The Indianapolis Colts season was the franchise's 53rd season in the National Football League (NFL), the 22nd in Indianapolis and the fourth season under head coach Tony Dungy. The Colts improved on their 12–4 record from 2004 and finished the season 14–2. Indianapolis started the season with a 13-game winning streak and were heavily favored to go to and win Super Bowl XL. The Colts' rival, the New England Patriots, lost to the Denver Broncos in the Divisional round of the playoffs. The following day, the Colts were favored over the Pittsburgh Steelers because they had easily beaten them in their previous meeting. However, the Colts lost their first playoff game in heartbreaking fashion to the eventual Super Bowl champion Steelers, when placekicker Mike Vanderjagt missed a crucial field goal.
The 2005 Colts set an NFL record by winning twelve games in which they never trailed at any point in the contest and still stands as of today.Pro-Football-Reference.com: In a single season, from 1940 to 2011, in the regular season, team won game, team never trailed during game, sorted by most games in season matching criteria.Record still stands as of the 2023 season; the previous record-holder was the 1978 Miami Dolphins, who had 11 such games.
The 2005 Colts were the first team to start the season with 13 straight wins and lose an opening playoff game, although this would be repeated by the 2011 Green Bay Packers. They were also the first team to start the season with 13 straight wins and not win the Super Bowl, although this would be repeated by the 2007 New England Patriots who went 16–0 in the regular season, the Colts again in 2009 when they started 14–0 and went 14–2, the 2011 Green Bay Packers who started 13–0 and went 15–1, and by the 2015 Carolina Panthers who began the season 14–0 and went 15–1.
The Colts would, however, win the Super Bowl the next year with a 12–4 record over the Chicago Bears with a score of 29–17.
This was also the last season the Colts started games at different local times with other teams in the Eastern Time Zone, as the State of Indiana began observing Daylight Saving Time in 2006.
Offseason The Colts had a busy offseason with the main focus to sign star running back Edgerrin James to a new contract. However, that did not happen, and the Colts decided to take the initiative of sticking him with the franchise tag . (The franchise tag is a way to keep a player on the roster for one more year, but for a much larger salary than specified on the contract.) The Colts also signed RT Ryan Diem to a seven-year contract that included a $12 million signing bonus, which made him one of the highest-paid tackles in the league.
The Colts were not able to re-sign TE Marcus Pollard (Detroit Lions, free-agent) or DE Brad Scioli (free-agent) during the offseason.
2005 NFL draft + 2005 Indianapolis Colts Draft Selections Round Pick Player Position Height Weight College 1 29 Marlin Jackson CB 6–0 196 Michigan 2 60 Kelvin Hayden CB 6–0 195 Illinois 3 92 Vincent Burns DT 6–2 260 Kentucky 4 129 Dylan Gandy G 6–3 302 Texas Tech 4 135 Matt Giordano SS 5–11 192 California 5 148 Jonathan Welsh DE 6–4 235 Wisconsin 5 165 Rob Hunt C 6–3 298 North Dakota State 5 173 Tyjuan Hagler LB 6–0 236 Cincinnati 6 202 Dave Rayner K 6–2 210 Michigan State 7 243 Anthony Davis RB 5–7 200 Wisconsin
Roster Indianapolis Colts 2005 final roster Quarterbacks Peyton Manning Jim Sorgi
Running backs Kory Chapman Edgerrin James James Mungro FB Dominic Rhodes KR
Wide receivers Marvin Harrison Aaron Moorehead Brandon Stokley Troy Walters PR Reggie Wayne
Tight ends Dallas Clark Bryan Fletcher Ben Hartsock Ben Utecht Offensive linemen Ryan Diem T Tarik Glenn T Dylan Gandy G Ryan Lilja G Jeff Saturday C Jake Scott G/T Matt Ulrich G Kurt Vollers T
