# 1996 Indianapolis Colts season

The 1996 Indianapolis Colts season was the 44th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL) and 13th in Indianapolis.
Despite leading the Colts to the AFC Championship Game the previous season, head coach Ted Marchibroda left the team after failing to come to terms with the club on a contract extension. The decision enraged many of the Colts, who loved playing for Marchibroda and blamed the front office for driving him away (Tony Siragusa often, and profanely, brought up his fury by stating "We had a great thing going, and this guy (GM Tobin) dismantled it"). Offensive coordinator Lindy Infante was promoted to head coach. Ironically, Marchibroda would quickly be hired to coach the newly relocated & then-unnamed NFL franchise in Baltimore that would eventually be named the Baltimore Ravens, thus returning to the city where he had previously coached the Colts when they were still based in Maryland.
On October 13 Indianapolis hosted the Ravens, thus not only pitting the Colts against the team based in their former home but also matching up Marchibroda against his former team. The Colts won 26–21. This game also has the distinction of being the first NFL on TNT broadcast after TNT's parent Turner Broadcasting System completed its merger with Time Warner only three days earlier.
The season saw the Colts draft Marvin Harrison. Harrison would go on to become a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, after spending his entire career as a Colt. Harrison was named to Pro Bowl several times and later helped the Colts win a Super Bowl in 2006. He continued to play for the team until 2008 and retired during the 2009 season.
The Indianapolis Colts finished the National Football League's 1996 season with a record of 9 wins and 7 losses, finished third in the AFC East division and reached the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Their Wild Card round game would be a rematch of the previous season's AFC title game, but would not be nearly as close as the Colts would be blown out 42–14 by the Pittsburgh Steelers.

## Offseason
### NFL draft

1996 Indianapolis Colts draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 19 | Marvin Harrison $^†$ | Wide receiver | Syracuse |
| 2 | 51 | Dedric Mathis | Defensive back | Houston |
| 3 | 82 | Scott Slutzker | Tight end | Iowa |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game Site | TV Time (ET) | TV Announcers | Attendance |
| 1 | September 1 | Arizona Cardinals | W 20–13 | 1–0 | RCA Dome | FOX 1:00 pm | Kenny Albert & Tim Green | 48,133 |
| 2 | September 8 | at New York Jets | W 21–7 | 2–0 | The Meadowlands | NBC 1:00 pm | Tom Hammond & Bob Trumpy | 63,534 |
| 3 | September 15 | at Dallas Cowboys | W 25–24 | 3–0 | Texas Stadium | NBC 4:00 pm | Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms | 63,021 |
| 4 | September 23 | Miami Dolphins | W 10–6 | 4–0 | RCA Dome | ABC 9:00 pm | Al Michaels, Frank Gifford & Dan Dierdorf | 60,891 |
| 5 | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye | Bye |
| 6 | October 6, 1996 | at Buffalo Bills | L 13–16 (OT) | 4–1 | Rich Stadium | NBC 4:00 pm | Tom Hammond & Bob Trumpy | 79,401 |
| 7 | October 13 | Baltimore Ravens | W 26–21 | 5–1 | RCA Dome | TNT 8:00 pm | Verne Lundquist & Pat Haden | 56,978 |
| 8 | October 20 | New England Patriots | L 9–27 | 5–2 | RCA Dome | NBC 1:00 pm | Tom Hammond & Bob Trumpy | 58,725 |
| 9 | October 27 | at Washington Redskins | L 16–31 | 5–3 | RFK Stadium | NBC 1:00 pm | Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms | 54,254 |
| 10 | November 3 | San Diego Chargers | L 19–26 | 5–4 | RCA Dome | NBC 1:00 pm | Tom Hammond, Bob Trumpy & Sam Wyche | 58,484 |
| 11 | November 10 | at Miami Dolphins | L 13–37 | 5–5 | Joe Robbie Stadium | NBC 1:00 pm | Dick Enberg, Paul Maguire & Phil Simms | 66,623 |
| 12 | November 17 | New York Jets | W 34–29 | 6–5 | RCA Dome | NBC 1:00 pm | Charlie Jones & Randy Cross | 48,322 |
| 13 | November 24 | at New England Patriots | L 13–27 | 6–6 | Foxboro Stadium | NBC 1:00 pm | Tom Hammond & Bob Trumpy | 58,226 |
| 14 | December 1 | Buffalo Bills | W 13–10 (OT) | 7–6 | RCA Dome | NBC 1:00 pm | Marv Albert & Sam Wyche | 53,804 |
| 15 | December 5 | Philadelphia Eagles | W 37–10 | 8–6 | RCA Dome | ESPN 8:00 pm | Mike Patrick & Joe Theismann | 52,689 |
| 16 | December 15 | at Kansas City Chiefs | W 24–19 | 9–6 | Arrowhead Stadium | NBC 4:00 pm | Dan Hicks & Bob Trumpy | 71,136 |
| 17 | December 22 | at Cincinnati Bengals | L 24–31 | 9–7 | Cinergy Field | NBC 1:00 pm | Jim Lampley & Bob Golic | 49,389 |
| Note: Intra-divisional opponents are in bold text. |||||||||

### Standings

AFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK |
| $^{(2)}$ New England Patriots | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 418 | 313 | W1 |
| $^{(4)}$ Buffalo Bills | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 319 | 266 | W1 |
| $^{(6)}$ Indianapolis Colts | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 317 | 334 | L1 |
| Miami Dolphins | 8 | 8 | 0 | .500 | 339 | 325 | W2 |
| New York Jets | 1 | 15 | 0 | .063 | 279 | 454 | L7 |

## Playoffs

The team received a Wild Card playoff berth to the playoffs and traveled to Pittsburgh to play the Steelers. The Colts came back from a 13-point lead in the first half but the Steelers scored 29 unanswered points in the second half and went on to beat the Colts.
| Playoff Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Game Site | TV Time | Attendance |
| Wild Card | December 29, 1996 | at Pittsburgh Steelers (3) | L 14–42 | 0–1 | Three Rivers Stadium | NBC 12:30 pm | 58,078 |