2012 Indianapolis Colts season The Indianapolis Colts season was the franchise ' s 60th season in the National Football league and the 29th in Indianapolis . The Colts earned the first selection in the 2012 NFL Draft due to a dismal 2 – 14 record in 2011 and used their first pick on Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck . The season marked the first for both head coach Chuck Pagano and general manager Ryan Grigson with the franchise . Offensive coordinator Bruce Arians served as interim head coach while Pagano underwent treatment for leukemia from week 5 – 16 ; he returned , with his cancer in remission , during the final week of the regular season . The team went 9 – 3 under Arians . The Colts earned a playoff berth , but were defeated by the eventual Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens in the Wild Card round . Personnel changes . On January 2 , 2012 , one day after the final game of the 2011 season , Colts owner Jim Irsay fired team Vice Chairman Bill Polian ( who had been the team ' s general manager since 1998 ) and his son , team Vice President and general manager Chris Polian . Nine days later ( January 11 ) , Ryan Grigson was named the new general manager . Head coach Jim Caldwell was fired on January 17 , 2012 . Eight days later ( January 25 ) , former Baltimore Ravens ' defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano agreed to becoming the Colts new head coach . Roster changes . Undrafted free agents . All undrafted free agents were signed just after the 2012 NFL Draft concluded on April 28 . Game notes . Regular season . Week 1 : at Chicago Bears . The Colts began their season on the road against the Bears . The game was highly hyped due to the start of the career of rookie QB Andrew Luck . The Colts drew first blood in the first quarter as Jerrell Freeman returned an interception 3 yards for a touchdown and a 7 - 0 lead . However , the Bears tied the game with Michael Bush ' s 1 - yard run to tie the game at 7 - 7 . In the 2nd quarter , the Bears took the lead as Brandon Marshall caught a 3 - yard touchdown pass from Jay Cutler to make the score 14 - 7 . They then increased their lead when Robbie Gould scored a 35 - yard field goal to make the score 17 - 7 . The Colts drew closer to shorten the lead to 3 with Donald Brown ' s 18 - yard touchdown run to make the score 17 - 14 . However with just seconds before halftime , the Bears drove down the field while Michael Bush ran in on a 1 - yard touchdown for a 24 - 14 halftime lead . In the 3rd quarter the Bears gained momentum once more with Matt Forte ' s 6 - yard touchdown run for a 31 - 14 lead and then Robbie Gould ' s 26 - yard field goal for a 34 - 14 lead . In the fourth quarter , Luck threw his first touchdown pass of the regular season . A 4 - yard pass to Donnie Avery to shorten the lead to 34 - 21 . However , the Bears capitalized the victory with Cutler ' s 42 - yard pass to Alshon Jeffery for a final score of 41 - 21 . With the loss , the Colts began their season 0 - 1 . Week 2 : vs . Minnesota Vikings . After a tough loss to the Bears , the Colts returned home to take on the Vikings . The Vikes took the lead as Blair Walsh nailed a field goal from 51 yards out for a score of 3 - 0 . However , the Colts made it 7 - 3 with Andrew Luck ' s 3 - yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Allen . The Vikings came within a point as Blair Walsh kicked a 29 - yard field goal for a 7 - 6 score . However , the Colts moved further ahead as Vinatieri scored a 26 - yard field goal , followed by Andrew Luck ' s 30 - yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne for leads of 10 - 6 and then 17 - 6 at halftime . In the 3rd quarter , the Colts increased their lead when Vinatieri scored a 45 - yard field goal to make the score 20 - 6 . However , in the fourth quarter the Vikings were able to score 2 straight touchdowns with Christian Ponder ' s 7 - yard pass to Stephen Burton to make the score 20 - 13 and then a 6 - yard pass to Kyle Rudolph to tie the game at 20 - 20 . With 8 seconds left , the Colts drove down