1991 Indianapolis Colts season

1991 Indianapolis Colts season
1991 Indianapolis Colts season
Owner	Hoosier Dome
Results
Record	1–15
Division place	5th AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None
	← 1990; Colts seasons; 1992 →;

The

season was the 39th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL) and eighth in Indianapolis. The team was looking to improve on the 7–9 record they had recorded in 1990. Instead, the Colts put together a campaign that ranked as one of the worst in NFL history.^[1]

The Colts only recorded one victory in sixteen games, becoming the fourth team since the extension of the NFL's regular season to sixteen games to suffer this ignominy. To date it is their worst full season record in the entire history of the franchise, and the second worst overall record in team history, beaten only by the 1982 Baltimore Colts squad, where the team failed to record a victory in the strike-shortened season and finished at 0–8–1.

The Colts’ poor performance cost sixth-year head coach Ron Meyer his job after the Colts’ fifth consecutive loss to open the season. Meyer had been with the Colts since Week 14 in 1986, when he replaced the fired Rod Dowhower after the Colts had lost their first thirteen games of the season. Defensive coordinator Rick Venturi was promoted to interim head coach; he would lead the team to its only win, a one-point victory over the New York Jets on the road. The 1991 Colts are one of three 1–15 teams to win their lone game by one point; the others are the 1980 New Orleans Saints and 2000 San Diego Chargers.

The Colts scored the fewest points up to that point (143)^{[note 1]} of any team in NFL history in a sixteen-game schedule,^{[note 2]} scoring in the single digits in 11 games. The Colts never scored more than 28 points in any game (doing so in their lone victory), scored less than ten points eleven times, were shut out twice, and failed to score one single touchdown in nine of their sixteen games, which remains the largest proportion of games without scoring a touchdown since the 1977 “Zero Gang” Tampa Bay Buccaneers did not score a touchdown in eight of fourteen games.^[2] Statistics site Football Outsiders said of the Colts 1991 season:

It’s the flipside of [Super Bowl champion] Washington; the Colts were the worst offense and defense in the league in the second half of close games, and the worst offense in the league in the first quarter.^[3]

Their futility was mentioned in a Thanksgiving edition of Bill Swerski's Superfans, a recurring Saturday Night Live sketch. The four characters, all Chicago Bears fans, commented on how some cities aren't as fortunate as Chicago to have a good football team, citing Indianapolis as an example. Coincidentally, six days before the skit aired, the Bears defeated the Colts 31–17 at Indianapolis.^[4] Ironically, however, the Colts would defeat the Bears in Super Bowl XLI, 15 years later.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School/Club Team
2	40	Shane Curry	Defensive end	Miami (FL)
3	69	Dave McCloughan	Defensive back	Colorado
4	96	Mark Vander Poel	Offensive tackle	Colorado
5	125	Kerry Cash	Tight end	Texas
6	152	Mel Agee	Defensive end	Illinois
7	181	James Bradley	Wide receiver	Michigan State
8	208	Tim Bruton	Tight end	Missouri
9	236	Howard Griffith	Running back	Illinois
10	263	Frank Giannetti	Nose tackle	Penn State
11	292	Jerry Crafts	Offensive tackle	Louisville
12	319	Rob Luedeke	Center	Penn State

Personnel

Staff

**1991 Indianapolis Colts staff**
	Front office President/treasurer – Robert Irsay Vice president/general manager – Jim Irsay Assistant general manager – Bob Terpening Director of player personnel – Jack Bushofsky Head coaches Head coach – Ron Meyer/Rick Venturi Assistant head coach/offensive line – Bill Muir Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Leon Burtnett Running backs – Sylvester Croom Receivers – Milt Jackson Tight ends – Brad Seely			Defensive coaches Defensive coordinator/linebackers – Rick Venturi Defensive line – Steve Furness Secondary – George Catavolos Special teams coaches Special teams – Brad Seely Strength and conditioning Strength and conditioning – Tom Zupancic

