November 29, 1999
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

REGULAR SEASON GAME 12:  INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (9-2) at MIAMI DOLPHINS (8-3)
DATE:  Sunday, December 5, 1999
SITE:  Pro Player Stadium
KICKOFF:  1:00 p.m. (EST)
CAPACITY:  75,192
SURFACE:  Grass (PAT)

With sole possession of the AFC Eastern Division lead at stake, the Indianapolis Colts, 9-2, meet the Miami Dolphins, 8-3, on Sunday, December 5 in Pro Player Stadium.  Kickoff is 1:00 p.m. (EST).

After eleven games apiece and as the NFL calendar turns to its final regular season month, the Colts and Dolphins will square off for positioning in the league’s toughest division.  These teams met on October 10 in Indianapolis, as Miami won a bitterly-contested 34-31 battle.  A 39-point final quarter (Miami 25, Colts 14) provided one of the NFL’s most dramatic 1999 games.  The Colts led, 17-9, entering the final frame.  Miami cut the margin to two points twice, but the Colts responded by pushing the lead back to nine points both times, however the Dolphins scored 12 points in the final 3:20 to prevail.  The key play occurred with 1:16 left as a sack-fumble of QB-Dan Marino at midfield was changed from a fumble lost on the field to an incompletion by instant replay.  Miami used the ruling for the deciding score, a 2t Marino-to-WR-Oronde Gadsden pass with :27 remaining.

Sunday’s game marks the 61^st meeting between the Colts and Dolphins, but represents only the sixth time the teams have met when each were at least four games over .500.  Three of those games occurred during the 1971 season.  The 7-2 Colts dropped a 17-14 decision to the 7-1-1 Dolphins in the Orange Bowl on November 21.  The Colts (9-3) reversed the outcome three weeks later by taking a 14-3 win in Memorial Stadium over Miami (9-2-1).  After dropping an upset game to New England, the 11-4 Colts met the 11-3-1 Dolphins in Miami for the AFC title.  Miami prevailed, 21-0.  On December 14, 1975, the 8-4 Colts earned a 10-7 overtime win over visiting Miami (9-3), then went on to earn the division crown with a 10-4 record.  The final series meeting when both clubs sported solid winning records came on December 5, 1977, when the 8-3 Dolphins topped the 9-2 Colts, 17-6 in Miami.  The Colts went on to win the division in 1977.  This year’s first meeting pitted 2-1 teams.  Miami exited the Colts game and won four more outings before losing at Buffalo, 23-3.  Miami topped New England, 27-17, then lost, 20-0, at Dallas on Thanksgiving Day.  The Colts left the first Miami effort with a 2-2 mark, then peeled off seven straight wins to reach Sunday’s game.  Indianapolis    took a 13-6 home decision last week over the New York Jets.  The victory was the 100^th regular season win in the Indianapolis era for the Colts.  This marks the first time since the final week of the 1987 season that the Colts have owned first place this late in a season.  The Colts will be shooting for their 10^th win of the season at Miami.  A win over the Dolphins would give the club its first double-digit victory season since 1977.  The Colts and Cardinals are the only two NFL teams that have failed to post a 10+ victory season from 1977 to the present.

Indianapolis upped its division record to 3-2 with last Sunday’s win, tying Miami for the second-best record within the AFC East at this point.  Buffalo, which has an open week, stands at 4-2.  After Miami, the Colts host New England, and the team finishes divisional play at Buffalo on January 2.  Between the Patriots and Bills games, the Colts host Washington on December 19, then travel to Cleveland for a December 26 affair with the Browns. 

