memphis from Dallas
3 91 Cory Bird  SS Virginia Tech from NY Giants
4 118 Ryan Diem  OT Northern Illinois
5 152 Raymond Walls  CB Southern Mississippi
6 193 Jason Doering  FS Wisconsin from NY Giants
7 220 Rick DeMulling  OG Idaho
      Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

2001 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player Position College
Dominic Rhodes Running Back Midwestern State
Nick Harper Cornerback Fort Valley State

Personnel

Staff

2001 Indianapolis Colts staff

Front office

  • Owner and chief executive officer – Jim Irsay
  • President – Bill Polian
  • Director of football operations – Dom Anile
  • Director of pro player personnel – Clyde Powers
  • Assistant director of football operations – Chris Polian
  • Director of player development – Steve Champlin
  • Coordinator of player personnel – John Becker
  • Director of college scouting – Mike Butler

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

 Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Jon Torine
  • Assistant strength and conditioning – Richard Howell

Roster

Indianapolis Colts 2001 final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad


rookies in italics
 53 active, 9 inactive, 3 practice squad

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance
1 September 9 at New York Jets W 45–24 1–0 Giants Stadium 78,606
2[upper-alpha 1] September 23 Buffalo Bills W 42–26 2–0 RCA Dome 56,135
3 September 30 at New England Patriots L 13–44 2–1 Foxboro Stadium 60,292
4 Bye
5 October 14 Oakland Raiders L 18–23 2–2 RCA Dome 56,972
6 October 21 New England Patriots L 17–38 2–3 RCA Dome 56,022
7 October 25 at Kansas City Chiefs W 35–28 3–3 Arrowhead Stadium 74,212
8 November 4 at Buffalo Bills W 30–14 4–3 Ralph Wilson Stadium 63,786
9 November 11 Miami Dolphins L 24–27 4–4 RCA Dome 57,127
10 November 18 at New Orleans Saints L 20–34 4–5 Louisiana Superdome 70,020
11 November 25 San Francisco 49ers L 21–40 4–6 RCA Dome 56,393
12 December 2 at Baltimore Ravens L 27–39 4–7 PSINet Stadium 69,382
13 December 10 at Miami Dolphins L 6–41 4–8 Pro Player Stadium 73,858
14 December 16 Atlanta Falcons W 41–27 5–8 RCA Dome 55,603
15 December 23 New York Jets L 28–29 5–9 RCA Dome 56,302
16 December 30 at St. Louis Rams L 17–42 5–10 Trans World Dome 66,084
17[upper-alpha 1] January 6 Denver Broncos W 29–10 6–10 RCA Dome 56,192

Standings

AFC East
W L T PCT PF PA STK
(2) New England Patriots 11 5 0 .688 371 272 W6
(4) Miami Dolphins 11 5 0 .688 344 290 W2
(6) New York Jets 10 6 0 .625 308 295 W1
Indianapolis Colts 6 10 0 .375 413 486 W1
Buffalo Bills 3 13 0 .188 265 420 L1

Season summary

The Colts suffered the second losing season of Peyton Manning's career. After opening with dominant wins over the Jets and Buffalo, the Colts were crushed twice in three games by the Patriots with a loss to Oakland in between. Two more wins followed to bring the Colts to 4–3, but they followed this up with two more losses heading into their matchup with the San Francisco 49ers at home on November 25. The 49ers entered the game having only lost twice to that point in the season, but had struggled to put up points and had barely beaten the Carolina Panthers, who would only record one win that season, the week before.

The Colts, needing the victory, instead turned the ball over five times. Manning threw four interceptions, two to Ahmed Plummer and two more to Zack Bronson including one that was returned for a touchdown. The 49ers scored 23 total points off of the five Indianapolis turnovers. Despite outgaining the 49ers, the Colts lost the game 40–21 and after the game, head coach Jim Mora sharply criticized his offense's effort, especially Manning's four interceptions.

During the press conference, a reporter asked Mora a question about the Colts' playoff chances now that the team was 4–6. Mora, who had not heard what was said, asked him to repeat the question. When the question was repeated, Mora responded by dismissing the suggestion that the Colts could make the postseason in the following manner:

What's that? Ah, *garbled*, playoffs?! Don't talk about — playoffs?! You kidding me?! Playoffs?! I just hope we can win a game! Another game!

A few days later, Manning spoke to reporters ahead of the Colts' next game with the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens and sharply criticized Mora's handling of the situation. He said that he did not appreciate being called out in public like he had been and that if Mora had a problem with him he should have spoken to him directly. This caused Mora to backtrack on his previous statements, but the damage was done.[2]

The Colts went on to finish 6–10 and Mora was fired after the season.

Manning threw 23 interceptions during the season, the highest number of his career following his rookie season. He was sacked a career-high 29 times.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 The Colts were originally scheduled to host the Denver Broncos during Week 2 of the original NFL schedule (September 16) at RCA Dome. However, due to the September 11 attacks, the game was re-scheduled to Week 17.

References

  1. ↑ Over 450 points allowed in regular season
  2. ↑ "Manning airs out on Colts' Mora". The Baltimore Sun. November 28, 2001. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
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