# 1992 Indianapolis Colts season

The 1992 Indianapolis Colts season was the 40th season for the team in the National Football League and ninth in Indianapolis. The Colts looked to improve on their dismal 1991 season, where they finished 1–15.
The Colts improved by eight games, recording a 9–7 record, and finished third in the AFC East division. It was the team's first season under the returning Ted Marchibroda, who had spent the previous five seasons as the quarterbacks coach and later offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills; Marchibroda had been the head coach of the team from 1975 until 1979 when it was in Baltimore. Marchibroda succeeded interim coach Rick Venturi, who coached the last eleven games of the 1991 season following the firing of Ron Meyer. Venturi remained on Marchibroda's staff as defensive coordinator.
Football Outsiders calls the 1992 Colts "possibly the luckiest team in NFL history", due to ranking the Colts as the second worst team in 1992, statistically.
   The Colts finished 9–7 even though opponents outscored them 302–216
Football Outsiders continued,
   They were 4–7 after losing 30–14 to Pittsburgh on November 22. Then they finished the year with a five-game winning streak – but they won those games by an average of four points. ... It didn't hurt that the Colts recovered 59 percent of fumbles that season and had a below-average schedule.
The Colts' 1,102 rushing yards is the lowest for any team in a single season in the 1990s.

## Offseason

On April 26, 1992, the Colts parted ways with Eric Dickerson after five seasons, trading him to the Los Angeles Raiders. Although they had gone to great lengths to acquire him in 1987 and he led the NFL in rushing while playing for them in 1988, the Colts' relationship with Dickerson soured during the 1990 season and he was suspended twice for conduct detrimental to the team. Dickerson was also unhappy with the Colts' fans blaming him for the team's lack of success and was said to be angry over the team's firing of Ron Meyer, his former college coach, during the previous season.

### NFL Draft

1992 Indianapolis Colts draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 1 | Steve Emtman | Defensive end | Washington |
| 1 | 2 | Quentin Coryatt | Linebacker | Texas A&M |
| 2 | 29 | Ashley Ambrose * | Cornerback | Mississippi Valley State |
| 4 | 85 | Rodney Culver | Running back | Notre Dame |
| 4 | 105 | Tony McCoy | Defensive tackle | Florida |
| 5 | 113 | Maury Toy | Running back | UCLA |
| 6 | 141 | Shoun Habersham | Wide receiver | Chattanooga |
| 7 | 169 | Derek Steele | Defensive end | Maryland |
| 8 | 197 | Jason Belser | Safety | Oklahoma |
| 8 | 212 | Ronald Humphrey | Running back | Mississippi Valley State |
| 9 | 225 | Eddie Miller | Wide receiver | South Carolina |
| 10 | 253 | Steve Grant | Linebacker | West Virginia |
| 12 | 309 | Michael Brandon | Defensive end | Florida |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

### Undrafted free agents

1992 Undrafted Free Agents of note :
| Player | Position | College |
| Derrick Franklin | Running back | Indiana State |
| Errol McCorvey | Defensive back | Florida State |
| Isaac Morehouse | Defensive back | Jackson State |
| John Ray | Tackle | West Virginia |
| Alec Thomas | Defensive back | Auburn |
| James Williams | Defensive back | Texas Southern |

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Venue | Attendance |
| 1 | September 6 | Cleveland Browns | W 14–3 | 1–0 | Hoosier Dome | 50,766 |
| 2 | September 13 | Houston Oilers | L 10–20 | 1–1 | Hoosier Dome | 44,851 |
| 3 | September 20 | at Buffalo Bills | L 0–38 | 1–2 | Rich Stadium | 77,781 |
| 4 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 5 | October 4 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | W 24–14 | 2–2 | Tampa Stadium | 56,585 |
| 6 | October 11 | New York Jets | W 6–3 (OT) | 3–2 | Hoosier Dome | 48,393 |
| 7 | October 18 | San Diego Chargers | L 14–34 | 3–3 | Hoosier Dome | 48,552 |
| 8 | October 25 | at Miami Dolphins | W 31–20 | 4–3 | Joe Robbie Stadium | 61,117 |
| 9 | November 1 | at San Diego Chargers | L 0–26 | 4–4 | Jack Murphy Stadium | 40,324 |
| 10 | November 8 | Miami Dolphins | L 0–28 | 4–5 | Hoosier Dome | 59,892 |
| 11 | November 15 | New England Patriots | L 34–37 (OT) | 4–6 | Hoosier Dome | 42,631 |
| 12 | November 22 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 14–30 | 4–7 | Three Rivers Stadium | 51,101 |
| 13 | November 29 | Buffalo Bills | W 16–13 (OT) | 5–7 | Hoosier Dome | 50,221 |
| 14 | December 6 | at New England Patriots | W 6–0 | 6–7 | Foxboro Stadium | 19,429 |
| 15 | December 13 | at New York Jets | W 10–6 | 7–7 | Giants Stadium | 33,684 |
| 16 | December 20 | Phoenix Cardinals | W 16–13 | 8–7 | Hoosier Dome | 46,763 |
| 17 | December 27 | at Cincinnati Bengals | W 21–17 | 9–7 | Riverfront Stadium | 47,837 |
| Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. |||||||

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(2)}$ Miami Dolphins | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 5–3 | 9–3 | 340 | 281 | W3 |
| $^{(4)}$ Buffalo Bills | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 5–3 | 7–5 | 381 | 283 | L1 |
| Indianapolis Colts | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 5–3 | 7–7 | 216 | 302 | W5 |
| New York Jets | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 3–5 | 4–8 | 220 | 315 | L3 |
| New England Patriots | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 2–6 | 2–10 | 205 | 363 | L5 |
AFC Central :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(1)}$ Pittsburgh Steelers | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 5–1 | 10–2 | 299 | 225 | W1 |
| $^{(5)}$ Houston Oilers | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 3–3 | 7–5 | 352 | 258 | W2 |
| Cleveland Browns | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 3–3 | 5–7 | 272 | 275 | L3 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | 1–5 | 4–8 | 274 | 364 | L1 |
AFC West :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(3)}$ San Diego Chargers | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 5–3 | 9–5 | 335 | 241 | W7 |
| $^{(6)}$ Kansas City Chiefs | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 6–2 | 8–4 | 348 | 282 | W1 |
| Denver Broncos | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 4–4 | 7–5 | 262 | 329 | L1 |
| Los Angeles Raiders | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 4–4 | 5–7 | 243 | 281 | W1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 2 | 14 | 0 | .125 | 1–7 | 2–10 | 140 | 312 | L4 |