The Colts’ 9-2 record has been forged against solid competition in 1999.  Six of the Colts’ first eleven opponents owned or shared the division lead when they met the Colts.  The Colts are 5-1 against those six teams (beat 0-0 Buffalo on 9/12, 31-14; lost to 1-0 New England on 9/19, 31-28; beat 1-0 San Diego on 9/26, 27-19; beat 4-2 Dallas on 10/31, 34-24; beat 5-2 Kansas City on 11/7, 25-17; beat 5-3 New York Giants on 11/14, 27-19).  Here is a look at the AFC Eastern Division standings, along with other AFC clubs with a minimum of seven victories: 

Sunday’s game at Miami will the 199^th for Jim Mora as an NFL head coach.  He joined the Colts in 1998 after producing a 93-74 regular season record (0-4 in playoffs) with New Orleans from 1986-96.  He stands 12-15 with the Colts following a 3-13 first season with the club.  Counting 62 games with the USFL Philadelphia/Baltimore Stars (48-13-1 record from 1982-84), Sunday’s game will be Mora’s 261^st as a professional head coach.  When he reaches his 200^th game, Mora will join 20 other coaches who have directed that many games.  Mora recorded his 100^th career NFL head coaching victory against Cincinnati (31-10) on October 24, becoming the 27^th field leader in league history to reach that plateau.  Mora currently stands at 105 career victories, tying him with Vince Lombardi and Tom Flores for 24^th-most in NFL history.  Mora has passed Bill Walsh (102) already this season.  Mora earned a 93-78 career mark with New Orleans from 1986-96.  His 93 wins still out-total the other eleven Saints head coaches combined (93-92).  In 1987, Mora’s second season, he helped the Saints roll off a franchise-record nine straight wins when the team had never won more than three straight during its first 20 years.  Mora has now directed the Colts to their longest in-season winning streak since 1975 (nine wins).  The seven-game winning streak is the second-longest current NFL streak.  Jacksonville has won eight straight games.  The Colts are in Year Two of the Mora/Bill Polian football regime.  Polian joined the Colts on December 22, 1997, one day after the club finished a 3-13 year.  Polian, a four-time Executive of the Year award winner from The Sporting News, tabbed Mora two weeks later.  A total of only 12 players remain with the Colts prior to the arrival of Polian and Mora in Indianapolis (DTs-Tony McCoy, Bernard Whittington and Ellis Johnson; DB-Jason Belser, TEs-Ken Dilger, Marcus Pollard and Bradford Banta; QB-Kelly Holcomb; WR-Marvin Harrison; LB-Bertrand Berry; OTs-Tarik Glenn and Adam Meadows) .  Under the Polian/Mora guidance and the stewardship of Owner and C.E.O. Jim Irsay, the Colts stand at the brink of one of the better one-season turnarounds in NFL history.  A win Sunday at Miami would tie Mora and the Colts for the 8^th-best one-season victory jump in the NFL’s 80 seasons. 

