On This Date in Sports January 11, 2004: No Punts in the Playoffs
In collaboration with the Sportsecyclopedia.com
It’s a shootout at Arrowhead Stadium as the Indianapolis Colts beat the Kansas City Chiefs 38-31 to advance to the AFC Championship Game. It is the first postseason game in NFL history to be played without a punt from either team, as the teams combined for 882 yards of total offense. The Colts would go on to lose to the New England Patriots 24-14 in the AFC Championship.
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The 2003 season was the year when the Indianapolis Colts went from a strong team to a genuine contender as Peyton Manning won the first of a record five NFL MVP awards. The moment in which Manning and the Colts came of age can be linked back to Week 5, when the Colts down 35-14 against the defending Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers scored 21 points in the final five minutes to tie the game. The Colts would win the game in overtime 38-35. That was especially satisfying for Coach Tony Dungy who was returning to Tampa for the first time since being fired after the 2001 season. It was also Coach Dungy’s 48th birthday. The Colts would go on to win the AFC South with a record of 13-3.
The Kansas City Chiefs also finished 13-3 under Dick Vermeil, winning the AFC West as they ended a five-year playoff drought. Due to a tiebreaker, the Chiefs were the two-seed and had a bye in the first round, while the Colts needed to face the Denver Broncos in the Wild Card round. In that game, Peyton Manning won his first postseason game after three losses, beating the Broncos 41-10.
The Colts received the opening kickoff and marched down the field, taking ten plays to go 70 yards in 5:40, with Brandon Stokley catching a 29-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Manning. The Chiefs had an equally long drive but had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Morten Andersen. Getting the ball back, the Colts marched down the field again; with Edgerrin James scoring on an 11-yard run to give Indianapolis a 14-3 lead at the end of the first quarter. With the Colts offense looking effective, the Chiefs tried to slow the game down and held the ball more than seven minutes, Dante Hall catching a nine-yard touchdown strike from Trent Green. The Colts again answered as Manning hit Tom Lopienski to make it 21-10. Kansas City also continued to move the ball effectively, but again settled for a field goal try, this time it went awry as Morten Andersen missed from 31 yards out as the Colts took a knee consent to go to halftime with an 11-point lead.
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The Chiefs started the second half with the ball and were on their way once again, before Priest Holmes fumbled the ball away at the Colts 22, following a 48-yard run. The Colts would again drive down the field but failed to get in the end zone, as Mike Vanderjagt made it a two-touchdown lead with a 45-yard field goal. After fumbling on the previous drive, Holmes looked angry and tried to redeem himself by accounting for all 55-yards on an eight-play drive, which was capped by a one-yard plunge into the end zone. No matter what the Chiefs did, the Colts had an answer for and that happened again, with Manning connecting with Reggie Wayne on a 19-yard touchdown pass. As the Colts were celebrating a two-touchdown lead, the Chiefs were answering back as Dante Hall returned the kickoff 92 yards for a score to again make it a one-score game. As the fourth quarter began, Indianapolis was on the move again, driving down the field to make the score 38-24, on Edgerrin James second score of the game from the one-yard-line. Kansas City got the ball with plenty of time left, but scared to give the ball back to the Colts looked content to bleed the clock with another seven-minute drive, that saw Priest Holmes punch the ball into the end zone again. The Colts again moved the ball on the Chiefs, taking the clock down to the precious final seconds. Driving down to the Kansas City 28, the Colts turned the ball over on downs, when Dominic Rhodes was tackled by Eric Hicks, as they chose to eschew the field goal, not wanting a block to lead to a long return. When the Chiefs got the ball, they needed a miracle to tie the game, as just eight seconds were left on the clock. As the game ended with the Colts winning 38-31 when Holmes was taken down by Gary Brackett.
The Colts would go on to lose the following week to the New England Patriots 24-14 in the AFC Championship Game in the first postseason battle of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.