AFC DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS - INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (13-4) at BALTIMORE RAVENS (13-3)

DATE: Saturday, January 13, 2007
SITE: M&T Bank Stadium
KICKOFF: 4:30 p.m. (EST)
CAPACITY: 70,107
SURFACE: Sportexe Momentum

Making an NFL-best seventh playoff appearance in the past eight seasons and advancing to the Divisional Playoffs for the fourth consecutive season, the Indianapolis Colts, 13-4, visit the Baltimore Ravens, 13-3, on Saturday, January 13. Kickoff for the contest, telecast nationally by CBS Sports and Westwood One, is 4:30 p.m. (EST).

Indianapolis and Baltimore are meeting for the first time in the playoffs. The Colts and Ravens have clashed six times during regular-season play, with Indianapolis owning a 4-2 series edge. These teams met in the 2005 opener in Baltimore, as the Colts posted a 24-7 victory. Indianapolis reaches the Divisional Playoffs following a 23-8 home win last Saturday over Kansas City. The second-seeded Ravens had a bye during the Wildcard Playoffs.

The Colts own the NFL’s best regular-season record (89-39) since the start of the 1999 season, while being the only team to earn seven playoff appearances in the last eight seasons. Indianapolis enters the playoffs as victors in 34 of its last 41 league games. Indianapolis’ winning ways include a 23-7 record in AFC South play, while the club has owned or shared the lead in 78 of 85 weeks of the division’s existence.

Indianapolis won its club-record fourth consecutive division title in 2006, and accomplishing the feat made the Colts one of 15 teams since the 1970 Merger to win 4+ consecutive division titles: (7, LA Rams, NFC West, 1973-79; 6, Minnesota, NFC Central, 1973-78; 6, Pittsburgh, AFC Central, 1974-79; 5, Oakland, AFC West, 1972-76; 5, Chicago, NFC Central, 1984-88; 5, San Francisco, NFC West, 1986-90; 5, Dallas, NFC East, 1992-96; 4, Miami, AFC East, 1971-74; 4, Dallas, NFC East, 1976-79; 4, Buffalo, AFC East, 1988-91; 4, San Francisco, NFC West, 1992-95; 4, Pittsburgh, AFC Central, 1994-97; 4, Philadelphia, NFC East, 2001-04; 4, New England, AFC East, 2003-06). The Colts (14-2, 2005; 12-4, 2003, 2004 and 2006) have joined Dallas (1992-95) as the only NFL teams to win 12+ games in four consecutive seasons. Indianapolis owns a 50-14 record over the past four regular seasons, to rank among the NFL’s winningest teams over any four-year span (52, Chicago, 1985-88; 52, San Francisco, 1989-92; 51, San Francisco, 1987-90; 50, Chicago, 1984-87; 49, Buffalo, 1990-93; 49, Dallas, 1992-95; 49, San Francisco, 1994-97).

COLTS PLAYOFF RECAP

AFC WILDCARD PLAYOFFS: COLTS 23, KANSAS CITY 8

Indianapolis scored the first 16 points of the contest and held Kansas City without a first down for the first 42 minutes of the game in posting a 23-8 victory. K-Adam Vinatieri booted field goals of 48, 19 and 50 yards in the first half, then RB-Joseph Addai (25-122, 1 TD) tallied on a 6t burst midway through the third quarter to give Indianapolis its cushion. After the Chiefs cut the score to 16-8, QB-Peyton Manning (30-38-268, 1 TD/3 ints.) directed a march that ended with his 5t strike to WR-Reggie Wayne early in the fourth quarter. Indianapolis produced four sacks and three takeaways, while holding the Chiefs to 44 yards on 17 rushes. Manning hit eight different receivers, with Addai (7-26), Wayne (5-36, 1 TD) and TE-Dallas Clark (9-103) leading the way. Indianapolis out-gained Kansas City, 435-126, including 188-44 on the ground. Indianapolis controlled the ball for 39:23 of the contest.

