by Ian Tasso
There are very few rivalries in the NFL today. With the constant turnover of players, coaches and division standings, even age-old rivalries like the Bears-Packers and Cowboys-49’ers have seemingly lost all their luster. You look around today, and even the Patriots-Jets rivalry seems to be flickering in its last few spurts. Similarly, the Cowboys-Steelers rivalry is a thing of the past, fading away when the likes of Bradshaw, Aikman and Smith left the game. Even the greatest football rivalry of all time, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Oakland Raiders, is so non-existent at the moment it’s not even funny.
But among it all, one still remains. New England and Indianapolis. It’s really the only current rivalry in all of the NFL, discounting maybe the Ravens and the Steelers, and perhaps the Eagles-Cowboys if you’re willing to go out on a limb.
So what makes a rivalry in the NFL? It’s not so much proximity as it is with baseball (Sox-Yankees, Mets-Yankees), and it’s not history like it is with the NBA (Lakers-Celtics). For the NFL, it all starts and ends with success – current success. Take the historical Steelers-Raiders rivalry for instance. The Steelers are currently still among the NFL’s elite teams. The Raiders? Not so much. As a result, that rivalry? Completely dead.
But with a combined record of 229-91 over the past ten years, no two teams have embodied success like the New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts have. With three postseason meetings between the two, including two AFC Championship games, no teams have collided in more meaningful playoff match-ups than the Patriots and Colts have. And with four combined rings over the past ten years, only the Pittsburgh Steelers (two rings) have rivaled these two franchises as a model for every other team in the National Football League.
It’s no secret that the 2000’s will forever be remembered as the decade of Manning-Brady, Patriots-Colts prime-time clashes, but which team was the best? From off-season moves straight up to championship performances and everything in between, here’s how the two stack up against each other.
Home Field Advantage:
Both teams boast unique factors when it comes to their home stadiums and fans. The Patriot faithful span over six states, with yahoo’s driving from all over the region every Sunday morning in the fall and winter to watch their gladiators compete at Gillette Stadium. Indianapolis, meanwhile, has a cult-like following of Manning-crazed fans, who have known nothing but success since the Tennessee grad graced the Colts organization in 1998.
As for the stadiums, the Colts have made their home in a dome for the past 10 years, and the newly opened Lucas Oil Field is no different, housing a slick turf field suited perfectly for their speed-based game. Gillette Stadium however, has one secret weapon the Colts and Lucas Oil Field will never have – the elements. And if winter weather in Gillette doesn’t strike enough fear into a warm-weather opponent, perhaps Tom Brady’s 11-0 record in Foxboro when snow falls will.
The Colts meanwhile are equally as deadly inside their own dome over the past 10 years, posting a 59-21 record, compared to New England’s 61-19 mark in Gillette.
Verdict: Push. Both teams are so near identical with their records, it’s almost impossible to give an edge here. What it comes down to is; where would you least like to play with the game on the line? Inside a dome, with a roaring crowd, almost impossible to hear anything but a chorus of cheers from rowdy Colts fans – or outside in New England, where it’s so cold you can’t feel your fingers, not to mention you can’t see through the blizzard of snow falling inches from your face. Call me crazy, but neither sounds tempting.
Front Office Part I - Draft Day:
The Colts have been a team that’s made the most of their drafts over the past years, with the bulk of their talent coming straight from the drafting pool. Even going back to Peyton Manning, who was selected in the first round of the 1998 draft, the Colts have barely guessed wrong when it comes to drafting. Names like Marvin Harrison and Edgerrin James also carry draft weight in the late 90’s.
The 2000’s have been no different, as every single one of their top-tier talents were selected on draft day, and very high at that. Each of their first overall picks from the year 2000 (Robert Mathis) straight up until 2006 can all be labeled as Pro Bowlers, with many potential Hall of Famers at that - Reggie Wayne (1, 2001), Dwight Freeney (1, 2002), Dallas Clark (1, 2003), Bob Sanders (2, 2004) and Joseph Addai (1, 2006) each have filled out their draft day expectations. The Colts draft success even stems beyond their top picks, extending as far down as Robert Mathis (5, 2003), Cato June (6, 2003) and Austin Collie (6, 2009).
The New England Patriots on the other hand, have had similar success on draft day, though not nearly to the same depth as the Colts have. Their first round pick in 2000, Adrian Klemm, only played five seasons with the Patriots, totaling just 26 games over that span. That incidentally was the year that New England selected Tom Brady, who turned out to be everything a first rounder would be worth, and then some, becoming the epitome of a draft-day steal, and something that jumpstarted the success of the franchise.
