On This Date in Sports January 11, 2004: Colts Become Real
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 lose to the New England Patriots 24-14 in the AFC Championship.
The 2003 season was when the Indianapolis Colts went from a solid 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 win the AFC South with a record of 13-3.
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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 for 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.
The Chiefs started the second half with the ball and were on their way again before Priest Holmes fumbled the ball away at the Colt's 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, 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 make it a one-score game again. 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.
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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 moved the ball on the Chiefs again, taking the clock to the precious final seconds. Driving down to the Kansas City 28, the Colts turned the ball over on downs when Eric Hicks tackled Dominic Rhodes, 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, and the game ended with the Colts winning 38-31 when Gary Brackett took down Holmes.
The Colts would 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.