2006 INDIANAPOLIS COLTS REGULAR SEASON NOTES

QB-Peyton Manning has started the first 144 regular-season games of his career. Manning (3,131-4,890-37,586, 275, TDs/139 ints. 94.4 rating, career; 362-557-4,397, 31 TDs/9 ints., 101.0 rating, 2006) has produced the longest career-opening starting streak by any QB in NFL history, and the longest streak ever by a Colts QB. Manning is only the fifth Colts player with 100+ consecutive starts (115, C-Ken Mendenhall; 104, DE-Fred Cook; 102, DB-Jason Belser; 101, OT-Tarik Glenn). He was 25-41-276, 1 TD/int. at NYG 9/10. He was 26-38-400, 3 TDs vs. Houston 9/17 to earn AFC Offensive Player-of-the-Week honors. He was 14-31-219, 1 TD vs. Jacksonville 9/24, and had a 2t rush. He was 21-30-217, 1 TD at NYJ 10/1, conducting two fourth-quarter comeback TD drives, including a 1t rush in the final minute for the win. He became the first Colts quarterback ever with a game-winning touchdown run in the final minute of a game. He was 20-31-166, 2 TDs/1 int. Tennessee 10/8. Manning was 25-35-342, 4 TDs vs. Washington 10/22. Manning finished the Washington game with 256 career touchdown passes, and he surpassed Hall of Fame QBs-Dan Fouts (254) and Sonny Jurgensen (255) for 10th-place in NFL history. Manning also earned AFC Offensive Player-of-the-Week honors. He was 32-39-345, 3 TDs at Denver 10/29. He directed five second-half scoring drives, including two in the last seven minutes. Manning had three second-half scoring passes against a defense that had yielded but two touchdowns in its first six games. Manning earned AFC Offensive Player-of-the-Month honors for October. He was 20-36-326, 2 TDs/1 int. at New England 11/5, and he became the first Colts quarterback since John Unitas (1963) to surpass 300 passing yards in three consecutive games. He was 27-39-236, 1 TD vs. Buffalo 11/12, surpassing Dave Krieg for 9th-place in NFL career touchdown passes. He was 20-39-254, 2 TDs/ints. at Dallas 11/19. Manning was 14-20-183, 1 TD/int. vs. Philadelphia 11/26. He was 21-28-351, 1 TD/2 ints. at Tennessee 12/3. He was 25-50-313, 1 int. at Jacksonville 12/10. He was 29-36-282, 4 TDs vs. Cincinnati 12/18, surpassing Vinny Testaverde for 8th-place in NFL career touchdown passes. He was 21-27-205, 3 TDs Houston 12/24, topping 4,000+ seasonal passing yards, and his seven 4,000+ seasons are the new NFL record (6, Marino). He was 22-37-282, 2 TDs vs. Miami 12/31, surpassing Joe Montana for 7th-place in NFL career touchdown passes. He has thrown touchdown passes in 127 of 144 games, for two or more touchdowns in 83 games and for four or more touchdowns in 15 outings. Manning has 25+ touchdown passes in a league-record nine consecutive seasons, and he has nine of the 19 20+-touchdown seasons in club history. Manning has nine consecutive 3,000+ seasons and owns nine of the 15 3,000+ seasons in Colts history (3, Unitas; 3, Jones). He is the only NFL QB ever to have nine 3,000+ seasons to open a career. Manning’s streak of nine consecutive 3,000+ seasons is the T2nd-longest streak in NFL history (15, Brett Favre; 9, Dan Marino). He also is the only NFL player to have 4,000+ passing yards in six consecutive seasons (1999-04). Manning has completed more passes and thrown for more yards and touchdowns in a career-opening nine-year span than any NFL player. Manning (2003, 2004) is a two-time MVP by the Associated Press, and he is a seven-time Pro Bowler (1999-00, 02-06). His five consecutive nominations rank among the best in club history (8, John Unitas, 1957-64; 8, OG/T-Jim Parker, 1958-65; 8, WR-Marvin Harrison, 1999-06; 6, DE-Gino Marchetti, 1959-64; 5, DT-Art Donovan, 1953-57; 5, OT-Chris Hinton, 1985-89; 5, RB-Lenny Moore, 1958-62). Manning has amassed three perfect rating games (10/22/00 vs. New England; 11/10/02 at Philadelphia; 9/28/03 at New Orleans), the most by any NFL player since the rating system was created in 1973 (he added a perfect game in the playoffs 1/4/04 vs. Denver). Manning authored his seventh career double-digit victory season in 2006, and he is the club leader in 10+-victory seasons by a quarterback (3, Unitas; 3, Jones). Manning has teamed with 26 different players for touchdowns an