The 2002 Indianapolis Colts season was the 50th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL) and 19th in Indianapolis. The Colts made it to the playoffs after a one-year absence in 2001 when they finished with a 6–10 record and would not miss the playoffs again until 2011. The 2002 season marked the first for the Colts in the new AFC South after competing for 32 seasons in the AFC East. The season is memorable when the team hired Ex-Bucs coach Tony Dungy. He would later take the Colts to Super Bowl XLI after a successful 2006 season.
| 2002 Indianapolis Colts season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Jim Irsay |
| General manager | Bill Polian |
| Head coach | Tony Dungy |
| Home field | RCA Dome |
| Results | |
| Record | 10–6 |
| Division place | 2nd AFC South |
| Playoff finish | Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Jets) 41–0 |
| Pro Bowlers | QB Peyton Manning WR Marvin Harrison |
| Uniform | |
 | |
In the Wildcard round, the Colts were soundly embarrassed by the New York Jets, as they ended up losing the game 41-0. The Jets would go on to lose to the eventual AFC Champion Oakland Raiders the following week.
Offseason
| Additions | Subtractions |
|---|---|
| CB Walt Harris (Bears) | TE Ken Dilger (Buccaneers) |
| WR Troy Walters (Vikings) | SS Chad Cota (Rams) |
| QB Brock Huard (Seahawks) | WR Tony Simmons (Texans) |
| WR Qadry Ismail (Ravens) | WR Terrence Wilkins (Rams) |
| FB Detron Smith (Broncos) | CB Jeff Burris (Bengals) |
| WR Jerome Pathon (Saints) | |
| DT Ellis Johnson (Falcons) | |
| G Steve McKinney (Texans) | |
| G Larry Moore (Redskins) |
NFL draft
| 2002 Indianapolis Colts draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Dwight Freeney * | Defensive end | Syracuse | |
| 2 | 42 | Larry Tripplett | Defensive tackle | Washington | |
| 3 | 74 | Joseph Jefferson | Defensive back | Western Kentucky | |
| 4 | 106 | David Thornton | Linebacker | North Carolina | |
| 6 | 182 | David Pugh | Defensive tackle | Virginia Tech | |
| 6 | 183 | James Lewis | Defensive back | Miami (FL) | |
| 6 | 204 | Brian Allen | Running back | Stanford | |
| 7 | 220 | Josh Mallard | Defensive end | Georgia | |
| Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Undrafted free agents
| Player | Position | College |
|---|---|---|
| Ricky Williams | Running Back | Texas Tech |
| Kurt Vollers | Tackle | Notre Dame |
Personnel
Staff
|
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
|
Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
|
Roster
Preseason schedule
| Date | Opponent | Result | Host Stadium | NFL Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 10, 2002 | at Seattle Seahawks | W 28–10 | Qwest Field | |
| August 20, 2002 | Cincinnati Bengals | L 10–22 | RCA Dome | |
| August 24, 2002 | Buffalo Bills | W 19–7 | RCA Dome | Recap |
| August 30, 2002 | at New Orleans Saints | L 21–25 | Louisiana Superdome | Recap |
Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game Site | NFL Recap | TV Time | Attendance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 8, 2002 | at Jacksonville Jaguars | W 28–25 | 1–0 | Alltel Stadium | Recap | CBS 1:00 pm | |
| 2 | September 15, 2002 | Miami Dolphins | L 13–21 | 1–1 | RCA Dome | Recap | CBS 1:00 pm | |
| 3 | September 22, 2002 | at Houston Texans | W 23–3 | 2–1 | Reliant Stadium | Recap | CBS 1:00 pm | |
| 4 | Bye | |||||||
| 5 | October 6, 2002 | Cincinnati Bengals | W 28–21 | 3–1 | RCA Dome | Recap | CBS 1:00 pm | |
| 6 | October 13, 2002 | Baltimore Ravens | W 22–20 | 4–1 | RCA Dome | Recap | CBS 1:00 pm | |
| 7 | October 21, 2002 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | L 10–28 | 4–2 | Heinz Field | Recap | ABC 9:00 pm | |
| 8 | October 27, 2002 | at Washington Redskins | L 21–26 | 4–3 | FedExField | Recap | ESPN 8:30 pm | |
| 9 | November 3, 2002 | Tennessee Titans | L 15–23 | 4–4 | RCA Dome | Recap | CBS 1:00 pm | |
| 10 | November 10, 2002 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 35–13 | 5–4 | Veterans Stadium | Recap | CBS 1:00 pm | |