Roster

**1991 Indianapolis Colts final roster**

	Quarterbacks 11 Jeff George 9 Mark Herrmann 12 Rusty Hilger Running backs 32 Ken Clark 29 Eric Dickerson 44 Tim Manoa FB 34 Bruce Perkins Wide receivers 80 Bill Brooks 84 Jessie Hester 85 Darvell Huffman 86 Sammy Martin KR 83 Clarence Verdin KR/PR Tight ends 81 Pat Beach LS 88 Bob Mrosko		Offensive linemen 62 Brian Baldinger C/G 63 Brian Blados G/T 71 Kevin Call T 66 Chris Conlin G 69 Randy Dixon G 75 Irv Pankey T 64 Darin Shoulders T 72 Mark Vander Poel G Defensive linemen 90 Mel Agee DE/NT 76 Sam Clancy DE 91 Shane Curry DE 95 Travis Davis NT 78 Jon Hand DE 98 Tony Siragusa NT		Linebackers 51 Chip Banks OLB 50 Duane Bickett OLB 54 Jeff Herrod ILB 59 Matt Jaworski ILB 56 Brian Jones ILB 96 Quintus McDonald OLB/ILB 97 Scott Radecic ILB 92 Tony Walker OLB Defensive backs 31 Michael Ball SS 36 John Baylor SS 38 Eugene Daniel CB 37 Chris Goode CB 26 Alan Grant CB 25 Cornell Holloway CB 42 Dave McCloughan CB 39 Mike Prior FS 27 Keith Taylor FS Special teams 4 Dean Biasucci K 3 Rohn Stark P		Reserve lists 20 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 48 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 88 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 53 IRTooltip Injured reserve) -- IRTooltip Injured reserve) 23 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 73 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 74 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 99 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 68 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 10 IRTooltip Injured reserve) 58 IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad 18 Eddie Britton WR 21 Brian Lattimore RB 89 Reggie Thornton WR Rookies in italics 47 active, 12 inactive, 3 practice squad

Preseason

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	August 2	at Denver Broncos	L 3–10	0–1	Mile High Stadium	75,375
2	August 10	Seattle Seahawks	L 7–17	0–2	Hoosier Dome	47,943
3	August 17	New Orleans Saints	W 34–28	1–2	Hoosier Dome	45,963
4	August 23	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 21–23	1–3	Veterans Stadium	52,687

^[5]

Regular season

The Colts were victorious only once in the regular season, finishing last in the

Hoosier Dome

. (Incidentally, the Jets would become the next team to finish 1–15, doing so five years later.)

Since the Colts finished with the worst record in the NFL,

they won the right to draft Steve Emtman, a defensive lineman from Washington whose career was derailed by injuries. It would take them until 1995 to reach the playoffs again, and the Colts did not become consistently successful until Peyton Manning

joined the team near the end of the 1990s.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 1	New England Patriots	L 7–16	0–1	Hoosier Dome	49,961
2	September 8	at Miami Dolphins	L 6–17	0–2	Joe Robbie Stadium	51,155
3	September 15	at Los Angeles Raiders	L 0–16	0–3	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	40,287
4	September 22	Detroit Lions	L 24–33	0–4	Hoosier Dome	53,396
5	September 29	at Seattle Seahawks	L 3–31	0–5	Kingdome	56,656
6	October 6	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 3–21	0–6	Hoosier Dome	55,383
7	October 13	at Buffalo Bills	L 6–42	0–7	Rich Stadium	79,015
8	October 20	New York Jets	L 6–17	0–8	Hoosier Dome	53,025
9	Bye
10	November 3	Miami Dolphins	L 6–10	0–9	Hoosier Dome	55,899
11	November 10	at New York Jets	W 28–27	1–9	Giants Stadium	44,792
12	November 17	Chicago Bears	L 17–31	1–10	Hoosier Dome	60,519
13	November 24	at Green Bay Packers	L 10–14	1–11	Milwaukee County Stadium	42,132
14	December 1	Cleveland Browns	L 0–31	1–12	Hoosier Dome	57,539
15	December 8	at New England Patriots	L 17–23 (OT)	1–13	Foxboro Stadium	20,131
16	December 15	Buffalo Bills	L 7–35	1–14	Hoosier Dome	48,286
17	December 22	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 3–17	1–15	Tampa Stadium	28,043
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 11: at New York Jets

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Colts	0	7	21	0	28
Jets	7	7	7	6	27

at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Date: Sunday, November 10
Game time: 1:00 p.m.
Game weather: Rain, 40 °F (4.4 °C), wind 22 miles per hour (35 km/h; 19 kn), wind chill 31 °F or −0.6 °C
^[8]

Game information

First quarter

Jets – Brad Baxter 4 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) – Jets 7–0

Second quarter

Jets – Chris Burkett 15 yard pass from Ken O'Brien (Pat Leahy kick) – Jets 14–0
Colts – Jessie Hester 49 yard pass from Jeff George (Dean Biasucci kick) – Jets 14–7

Third quarter

Colts – Clarence Verdin 88 yard kickoff return (Dean Biasucci kick) – Tie 14–14
Jets – Brad Baxter 1 yard run (Pat Leahy kick) – Jets 21–14
Colts – Jessie Hester 7 yard pass from Jeff George (Dean Biasucci kick) – Tie 21–21
Colts – Bill Brooks 7 yard pass from Jeff George (Dean Biasucci kick) – Colts 28–21

Fourth quarter

Jets – Pat Leahy 22 yard field goal – Colts 28–24
Jets – Pat Leahy 25 yard field goal – Colts 28–27