THE BEST IMPROVEMENTS IN PRO FOOTBALL HISTORY

The Colts-Jets game was a battle where points and yards were a premium, while field position helped decide the outcome.  New York limited the Colts to season-lows in points (13) and yards (287), but Indianapolis held the Jets scoreless over the final 51:52 of the game, while forcing the Jets to start their final seven drives inside their 25-yard line.  After falling behind, 6-0, on two K-John Hall field goals (33, 30 yards), QB-Peyton Manning (23-31-198, 1 TD/2 ints. passing) hit TE-Marcus Pollard on a 2t pass in the final minute of the opening quarter.  The second New York score was set up by a fumble, and the Colts struggled further with interceptions twice in the Jets’ Red Zone in the second and third quarters.  Manning was intercepted in the New York end zone and at the Jets’ 13, but K-Mike Vanderjagt added field goals of 22 and 37 yards for the final margin.  A stingy Colts defense limited the Jets to 214 net yards and 28:02 time of possession, while holding RB-Curtis Martin to 19-83 rushing.  Colts RB-Edgerrin James was 24-74 rushing/7-53 receiving, snapping his four-game streak of 180+ yards from scrimmages (209 vs. Dallas 10/31; 199 vs. Kansas City 11/7; 180 at NY Giants 11/14; 199 at Philadelphia 11/21).  James also had his four-game 100+ rushing streak end.  He has seven 100+ rushing games this season, one behind RB-Eric Dickerson’s club-record eight in 1988.  James is 258-1080, 7 TDs rushing/46-467, 2 TDs receiving for a total of 1,547 yards from scrimmage.  James ranks 1^st in NFL rushing attempts, 1^st in AFC yards, 2^nd in the NFL, T2^nd in AFC rushing TDs, T4^th in the NFL, 1^st in NFL yards from scrimmage.  James is 453 yards from scrimmage shy of producing the 32^nd 2,000+ yards from scrimmage season in NFL history.  A total of 18 players have accomplished the feat 31 times.  In all 31 cases, that player earned a Pro Bowl bid.  James is the youngest NFL player ever to rush for 1,000 yards.  Manning is 225-368-2952, 21 TDs/12 ints. passing for a 91.9 rating.  Manning ranks 3^rd in AFC attempts, 5^th in the NFL, 1^st in AFC completions, 3^rd in the NFL, 1^st in AFC percentage (61.1), 6^th in the NFL, 1^st in NFL passing yards, 1^st in AFC yards per attempt (8.02), 3^rd in the NFL, 1^st in AFC touchdowns, 2^nd in the NFL, 1^st in AFC rating (91.9), 5^th in the NFL.  WR-Marvin Harrison is 74-1114, 12 TDs receiving to rank 2^nd in AFC receptions, 3^rd in the NFL, 1^st in NFL reception yardage and touchdown receptions.  Harrison’s 12 touchdowns rank 1^st in AFC total touchdowns, 2^nd in the NFL.  Harrison is 185 yards shy of surpassing WR-Raymond Berry’s club-record 1,298 receiving yards in 1960.  The Colts’ 39-year old reception yardage seasonal club record in the oldest in its category in the NFL(the next oldest are by WR-Charles Hennigan, Houston, 1961; FL-Bobby Mitchell, Washington, 1962).  The James-Manning-Harrison trio stands to become only the second 1,000-3,000-1,000 seasonal act in Colts history.  The only other such Colts trio came in 1976 (289-1200, 5 TDs rushing by RB-Lydell Mitchell/207-343-3104, 24 TDs/9 ints. passing by QB-Bert Jones/43-1112, 11 TDs receiving by WR-Roger Carr).  At their current averages per game, the Manning-James-Harrison trio projects to join 10 other offenses that have produced 1,000-4,000-1,000+ performers in one season.  Indianapolis has produced an AFC-leading 307 points, the 3^rd-best total in the NFL.  The Colts have been held under 20 points but twice (16 at Jets 10/10; 13 vs. Jets 11/28), and have exceeded 25 points in every other game, a first since 1968.  The Colts have not been held to single digits in scoring in any game this year and look to produce only the 13^th season in club history when the club scored in double digits in each game.  Eight of the prior 12 times that happened, the club reached the playoffs, and in five of those eight times (1958, 1959, 1964, 1968 and 1970) the team played for the NFL Championship or Super Bowl title.  A key component to the club’s scoring pace is K-Mike Vanderjagt, who ranks 2^nd in NFL scoring with 101 points.  Vanderjagt is two points behind Miami K-Olindo Mare.  Vanderjagt is 32-32 PATs, 23-27 FGs, and he has converted his last 15 field goals, snapping the prior club mark of K-Cary Blanchard, who set the record two different times.   

Here is a look at how the Colts’ offense and defense has performed against 1999 opponents:

PERSONNEL REPORT:  WR-Jerome Pathon (shoulder), OG-Steve McKinney (appendix) were doubtful; DE-Mark Thomas (ankle) was questionable; WR-E.G. Green (knee), TE-Ken Dilger (head), DT-Ellis Johnson (knee) were probable for the Jets game.     Pathon, McKinney, RB-Leeland McElroy and WR-Chad Plummer were Friday inactivated players for the Jets game.   QB-Kelly Holcomb, DB-Paul Miranda, RB-Scott Greene and DL-Chukie Nwokorie were Sunday inactivated players for the Jets game.

COLTS WEB SITE:  For updated information throughout the week on the Colts, please check the club’s website at www.colts.com.

Game press releases during the regular season will be available on Mondays after 3:00 p.m. (ET).