It was under quarterback Peyton Manning that the Colts saw their greatest success with the team appearing in the playoffs nine consecutive seasons, which is tied for a league record.

However, under head coach Weeb Ewbank and the leadership of quarterback Johnny Unitas, the Colts would go onto a 9 – 3 record during the 1958 season and reached the NFL Championship Game for the first time in their history by winning the NFL Western Conference.

Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Johnny Unitas was the Baltimore Colts ' starting quarterback from 1956 to 1972.

Under the new ownership, the Colts did not reach the postseason for three consecutive seasons after 1971, and after the 1972 season, starting quarterback and legend Johnny Unitas, was traded to the San Diego Chargers.

The Colts finished 0 – 8 – 1 in the strike-shortened 1982 season and earned the team the right to select Stanford quarterback John Elway with the first overall pick, but Elway refused to play for Baltimore, and using leverage as a draftee of the New York Yankees baseball club, forced a trade to Denver.

Under Tobin, the Colts would go onto draft running back Marshall Faulk with the second overall pick in the 1994 and acquired quarterback Jim Harbaugh as well.

Peyton Manning was the starting quarterback for the Colts from 1998 until 2010.

However, even with a veteran quarterback, the Colts went on to an 0 – 13 record and finished the season with a 2 – 14 record, enough to receive the first overall pick in the 2012 draft.

The Colts used their number one overall draft pick in 2012 to draft Stanford Cardinal quarterback Andrew Luck and would also draft his teammate Coby Fleener in the second round .. Also, the Colts will switch to a 3-4 defensive scheme.

The following January 13 in the AFC Divisional Playoffs the Chargers intercepted Manning twice and clawed to a 28-24 lead despite injury to quarterback Philip Rivers ; Manning was stopped on downs twice in the fourth quarter and the Chargers ended the Colts ' reign as defending champions.

The Vikings were 11 – 2 after 14 weeks, but slumped briefly, losing their last three to the Rams, Packers and Colts while starting quarterback Daunte Culpepper was hampered by injury.

Ewbank and quarterback Joe Namath led the Jets to prominence in 1969 when New York defeated the heavily-favored Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III and solidified the AFL's position in the world of professional football.

By contrast, the Indianapolis Colts — among the most successful franchises in any sport during the 2000s with quarterback Peyton Manning — had a 2-14 record in 2011 because of injuries that prevented Manning from playing.

Beathard drafted quarterback Ryan Leaf after the Indianapolis Colts selected Peyton Manning with the first pick in the 1998 NFL Draft.

Colts quarterback Earl Morrall threw three interceptions before being replaced by Johnny Unitas, who then led Baltimore to its only touchdown during the last few minutes of the game.

The Colts were an unspectacular but well-balanced veteran team, led by 37-year old quarterback Johnny Unitas.

Dallas forced the Colts to punt on their next possession, and several plays later, quarterback Craig Morton completed a 47-yard pass to Bob Hayes at the Colts 12-yard line, with a roughing the passer penalty adding 6 yards ( half the distance to the goal ).

Later, Miami shut out the defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Colts, 21 – 0, in the AFC Championship Game, with safety Dick Anderson intercepting 3 passes from Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas and returning one of them for a 62-yard touchdown.

Morrall had previously played for Dolphins head coach Don Shula when they were both with the Baltimore Colts, where Morrall backed up quarterback Johnny Unitas and started in Super Bowl III.

* Rex Kern, Football quarterback, Ohio State Buckeyes football 1968 National Championship team, All-American, College Football Hall of Fame ( 2007 ); played professionally as a defensive back for the NFL's Buffalo Bills and Baltimore Colts

In order to boost ticket sales, Washington owner Joe Wheeler offered former Baltimore Colts quarterback Johnny Unitas a contract as head coach and general manager of the team.

* Jim Sorgi-Indianapolis Colts and New York Giants NFL quarterback

In recent years, the Colts and Giants featured brothers as their starting quarterbacks ( Peyton and Eli Manning respectively ) leading to their occasional matchup being referred to as " the Manning Bowl ".

The two teams met twice a year ( interrupted in 1982 by a player strike ) 1970 – 2001 ; with the move of the Colts to the AFC South the two teams ' rivalry actually escalated, as they met three times in the playoffs in the South's first nine seasons of existence ; the Jets crushed the Colts 41 – 0 in the 2002 Wild Card playoff round ; the Colts then defeated the Jets 30 – 17 in the 2009 AFC Championship Game ; but the next year in the Wild Card round the Jets pulled off another playoff upset of the Colts, winning 17 – 16 ; it was Peyton Manning's final playoff game with the Colts.

The rivalry truly began heating up with the 1998 draft and the selections of Peyton Manning by the Colts and the ill-fated Ryan Leaf by the Chargers.