Colts

Jeff George
16/26, 296 Yds, 3 TD, 2 INT
Ken Clark
20 Rush, 50 Yds
Jessie Hester
5 Rec, 100 Yds, 2 TD

Jets

Ken O'Brien
23/36, 329 Yds, TD
Blair Thomas
11 Rush, 58 Yds
Al Toon
6 Rec, 93 Yds

Week 16

	1	2	3	4	Total
• Bills	21	7	0	7	35
Colts	0	0	0	7	7

Date: December 15
Location:
Joe Theisman

^[9]

Jim Kelly and Frank Reich managed just thirteen completions, but four of them were touchdowns as the Bills romped 35–7. Jeff George was benched after completing just 83 yards and Mark Herrmann was even worse, throwing three interceptions. The win secured the #1 playoff seed for the Bills.

Standings

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
⁽¹⁾ Buffalo Bills	13	3	0	.813	7–1	10–2	458	318	L1
⁽⁶⁾ New York Jets	8	8	0	.500	4–4	6–6	314	293	W1
Miami Dolphins	8	8	0	.500	4–4	5–7	343	349	L2
New England Patriots	6	10	0	.375	4–4	5–9	211	305	L1
Indianapolis Colts	1	15	0	.063	1–7	1–11	143	381	L6

Notes

^ The 1991 Colts’ total is now second-lowest of all-time, behind the 140 points the Seattle Seahawks put up in 1992.
^ The league switched from a 14- to a 16-game schedule in 1978.

References

^ "The 25 Worst NFL Teams of All Time". Complex Networks.
^ Pro Football Reference; In a single season, from 1940 to 2017, in the Regular Season, requiring Touchdowns = 0, sorted by most games in season matching criteria
^ Football Outsiders: 1991 DVOA Ratings and Commentary
^ Bill Swerski's Super Fans: Thanksgiving - SNL (Video). Saturday Night Live. September 25, 2013. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
^ "1991 Indianapolis Colts (NFL)". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved November 3, 2023.
^ 1991 Indianapolis Colts against opponent with non-winning record
^ 1989 Dallas Cowboys against opponent with non-winning record
^ Indianapolis Colts at New York Jets – November 10th, 1991
^ pro-football-reference.com. Retrieved 2020-Jul-19.

[2] The 1991 Colts’ total is now second-lowest of all-time, behind the 140 points the Seattle Seahawks put up in 1992.

[3] The league switched from a 14- to a 16-game schedule in 1978.

[1] "The 25 Worst NFL Teams of All Time". Complex Networks.

[4] Pro Football Reference; In a single season, from 1940 to 2017, in the Regular Season, requiring Touchdowns = 0, sorted by most games in season matching criteria

[5] Football Outsiders: 1991 DVOA Ratings and Commentary

[6] Bill Swerski's Super Fans: Thanksgiving - SNL (Video). Saturday Night Live. September 25, 2013. Archived from the original on December 21, 2021. Retrieved June 12, 2020.

[7] "1991 Indianapolis Colts (NFL)". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved November 3, 2023.

[8] 1991 Indianapolis Colts against opponent with non-winning record

[9] 1989 Dallas Cowboys against opponent with non-winning record

[10] Indianapolis Colts at New York Jets – November 10th, 1991

[11] ro-football-reference.com. Retrieved 2020-Jul-19.

[1]

[note 1]

[note 2]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[9]

v t e Indianapolis Colts
Founded in 1953 Played in Baltimore (1953–1983) Based and headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana
Franchise	History in Baltimore relocation to Indianapolis Players Quarterbacks Coaches Seasons Draft First-round draft picks Ring of Honor
Stadiums	Memorial Stadium RCA Dome Lucas Oil Stadium
Culture	Carroll Rosenbloom Robert Irsay Jim Irsay 12th Man AAFC Colts Baltimore Colts Marching Band Blue Cheerleaders Elway to Marino Parks and Recreation
Lore	Dayton Triangles The Greatest Game Ever Played Ghost to the Post Move to Indianapolis 1995 AFC Championship Game Immaculate Redemption/The Tackle Deflategate Colts Catastrophe Snowvertime Minneapolis Miracle II
Rivalries	Houston Texans New England Patriots Brady–Manning rivalry
Division championships (16)	1968 1970 1975 1976 1977 1987 1999 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2009 2010 2013 2014
Conference championships (7)	1958 1959 1964 1968 1970 2006 2009
League championships (5)	1958 1959 1968 1970 (V) 2006 (XLI)
Retired numbers	18 19 22 24 70 77 82 89
Media	Broadcasters WFNI-AM Bob Lamey Jim Sorgi
Current league affiliations	League: National Football League Conference: American Football Conference Division: South Division
Category

v t e Indianapolis Colts seasons
Played in Baltimore (1953–1983)
1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Bold indicates NFL Championship (1920–65) or Super Bowl (1966–present) appearance