2001 was also kind to New England, as it marked the selection of Pro Bowlers Richard Seymour (1), and Matt Light (2), while 2002 bore Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch (2). In 2003, New England made their biggest splash in grabbing Asante Samuel in the fourth round, making up for the somewhat questionable picks of Ty Warren, Eugene Wilson and Bethel Johnson in the first and second rounds. Similarly, 2004 first rounder Ben Watson is yet to live up to his elite draft status. You’d have to jump all the way to 2007 (Brandon Meriweather) for the next year that the Patriots connected with a first-rounder who has begun to show results, as 2006 marked the selection of perennial question-mark, Laurence Maroney, who was selected over the likes of DeAngelo Williams, Joseph Addai, and Maurice Jones-Drew. Even with the selection of Jerod Mayo in 2008, the Patriots draft success hardly measures up to that of the Indianapolis Colts, despite the steal of Tom Brady back in 2000.
Verdict: Edge Colts. There’s no denying that when you hit on six consecutive first round picks like the Colts have, especially considering how low in the draft order the Colts were when they selected them, you are going to have great success in the NFL. Despite the late-round reach of Tom Brady and all that’s done for the Patriots as a franchise, the misses with the likes of Adrian Klemm, and most recently Laurence Maroney and Ben Watson really hurt. All trades and pick swaps aside, when it comes down to sitting in the chair and evaluating combine talent, there’s no doubt that the Colts have the advantage over the past 10 years.
Front Office Part II - Trades, Swaps and Signings:
This is where New England has made its money over the years. In order to fully assess the Patriots draft success over the past 10 years, you have to look at everything they did with their draft picks. That of course includes the Randy Moss swap of 2007, in which the Patriots sent Oakland a fourth-rounder in exchange for a receiver that shattered Jerry Rice’s single season touchdown record in his first season with the Patriots.
Two-time Pro Bowler Wes Welker was also acquired in a draft-pick trade, sending both a second rounder and a seventh rounder to the Miami Dolphins in the same year, netting New England one of the most prolific slot-receivers in recent football history. Corey Dillon was another important puzzle piece that the Patriots reeled in via trade, sending a 2004 fourth-rounder to the Bengals. In his first year with New England, Dillon led the Pats with 1,635 yards rushing, including grabbing a Super Bowl ring in the Patriots 24-20 victory over the Eagles.
Not only that, New England has showed a knack for knowing when certain players are past their prime - and when others are not. The Patriots made splashes in both 2003 and 2005 when they parted ways with Pro Bowlers Lawyer Milloy and Ty Law. When Milloy left in 2003, it hit Patriot nation with shock. Yet since then, Milloy has only had two seasons where he recorded over 100 tackles, and has only amassed six interceptions over his seven years away from New England, where he spent time with the Bills, Falcons and now Seahawks.
2003 also marked the debut of over-the-hill signee, Rodney Harrison, who took Milloy’s place after he was cut from San Diego. Harrison then went on to lead the New England secondary in two Super Bowl wins, including 8 total interceptions, 9 sacks and 7 forced fumbles, while being named Patriot’s defensive captain before his first game in a Patriot uniform.
Meanwhile, since being cut from New England in 2005, Law has only played three full seasons, though he did record 10 interceptions in his first year with the Jets in ‘05. Other notable Patriot clippings: Deion Branch, who is yet to play a full season in his new home of Seattle; and Mike Vrabel, who only appeared in 14 games for the Chiefs in 2009, recording only 2 sacks after totaling 44 over 8 seasons with New England. Vrabel himself was also another player who was rescued by New England after being tossed aside for dead by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2001.
The Colts on the other hand, have famously blundered when it comes to their history of big-name trades. Back in 1983, the then Baltimore Colts sent a freshly drafted John Elway to the Denver Broncos for fear of not being able to sign the highly touted quarterback. Then in 1987, the Colts shipped off 6 draft picks and 2 players for L.A. Rams running-back Eric Dickerson, who was never as fantastic with the Colts as he was with the Rams. In fact, because of the trade, the Colts had no draft picks until the third round of 1988, and suffered through the final two years of Dickerson’s contract which were clouded with suspensions and injuries, though he remained the highest paid running-back in the NFL at the time.
Perhaps because of that history, the Colts have been a bit gun-shy when it comes to pulling the trigger on big-name trades and off-season moves. Again, over the past decade, the Colts have been a franchise that flourishes on precision draft picks and home-grown talent, not one that relies on risky big-name signings and hefty contracts.