| 11 | November 17, 2002 | Dallas Cowboys | W 20–3 | 6–4 | RCA Dome | Recap | FOX 4:15 pm | |
| 12 | November 24, 2002 | at Denver Broncos | W 23–20 | 7–4 | Invesco Field at Mile High | Recap | ESPN 8:30 pm | |
| 13 | December 1, 2002 | Houston Texans | W 19–3 | 8–4 | RCA Dome | Recap | CBS 1:00 pm | |
| 14 | December 8, 2002 | at Tennessee Titans | L 17–27 | 8–5 | Adelphia Coliseum | Recap | CBS 1:00 pm | |
| 15 | December 15, 2002 | at Cleveland Browns | W 28–23 | 9–5 | Cleveland Browns Stadium | Recap | CBS 1:00 pm | |
| 16 | December 22, 2002 | New York Giants | L 27–44 | 9–6 | RCA Dome | Recap | FOX 1:00 pm | |
| 17 | December 29, 2002 | Jacksonville Jaguars | W 20–13 | 10–6 | RCA Dome | Recap | CBS 4:15 pm | |
Standings
| AFC South | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| (2) Tennessee Titans | 11 | 5 | 0 | .688 | 6–0 | 9–3 | 367 | 324 | W5 |
| (5) Indianapolis Colts | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 4–2 | 8–4 | 349 | 313 | W1 |
| Jacksonville Jaguars | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 1–5 | 4–8 | 328 | 315 | L2 |
| Houston Texans | 4 | 12 | 0 | .250 | 1–5 | 2–10 | 213 | 356 | L3 |
Game summaries
Week 1: at Jacksonville Jaguars
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colts | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Jaguars | 0 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 25 |
Scoring summary
Q1 – IND – 2:38 – 6-yard touchdown pass from Peyton Manning to Qadry Ismail (Vanderjagt kick) (7–0 IND)
Q2 – JAC – 7:34 – 8-yard pass from Mark Brunell to Pete Mitchell (Hayden Epstein kick) (7–7)
Q2 – IND – 0:33- Marcus Washington 40-yard interception return (Vanderjagt kick) (14–7 IND)
Q3 – JAC – 7:39 – Hayden Epstein 27-yard FG (14–10 IND)
Q3 – JAC – 5:20 – 18-yard pass from Mark Brunell to Patrick Johnson (Hayden Epstein kick) (14–17 JAC)
Q3 – IND – 2:57 – 12-yard pass from Peyton Manning to Qadry Ismail (Vanderjagt kick) (21–17 IND)
Q4 – IND – 11:26 – 3-yard pass from Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison (Vanderjagt kick) (28–17 IND)
Q4 – JAC – 4:11 – Fred Taylor 6-yard run (Mark Brunell pass to Jimmy Smith for 2-point conversion) (28–25 IND)
Week 2: vs. Miami Dolphins
The Colts were defeated by the Dolphins in their only game of the season against a team from their former division, the AFC East. The game was also the first following the passing of Colts Hall of Famer Johnny Unitas. In tribute to Unitas, Peyton Manning wore black cleats, this against league rules; he was fined but the league was criticized for the fine later.
Postseason schedule
| Playoff Round | Date | Opponent (seed) | Result | Record | Game Site | NFL Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Card | January 4, 2003 | at New York Jets (4) | L 0–41 | 0–1 | Giants Stadium | Recap |
Postseason results
AFC Wild-Card Playoff Game: vs. New York Jets
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colts | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jets | 7 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 41 |
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
- Game time: 4:30 pm EST/5:30 pm CST
- Game weather: 35 °F (Cloudy)
- Game attendance: 78,524
- Referee: Tony Corrente
- TV announcers (ABC): Brent Musburger and Gary Danielson
In his playoff debut, quarterback Chad Pennington completed 19 of 25 passes for 222 yards and 3 touchdowns as he led the Jets to a shutout victory over the Colts. Colts quarterback Peyton Manning was limited to 14 out of 31 (45.2 percent) completions for 137 yards, with 2 interceptions.
Scoring summary
- NYJ – FG Hall 41
- NYJ – Jordan 1 run (Hall kick)
- NYJ – Moss 4 pass from Pennington (Hall kick)
- NYJ – FG Hall 39
- NYJ – Baker 3 pass from Pennington (Hall kick)
- NYJ – Jordan 1 run (Hall kick)
References
- ^ "2002 Indianapolis Colts draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
- ^ "Administration, coaching staff and football operations". 2002 Indianapolis Colts Media Guide. pp. 2–24.
- ^ "2002 Indianapolis Colts starters and roster". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved December 14, 2014.