The

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight ...

Indianapolis Colts The Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis. The Colts compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) South division. Since the 2008 ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

was the 52nd season for the team in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

and 21st in Indianapolis. The 2004 Colts season began with the team trying to maintain or improve on their 12–4 record from

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

, and advance further into the playoffs. The Colts finished the season 12–4, and defeated the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

for the second straight time in the playoffs, but they were halted in the Divisional round by the defending and eventual Super Bowl champion

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

Peyton Manning Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts and four with ...

had one of the best seasons ever by an NFL

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

(and the best season of his Indianapolis career), throwing 49 touchdown passes and breaking the previous record of 48 held by

Dan Marino Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. (born September 15, 1961) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. After a successful college career at Pittsburgh and b ...

. At season's end, Peyton Manning was named the

NFL MVP The National Football League Most Valuable Player Award (NFL MVP) is an award given by various entities to the American football player who is considered the most valuable in the National Football League (NFL) during the regular season. Organizati ...

. For the season the Colts set an NFL record with 51 total touchdown passes. The Colts led the NFL with 522 points scored. The Colts tallied more points in the first half of each of their games of the 2004 season (277 points) than seven other NFL teams managed in the entire season. Despite throwing 49 touchdown passes, Peyton Manning attempted fewer than 500 passes for the first time in his NFL career. Sports statistics site ''

Football Outsiders Football Outsiders (FO) is a website started in July 2003 which focuses on advanced statistical analysis of the NFL. The site is run by a staff of regular writers, who produce a series of weekly columns using both the site's in-house statistics ...

'' calculates that Manning had the best-ever season by a quarterback, play-for-play, in 2004. The 2004 Colts are the only team in NFL history to convert five or more passing touchdowns in a game four different times during the regular season.

Offseason

Free Agency

During Free Agency, the Colts failed to re-sign linebacker

Marcus Washington Marcus Cornelius Washington (born October 17, 1977) is a former American football linebacker. After completing his college career with Auburn he was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the second round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He was later signe ...

and cornerback Walt Harris. Both signed with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) ...

in free agency.

NFL Draft

Undrafted free agents

Roster

Preseason

Schedule

Standings

Game summaries

Week 1: at New England Patriots

Week 2: at Tennessee Titans

Week 3: vs. Green Bay Packers

Week 4: at Jacksonville Jaguars

Week 5: vs. Oakland Raiders

Week 7: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Week 8: at Kansas City Chiefs

Week 9: vs. Minnesota Vikings

Week 10: vs. Houston Texans

Week 11: at Chicago Bears

Week 12: at Detroit Lions

Week 13: vs. Tennessee Titans

Week 14: at Houston Texans

Week 15: vs. Baltimore Ravens

Week 16: vs. San Diego Chargers

Week 17: at Denver Broncos

Postseason schedule

Postseason results

AFC Wild-Card Playoff Game: vs. Denver Broncos

AFC Divisional Playoff game: at New England Patriots

Awards and records

Bert Bell Award The Bert Bell Award is presented by the Maxwell Football Club to the player of the year in the National Football League (NFL). The award is named in honor of Bert Bell De Benneville "Bert" Bell (February 25, 1895 – October 11, 1959) was the ...

Maxwell Football Club – Bert Bell Award Past Recipients

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2004 Indianapolis Colts Season Indianapolis Colts seasons

AFC South championship seasons Colts