The only real free-agent signing that sticks out in the 2000’s for the Colts is that of famed kicker Adam Vinateiri, who signed a five-year deal with the Colts in 2006. Since joining Indianapolis, Vinateiri has hit a miraculous 147 of 150 field goal attempts with the Colts, missing only three kicks in his tenure in domed conditions.
Verdict: Edge Patriots. New England has made their bread and butter with off-season moves. Trade day swaps and numerous cuts/signings of big name players have been the foundation upon which the New England dynasty has been built on. From names like Moss, Welker and Harrison all the way to the famed drops of players like Branch, Law and Milloy, New England has rarely missed when it comes to evaluating player talents around the league. But it’s not due to failure on the Colts part that New England wins this category - more of just a lack of effort by the Colts, probably due to their tremendous drafting success. But whatever the reason, the Patriots have proved to be just and mighty with the pen, and their wins show it.
Front Office Part III - Ownership:
This is a tough one. Success starts from the top in all sports - that’s common knowledge. And both franchises, the Colts and Patriots, have had arguably the best ownership in the business, and they have the wins and fan following to show for it. For every Al Davis (Raiders) and Dan Snyder’s (Redskins) of the world, there’s a Robert Kraft (Patriots) and Jim Irsay (Colts) to balance it out.
In this day and age of sports, it’s nearly impossible to create long-standing dynasties. But both Kraft and Irsay have done exactly that. Not only have they built today’s strongest NFL teams, but for the past decade seemingly each and every year they have placed a competitive team on the gridiron, and have been showered with praise and profit for their efforts. Not only have they produced and sought out top-of-the-line talent for their franchises, but they have also created multi-million dollar assets in the process - the tell-tale mark of a good owner versus a great one.
Both teams have also added new venues in the past 10 years, the Colts knocking down the RCA Dome in favor of Lucas Oil Stadium in 2008, a fantastically domed turf-field that seats over 63,000 fans and cost $720 million dollars to construct. The Colt’s shiny new field also features a retractable roof, and will be the site of the 2012 Super Bowl and the 2010 NCAA Final Four after being the home of the 2009 NFL combine.
Meanwhile, the Patriots reduced old Foxboro Stadium to just a parking lot, bringing Gillette Stadium to life in 2002, the year following New England’s first Super Bowl victory. Gillette is also the home to the New England Revolution, a franchise that Kraft also oversees, one that has had similar success in the 2000’s, reaching the finals four out of six years between 2002 and 2007. On top of adding Gillette to the Patriot Franchise, Kraft has also launched Patriot Place, an open-air shopping center that has only added to Kraft’s Patriot profit in 2008. The center features an Olive Garden, a Showcase Cinema, a CBS Store, Patriots Pro Shop and much more, furthering the foundation of the Patriot franchise.
Verdict: Slight Edge Patriots. Both teams have tremendous ownership. But the difference here is that Kraft family has created a fine-tuned machine that has developed into a revenue gold-mine. When Kraft purchased the Patriots back in 1994, he bought the franchise for $175 million dollars. Today, it is worth over $1,324 million. He was rated as Sports Illustrated’s second best NFL owner, behind only the legendary Rooney family of Pittsburgh Steeler fame. It’s a close one, but Patriot faithful spans over an entire region of New England, giving Kraft an advantage of numbers, something he’s been able to turn into a waterfall of revenue over the years.
Coaching:
Yet another tough one, as both teams have seen two of the NFL’s best coaches grace their franchises. Bill Belichick has led New England to three Super Bowl victories, including a season in which New England finished 16-0 during the regular season. Meanwhile, Tony Dungy helped lead the Colts to a Super Bowl victory of their own, and was part of Indianapolis’s NFL record 23-straight regular season wins, breaking the previous record of 21, held by New England in ’03-‘04.
To Patriots fans, Bill Belichick is a hooded genius. And up until 2009’s 4th and 2 call against the Colts, Belichick could do no wrong on the Patriot’s sidelines. But to the rest of the football world, Belichick’s reign with the Pats has been one that has been shrouded with mystery - and not the good kind. Ever since the Spy Gate explosion of 2007, Belichick has been regarded as more of an evil genius around the league rather than simply a genius, and it’s given the NFL world just another reason to despise the Patriots and their success.