Defensive linemen Raheem Brock DE Dwight Freeney DE Robert Mathis DE Montae Reagor DT Darrell Reid DE/DT Corey Simon DT Josh Thomas DE Larry Tripplett DT Josh Williams DT Linebackers Gary Brackett MLB Gilbert Gardner OLB Johnathan Goddard OLB Cato June OLB Rob Morris MLB Keith O'Neil OLB David Thornton OLB
Defensive backs Jason David CB Mike Doss SS Matt Giordano FS Nick Harper CB Kelvin Hayden CB Von Hutchins CB Marlin Jackson CB Dexter Reid SS Bob Sanders FS Gerome Sapp FS
Special teams José Cortez K Hunter Smith P Justin Snow LS Mike Vanderjagt K Reserve lists Travis Brown QB (IR) Vincent Burns DE (IR) Rocky Calmus LB (IR) Cody Campbell C/G (IR) Makoa Freitas T (IR) Joaquin Gonzalez T (IR) Joseph Jefferson CB (IR) Tyjuan Hagler LB (PUP) Kendyll Pope LB (Susp.) Brad Pyatt WR (IR) Stephen Scaldaferri K (IR) Jonathan Welsh DE (IR) Keyon Whiteside LB (PUP)
Practice squad Tom Arth QB Roscoe Crosby WR Montiese Culton WR (IR) Eric Hill CB Mike Johnson C Bo Lacy T Chris Laskowski LB Brandon Lynch S (IR) Dave Rayner K John Standeford WR
rookies in italics 53 active, 15 inactive, 8 practice squad
Schedule
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 Atlanta Falcons L 21–27 0–1 Tokyo Dome Recap 2 Buffalo Bills L 10–17 0–2 RCA Dome Recap 3 Chicago Bears L 17–24 0–3 RCA Dome Recap 4 at Denver Broncos L 24–37 0–4 Invesco Field Recap 5 at Cincinnati Bengals L 0–38 0–5 Paul Brown Stadium Recap
Regular season Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap 1 September 11 at Baltimore Ravens W 24–7 1–0 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 2 September 18 Jacksonville Jaguars W 10–3 2–0 RCA Dome Recap 3 September 25 Cleveland Browns W 13–6 3–0 RCA Dome Recap 4 October 2 at Tennessee Titans W 31–10 4–0 The Coliseum Recap 5 October 9 at San Francisco 49ers W 28–3 5–0 Monster Park Recap 6 St. Louis Rams W 45–28 6–0 RCA Dome Recap 7 October 23 at Houston Texans W 38–20 7–0 Reliant Stadium Recap 8 Bye 9 at New England Patriots W 40–21 8–0 Gillette Stadium Recap 10 November 13 Houston Texans W 31–17 9–0 RCA Dome Recap 11 November 20 at Cincinnati Bengals W 45–37 10–0 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 12 Pittsburgh Steelers W 26–7 11–0 RCA Dome Recap 13 December 4 Tennessee Titans W 35–3 12–0 RCA Dome Recap 14 December 11 at Jacksonville Jaguars W 26–18 13–0 Alltel Stadium Recap 15 December 18 San Diego Chargers L 17–26 13–1 RCA Dome Recap 16 at Seattle Seahawks L 13–28 13–2 Qwest Field Recap 17 January 1 Arizona Cardinals W 17–13 14–2 RCA Dome Recap
Standings
Week-by-week results
Week 1: at Baltimore Ravens
In the first Sunday night football game of the 2005 NFL regular season, the Colts came into town to face the Baltimore Ravens. This game was a game of mistakes by Baltimore, and taking advantage of miscues for Indianapolis. Baltimore QB Kyle Boller threw an interception for a touchdown before being injured, and his replacement, Anthony Wright ended up throwing two more interceptions. Baltimore kicker Matt Stover missed three field goals, and gave the Colts more opportunities to score. The Colts also had three takeaways, and the Ravens had none, however, the Colts punted seven times while Baltimore only punted four times. Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning finished the game 21 for 36, with 254 yards passing, and two touchdown passes. Ravens QB Anthony Wright finished the game 19 for 31, with 214 yards passing, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Indianapolis RB Edgerrin James had 88 yards on 23 carries, and Ravens RB Jamal Lewis had 48 yards on 16 carries.
With the impressive win, Indianapolis began the season at 1–0. This ended up as the Colts’ first win in Baltimore since moving to Indianapolis.