the field and wrapped the game up with Vinatieri 53 - yard field goal for a final score of 23 - 20 . With the win , the Colts improved to 1 - 1 and remain undefeated at home against the Vikings as a franchise . Week 3 : vs . Jacksonville Jaguars . After the tough home win over the Vikings , the Colts stayed home for a division rival duel against the Jaguars . Scoring started early as the Jags drew first blood scoring a 44 - yard field goal from Josh Scobee to take a 3 - 0 lead . However , the Colts took the lead with Andrew Luck ' s 40 - yard touchdown pass to T . Y . Hilton for a 7 - 3 lead . The Colts increased their lead in the 2nd quarter with Andrew Luck ' s 4 - yard touchdown pass to Mewelde Moore for a 14 - 3 halftime lead . In the 3rd quarter , the Jaguars were able to fire back as Maurice Jones - Drew ran in a touchdown from 59 yards out to cut the lead to 14 - 10 . Followed up quickly by Scobee ' s 47 - yard field goal to shorten the lead to a point 14 - 13 . In the fourth quarter , the Jags were able to take the lead with Scobee kicking a 26 - yard field goal for a 16 - 14 lead . The Colts however retook the lead with Vinateri ' s 37 - yard field goal for a 17 - 16 lead . But then the Jags were able to complete the comeback attempt 11 seconds later with Blaine Gabbert ' s touchdown pass to Cecil Shorts III ( with a failed 2 - point conversion ) to make the final score 22 - 17 . With the loss , the Colts went into their bye week at 1 - 2 . Week 5 : vs . Green Bay Packers . Coming off their bye week , the Colts stayed home for a duel against the Packers . Scoring got off to an early start as John Kuhn ran for a 2 - yard touchdown to take a 7 - 0 lead . In the 2nd quarter , the Packers increased their lead with Aaron Rodgers ' s 6 - yard touchdown pass to James Jones to make the score 14 - 0 . After this , the Colts finally got on the board with Vinatieri ' s 24 - yard field goal to make the score 14 - 3 . However , the Packers pulled away as Aaron Rodgers connected with Randall Cobb for a 31 - yard touchdown pass to take a 21 - 3 halftime lead . After the break , the Colts began to fire back As Andrew Luck connected with Dawyne Allen on an 8 - yard touchdown pass , followed by Vinatieri ' s 50 - yard field goal and then Luck ' s 3 - yard rushing touchdown ( with a failed 2 - point conversion ) to shorten the lead to 21 - 10 , 21 - 13 , and then 21 - 19 . In the 4th quarter the Colts took the lead as Vinatieri kicked a 28 - yard field goal for a 1 - point lead 22 - 21 . However , the Packers again retook the lead as Rodgers found Jones again for an 8 - yard touchdown pass ( with a failed 2 - point conversion ) and led 27 - 22 . However , the Colts were able to capitalize the comeback victory with Luck ' s 4 - yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne with the 2 - point conversion successful and win the game 30 - 27 . With the win , the Colts improved to 2 - 2 . Week 6 : at New York Jets . After their tough home win over the Packers , the Colts traveled to take on the Jets at Metlife Stadium . The Colts scoring took off in the first quarter with Adam Vinatieri ' s 20 - yard field goal to take a 3 - 0 lead . However , the Jets took the lead in the 2nd quarter with Mark Sanchez looking up with Stephen Hill for a 5 - yard touchdown pass for a 7 - 3 lead . They would later increase their lead with Shonn Greene ' s 10 - yard run for a 14 - 3 lead . However , the Colts were able to draw closer with Vinatieri ' s 50 - yard field goal to make the score 14 - 6 . However the Jets pulled away as Sanchez found Jason Hill on a 5 - yard touchdown pass to make the score 21 - 6 at halftime . The Jets went back to work as Shonn Greene ran for a 4 - yard touchdown to make the score 28 - 6 . The Colts scored another field goal from Vinateri from 47 yards out to make the score 28 - 9 , however the Jets wrapped the game up with Shonn Greene ' s 2 - yard touchdown run to make the final score 35 - 9 . With the huge loss , the Colts fell to 2 - 3 while rookie QB Andrew Luck would have his first career game without a single touchdown pass .