Even so, Belichick’s ability to do something with nothing has placed him among the coaching elites in the NFL. In 2001, he won a Super Bowl with a no-name team, led by a quarterback who nobody knew and a defense who nobody respected. Let alone the fact that he defeated the Greatest Show on Turf in the 2001, the St. Louis Rams, featuring Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk and Tory Holt. On top of that, much of the career resurrection of players such as Rodney Harrison, Randy Moss and even Mike Vrabel can be attributed to not only Belichick’s system, but also his ability to use players to their full potential and maximize results.
Tony Dungy on the other hand was a quiet assassin. Much like Belichick, Dungy rarely said much in his interviews, and was never much of a sound-bite producer. But unlike Belichick, who used cloudy schemes and substitutions to confuse the opposition, Dungy used a different route to victory. He wouldn’t beat you with defensive schemes, front-line overloads or wild-cat trick plays. He’d put the ball in the hands of Peyton Manning, and tempt you to stop him. Only you couldn’t.
Unless of course, your name was Bill Belichick. Belichick might have been the only puzzle that Dungy was unable to solve, as he fell to the Patriot’s hooded genius the first two times they met in postseason play, and convincingly at that. Both times, Belichick used a combination of defensive schemes and winter weather to stymie Peyton Manning and Tony Dungy’s high flying offense, limiting them to a combined 17 total points over the two contests.
But recently, the fortunes have flopped, and Dungy’s Colts have seemingly gained the edge over Belichick’s Patriots. In the 2006 AFC Championship game, Dungy shredded the Patriot’s aging secondary with countless post and crossing routes that not only confused the Patriots defense but maximized fatigue, rendering New England’s aging veterans useless in the final minutes of play. Similarly, in 2009, the Colts - headed by Jim Caldwell - came back from a large half-time deficit similar to 2006, using countless second-half adjustments to force Belichick’s hand late in the game, resulting in a 4th and 2 call that set the stage for the Patriots demise.
Verdict: Edge Patriots. Let’s not kid ourselves here. For the past 10 years, the Colts have been and always will remain Peyton Manning’s team. He run’s the offense, walking to the line with multiple plays in his head, picking and calling one as the defense sets their line. Meanwhile, the Patriots always have been a team that lives and dies by their coach, and up until this season, he has looked invincible. For the better part of this decade, Bill Belichick has been regarded as one of, if not the finest coach in the National Football League. After all, not once do you hear someone fear Tony Dungy and the Colts - let alone Jim Caldwell and the Colts. It’s always Peyton Manning and the Colts. Meanwhile, the Patriots have remained Bill Belichick’s team, and he carries just as much punch with him as Brady and the rest of the Patriots do when they take the field. No coach strikes fear into the opponents like Bill Belichick does. And that’s a fact.
In Season Performance:
This is really what it all comes down to. All the rest is fluff. Ownership, Trades, Drafting, Coaching - it all means nothing if you don’t perform on the field. And that’s what both of these teams are all about.
For the better part of the decade, these two teams have been completely different in the way they play the game. The Colts have always been a speed and finesse team - they’ll kill you with their athleticism, and they use that domed turf field to perfection. Indianapolis has and always will be offense first, offense second and offense third - featuring fleet-footed receivers like Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison, killing you with the match-up nightmare Dallas Clark and then busting in Joseph Addai, who’s developed into a red-zone nightmare with a nose for pay-dirt. This Colt offensive has morphed from a top-tier offense into a fine-tuned and well-oiled machine over the years, one that is nearly impossible to stop when it’s hitting its stride – a stride it hits far more often than not.
And it all runs because of number 18. He’s the ultimate field general, and there’s nobody like him in the NFL – and nobody better. In his time with the Colts in the 2000’s, Manning led his team to an NFL best 115-45 record over 10 years – besting the 49’ers of the 1990’s and Cowboys of the 1970’s as the most powerful team of any decade.
On top of that, the Colts also now hold a 23-game regular season win streak, also an NFL record, two higher than New England’s 21. At one point, Manning also held an NFL record of 48 in-season touchdown passes, until it was broken by Tom Brady in 2007.
Since the year 2000, the Colts have only finished below .500 once, posting seven consecutive seasons with four losses or less starting in 2003. They have also been crowned AFC South Champions six of the past seven years, missing the playoffs only once – 2001, when they finished 6-10.
Then there’s the Patriots, who have been an entirely different animal in the 2000’s – though they achieved very similar results. Where the Colts are a speed team, the Patriots up until 2007 were a physical team. They’d smash you out of the box with backs like Corey Dillon and Antowain Smith – and beat you up in the secondary with Rodney Harrison, Ty Law and Lawyer Milloy. It’s how they won all three of their Super Bowls, and why they were able to oust the Colts en route to each one.