They won against the Panthers in the first game at the New Meadowlands, but then lost to the Colts in the second " Manning Bowl ", so-called due to Eli Manning's brother Peyton playing for the Colts.

However, Peyton Manning, formerly of the Indianapolis Colts often audibles to plays that use this formation to take advantage of the fast receivers like Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne to gain handsome yardage in a single play.

Port Allen is the hometown of Tracy Porter, the New Orleans Saints cornerback who clinched the Saints ' win in Super Bowl XLIV with his late fourth quarter interception of a pass by Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.

* 2009 – Peyton Manning, QB, Colts

With quarterback Peyton Manning, wide receiver Marvin Harrison, and running back Edgerrin James, the Colts had scored 79 points in their 2 playoff victories against the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs, including a 38-31 victory over the Chiefs in the first puntless game in NFL playoff history.

After the Colts were eliminated in the first round of the 2002 playoffs, Vanderjagt gave an interview to Toronto area cable network The Score, in which he criticized coach Tony Dungy and quarterback Peyton Manning.

However, he also had considerably fewer field goal chances that season ( 25 ), as the Colts offense scored 61 touchdowns ( nearly four per game ), with Peyton Manning throwing a then NFL record 49 TD passes.

In 2009 Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts started the season 14 – 0 before losing to the Jets when Jim Caldwell rested their starters.

On March 7, 2012, the Colts announced that they would not pick up the option on his contract, including a $ 28 million roster bonus, because of this, Peyton became a free agent.

Playing against the Indianapolis Colts and Co-MVP Peyton Manning ( Steve McNair of the Titans was also Co-MVP ) the Patriots recorded 4 interceptions, and advanced to Super Bowl XXXVIII, where they defeated the Carolina Panthers 32 – 29 on a late Adam Vinatieri field goal.

He played with former Indianapolis Colts ( and now Denver Broncos ) quarterback Peyton Manning.

Milloy was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week after he led the team with 12 tackles and intercepted a pair of QB Peyton Manning passes, which he returned for 24 yards, in a 21 – 16 victory vs the Colts.

A backup to Peyton Manning of Indianapolis, Holcomb was cut in the 2000 off-season to be allowed to compete for the starting job with the Cleveland Browns, following Bruce Arians who left as the QB coach of the Colts to become the offensive coordinator of the Browns.

The Colts would lose to the New England Patriots and Tom Brady in the 2003 AFC Championship Game and the 2004 divisional playoffs beginning a rivalry between the two team, and more importantly between Manning and Brady.

Following two consecutive playoff losses to the Patriots, the Colts began the 2005 season with a 13 – 0 record, including a regular season victory over the Patriots, the first in the Manning era.

The Colts faced the Chicago Bears in the Super Bowl and would go onto win the game 29 – 17, giving Manning, Polian, Irsay and Dungy their first Super Bowl title, as well as the first title for the city of Indianapolis.

The Colts for the second time in the Manning era would enter the playoffs with the best record in the AFC.

After missing the preseason, Manning was ruled out for the Colts opening game in Houston and eventually the entire 2011 season.

The Colts also began to release their veteran players from the Manning era including Joseph Addai, Dallas Clark and Gary Brackett.

On November 4, 2007 the Patriots defeated the Colts 24 – 20 ; in the next matchup on November 2, 2008, the Colts won 18 – 15 in a game that was one of the reasons the Patriots failed to make the playoffs ; in the 2009 meeting, the Colts staged a spirited comeback to beat the Patriots 35 – 34 ; in the most recent 2010 game, the Colts almost staged another comeback, pulling within 31 – 28 after trailing 31 – 14 in the fourth quarter, but fell short due to a Patriots interception of a Manning pass late in the game.

Marino led a 25-point fourth quarter comeback for a 34 – 31 Dolphins win at the RCA Dome, then in Miami Marino led another comeback to tie the game 34 – 34 with 36 seconds remaining ; Manning, however, drove the Colts in range for a 53-yard field goal as time expired ( 37 – 34 Colts win ).

Manning's Colts defeated the Chargers in 1998 and 1999, but in 2004 with Leaf long gone from the game the revamped Chargers behind Drew Brees erupted into playoff contention ; on December 26 with both teams at 11-3 the Colts hosted the Chargers with Manning close to matching Dan Marino's touchdown record ; the Chargers stormed to a 31-16 lead, but Dominic Rhodes ' kickoff return put the Colts within eight points, then with one minute remaining Manning rifled a 21-yard touchdown to Brandon Stokley, breaking Marino's record ; the two-point try succeeded, then after Brees was intercepted the game went to overtime and the Colts won 34-31 on a field goal.