Scoring summary
Q2 – IND – 0:15 – Mike Vanderjagt 20-yard FG (3–0 IND)
Q3 – IND – 8:43 – 28-yard TD pass from Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison (Vanderjagt kick) (10–0 IND)
Q3 – IND – 5:08 – 26-yard TD pass from Peyton Manning to Ben Utecht (Vanderjagt kick) (17–0 IND)
Q4 – IND – 2:39 – 30-yard interception return for TD by Cato June (Vanderjagt kick) (24–0 IND)
Q4 – BAL – 0:13 – 17-yard TD pass from Anthony Wright to Daniel Wilcox (Stover kick) (24–7 IND)
Week 2: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
During last week's game at Baltimore, the Colts' defense was the talk of the week, not their offense. This week was similar as the Colts surrendered only 3 points to the Jaguars. This game between AFC South division rivals was dominated by the running game for both teams, and the defensive lines. Colts QB Peyton Manning was 13 of 28 for 122 yards passing, with no touchdowns and an interception while Jacksonville QB Byron Leftwich finished the game 16 of 29 for 198 yards passing. Edgerrin James finished his day off with 27 carries for 128 yards rushing, and Jacksonville RB Fred Taylor finished with 16 carries for 81 yards. Jacksonville had seven fumbles in this game, but recovered every one of them. This game was scoreless until there was less than seven minutes to go in the third quarter.
With the win, the Colts improved to 2–0.
Scoring summary
Q3 – JAC – 6:59 – Josh Scobee 28-yard FG (3–0 JAC)
Q4 – IND – 8:27 – Ran Carthon 6-yard TD run (Vanderjagt kick) (7–3 IND)
Q4 – IND – 1:50 – Mike Vanderjagt 41-yard FG (10–3 IND)
Week 3: vs. Cleveland Browns
Colts RB Edgerrin James topped the 100-yard mark for the second straight game, and he also scored his first rushing touchdown of the year in this game. His 2-yard touchdown run was the only touchdown scored, and the kickers for both teams both kicked in two field goals each. The Browns defended the deep pass and the potent Colts offense all game, and the Colts just ran the ball. Both of the quarterbacks combined for only 11 incomplete passes. Colts QB Peyton Manning finished the game 19 for 23 with 228 yards passing and one interception as Browns QB Trent Dilfer finished 22 of 29 for 208 passing yards.
In this game, QB Peyton Manning was the second-fastest quarterback to reach 30,000 career passing yards. He did it in 115 games, while Miami Dolphins QB Dan Marino did it in 114 games. This win against the Browns was the Colts' seventh-consecutive win in the RCA Dome.
With the win, the Colts improved to 3–0.
Scoring summary
Q1 – IND – 4:11 – Edgerrin James 2-yard TD run (Vanderjagt kick) (7–0 IND)
Q2 – CLE – 13:13 – Phil Dawson 40-yard FG (7–3 IND)
Q2 – IND – 3:14 – Mike Vanderjagt 20-yard FG (10–3 IND)
Q3 – IND – 7:07 – Mike Vanderjagt 23-yard FG (13–3 IND)
Q4 – CLE – 14:09 – Phil Dawson 22-yard FG (13–6 IND)
Week 4: at Tennessee Titans
The Indianapolis offense finally showed up this game, as QB Peyton Manning threw for 264 yards and four touchdown passes. Two of those touchdown passes were to WR Marvin Harrison and those two touchdowns tied the record for the most touchdowns between a quarterback and a receiver. RB Edgerrin James had 21 carries for 90 yards, and Marvin Harrison had 9 catches for 109 yards.
The Colts have only allowed 26 points to be scored against them in four games so far, which is a franchise record. The Titans never really got anything going on offense, and Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair was their leading rusher for the team in this game.
With the win, the Colts improved to 4–0.
Scoring summary
Q1 – IND – 11:31 – 25-yard TD pass from Peyton Manning to Reggie Wayne (Vanderjagt kick) (7–0 IND)
Q1 – TEN – 4:58 – Rob Bironas 34-yard FG (7–3 IND)
Q2 – IND – 7:17 – Mike Vanderjagt 20-yard FG (10–3 IND)
Q2 – IND – 1:17 – 11-yard pass from Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison (Vanderjagt kick) (17–3 IND)
Q3 – IND – 7:55 – 8-yard pass from Peyton Manning to Edgerrin James (Vanderjagt kick) (24–3 IND)
Q4 – IND – 13:09 – 24-yard TD pass from Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison (Vanderjagt kick) (31–3 IND)
Q4 – TEN – 4:31 – 6-yard TD pass from Steve McNair to Bo Scaife (Bironas kick) (31–10 IND)
Week 5: at San Francisco 49ers