Meanwhile, while the Colts were based on offense, the Pats were all about defense, boasting names like Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinnest, and Mike Vrabel, executing ferocious Belichick schemes to perfection and giving opposing quarterbacks nightmares – Mr. Manning included.
But that all came to a screeching halt in 2007, when Randy Moss and Wes Welker showed up in Foxboro. Since then, New England has formed into a high-flying offense similar to the Colts. In 2007, when New England finished 16-0, both Tom Brady and Randy Moss entered the offensive record books, Moss breaking Rice’s single season touchdown record, and Brady doing the same to Manning’s mark.
But regardless of how they did it, the Patriots have enjoyed plenty of regular season success. Out of ten possible years since 2000, New England has claimed AFC East honors seven times, reaching the playoffs each time.
Like the Colts, the Patriots have only finished below .500 only once in the past decade, ironically in Drew Bledsoe’s final full season with the Patriots. But unlike Indianapolis, the Patriots have never won a wild-card berth in the 2000’s.
Verdict: Edge Colts. Yes the Patriots had 2007, where they ran the table to post a 16-0 record. But consistently, the Colts have been the team to beat in the NFL when it comes to week 1-16. Nine playoff appearances in 10 years is the ultimate definition of stability, and though it’s a close one, Peyton and the Colts reign supreme in this category.
Postseason Play:
The Colts have made it nine times in ten years; New England seven. They’ve both had their fair share of chances, with a combined 16 playoff berths between the two teams.
However, within those appearances, there is a clear discrepancy between the two teams. In those seven years where they made the postseason, New England posted a gaudy 14-3 record, including three Super Bowls and four AFC Championships. Indianapolis meanwhile, hoists a meager 7-7 record with one Super Bowl and one AFC Championship to boot.
In fact, the first two times the Colts made the playoffs this decade (’00, ’02) they were one-and-done – something the Patriots have never experienced in the 2000’s. Of the nine times the Colts have made the playoffs, they’ve been eliminated in the first round five times.
On top of that, the Patriot’s post-seasons have become the stuff of legends, from the famous Tuck Rule in the Snow Bowl game, to the miraculous final drive in Super Bowl 36 against the Rams – the Patriots have become a historically ferocious team once the calendar turns to January and February. New England opened the decade with an 10-0 record in the playoffs, before losing three of their next six games in postseason play, including the 2006 AFC Championship at the hands of the Clots and the 2007 Super Bowl versus the Giants.
Verdict: Edge Patriots. Team records aside, this category comes down to one thing: the bling. Bottom line - the Patriots have three rings to the Colts one. Not only that, in the three times they’ve collided in postseason play, the Pats hold a 2-1 edge, with both of their victories fairly convincing; including a 20-3 stomping in 2005. To put it simply, the Patriots have succeeded in their goal 3 times out of 7 chances, while the Colts have only converted in 1/9. The numbers don’t lie – and neither do the rings.
Final Verdict: The chain-gang has left the field, and the final measurements are in. From the front offices to management, from coaching to on-the-field play, even all the way to the fans and everything in between – we’ve dissected every part of the game there is. The Patriot’s have the rings, but the Colts have dominated the NFL in a fashion that few teams could hope to achieve. But the question remains: who is the team of the decade? It was a rivalry created at the dawn of this decade – but who has won it?
Final Verdict: Edge Patriots. I don’t think it’s any secret here. With three rings to Indianapolis’s one, the Patriots clearly have the hardware. And isn’t that what it’s all about?
New England defensively dominated the first part of the decade, and ran up the score in the second part. They posted a flawless 16-0 record and shattered age-old records in the process. And the mastermind of it all, Bill Belichick, has engrained his name in the history books as one of the best coaches to ever grace the game.
Straight from the top with the Kraft family, all the way down to the gritty offensive linemen, the Patriots have ran the 2000’s from head to toe. The tide may be turning now, as New England continues to hit bad luck with injuries (Brady, 2008; Welker, 2009), Belichick’s aura of invincibility appears to be fading away and all the while Manning and the Colts seem better than ever. But as for the past 10 years? Nobody’s been better than the Patriots.
The only thing Indianapolis holds over New England over the decade is their regular season record – by two games. But ask any Patriot – fan, player or coach - and I’m sure they’ll give the Colts those two games gladly. Because the two games New England holds over the Colts carry plenty more weight: 9.9 combined karats to be exact.
