New England Patriots
Indianapolis Colts
In the 1990's, it seemed that the two top teams, the Dallas Cowboys and the San Francisco 49ers, kept switching players, with each trying to gain an advantage over the other by actively pursuing and acquiring top players from the other team. That began with Dallas getting Charles Haley, who helped them beat the 49ers, specifically, en route to their first two Super Bowl wins. Then, the 49ers got Ken Norton, Jr. from Dallas, and then they went on to win the Super Bowl. But the Cowboys then reeled Deon Sanders away from Frisco, and then they got the Super Bowl title for a third time in four years.
That kind of back and forth did not exist to the same degree in the rivalry between the Patriots and the Colts. In fact, the only active player that I can think of who went from one to the other was placekicked Adam Vinatieri, who won three Super Bowl titles with New England before moving onto Indianapolis, and then winning another Super Bowl ring in his first season there.
For all intents and purposes, the Patriots were more or less similar to what the Cowboys were in the 1990's, with both franchises winning three Super Bowls in a four year span, and going on to clinch "Team of the Decade" honors. And the Colts were what the 49ers had been, the most successful regular season team of the decade, but usually falling short of the Super Bowl, with one major exception for each team in each decade. The Colts boasted seven straight seasons achieving a record of 12-4 or better (a feat since matched by the Patriots), and enjoyed the winningest decade in history, surpassing the 49ers of the 1990's in the process. Yes, the 1990's San Francisco 49ers actually were, statistically, a more successful team in terms of winning than either the 49ers of the 1980's or the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990's, even though those two teams were officially crowned as "Team of the Decade," respectively.
There were differences between the rivalry between the Cowboys and 49ers in the 1990's, and the rivalry between the Patriots and the Colts in the 2000's. The most obvious one would be that it was not so automatic that the winner of the Patriots-Colts rivalry would go on to win the Super Bowl, as seemed to be the case with the Cowboys-49ers. In both 1992 and 1993, when Dallas beat San Francisco in the NFC Championship Games, it was a foregone conclusion that they would win the Super Bowl. The next year, San Francisco beat Dallas, and then demolished the Chargers in the Super Bowl. The following season, San Fran got knocked out early, allowing Dallas to reach the Super Bowl again, and win it for what was then a third time in four years.
The Patriots dominated Indianapolis in the early 2000's, including knocking them out in consecutive years in the playoffs following the 2003 and 2004 regular seasons. Yes, the Pats wound up winning both Super Bowls, but they barely won them both. And Indianapolis came back from 18 points down to beat the Pats in the 2006-07 AFC Championship Game, and they did beat the Bears soundly. But in between those two seasons, the Steelers won the Super Bowl, beating the Colts in Indianapolis, while the Pats got knocked out in Denver. That was not something that happened to either Dallas or San Francisco (except for that final year of the rivalry, in 1995), when no teams seemed capable of stepping up and eliminating either of those two teams. Plus, both New England and Indianapolis would learn how it feels to lose the Super Bowl during that era. The Patriots lost that heartbreaker against the New York Giants, preventing a historic undefeated season. And the Colts lost the Super Bowl two years after that to New Orleans.
It is true that the Patriots and Colts had one more major meeting since the heyday of the rivalry, and that was in the infamous "deflate gate" AFC Championship Game in the 2014-15 season. But despite the controversy about the balls being deflated to New England quarterback Tom Brady's liking, the Pats made short work of the Colts, who were never in the game at all. Also, that Indianapolis team featured Andrew Luck as the star quarterback, rather than Peyton Manning, who really showed a capacity to beat Brady, doing so in the playoffs with the Colts in 2006-07 (coming back from 18 to do it), and then beating New England twice in the AFC title game with Denver, in both 2013 and 2015. So, that was hardly a game worthy of being considered a renewal.
Tonight, the Patriots will host the Colts once again. It is questionable just how much this will renew the rivalry, although with all of the upsets that we are seeing so far this season, you just never know, right?
Still, my money would be on the Patriots taking this. It was just a few days ago that the Pats showed their true colors after early struggles, and completely took apart their division rivals, the Miami Dolphins. Expect New England to do that again tonight, against a Colts team that, quite frankly, is nowhere near as good as they were just a few seasons ago.
For all intents and purposes, the Patriots were more or less similar to what the Cowboys were in the 1990's, with both franchises winning three Super Bowls in a four year span, and going on to clinch "Team of the Decade" honors. And the Colts were what the 49ers had been, the most successful regular season team of the decade, but usually falling short of the Super Bowl, with one major exception for each team in each decade. The Colts boasted seven straight seasons achieving a record of 12-4 or better (a feat since matched by the Patriots), and enjoyed the winningest decade in history, surpassing the 49ers of the 1990's in the process. Yes, the 1990's San Francisco 49ers actually were, statistically, a more successful team in terms of winning than either the 49ers of the 1980's or the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990's, even though those two teams were officially crowned as "Team of the Decade," respectively.
There were differences between the rivalry between the Cowboys and 49ers in the 1990's, and the rivalry between the Patriots and the Colts in the 2000's. The most obvious one would be that it was not so automatic that the winner of the Patriots-Colts rivalry would go on to win the Super Bowl, as seemed to be the case with the Cowboys-49ers. In both 1992 and 1993, when Dallas beat San Francisco in the NFC Championship Games, it was a foregone conclusion that they would win the Super Bowl. The next year, San Francisco beat Dallas, and then demolished the Chargers in the Super Bowl. The following season, San Fran got knocked out early, allowing Dallas to reach the Super Bowl again, and win it for what was then a third time in four years.
The Patriots dominated Indianapolis in the early 2000's, including knocking them out in consecutive years in the playoffs following the 2003 and 2004 regular seasons. Yes, the Pats wound up winning both Super Bowls, but they barely won them both. And Indianapolis came back from 18 points down to beat the Pats in the 2006-07 AFC Championship Game, and they did beat the Bears soundly. But in between those two seasons, the Steelers won the Super Bowl, beating the Colts in Indianapolis, while the Pats got knocked out in Denver. That was not something that happened to either Dallas or San Francisco (except for that final year of the rivalry, in 1995), when no teams seemed capable of stepping up and eliminating either of those two teams. Plus, both New England and Indianapolis would learn how it feels to lose the Super Bowl during that era. The Patriots lost that heartbreaker against the New York Giants, preventing a historic undefeated season. And the Colts lost the Super Bowl two years after that to New Orleans.
It is true that the Patriots and Colts had one more major meeting since the heyday of the rivalry, and that was in the infamous "deflate gate" AFC Championship Game in the 2014-15 season. But despite the controversy about the balls being deflated to New England quarterback Tom Brady's liking, the Pats made short work of the Colts, who were never in the game at all. Also, that Indianapolis team featured Andrew Luck as the star quarterback, rather than Peyton Manning, who really showed a capacity to beat Brady, doing so in the playoffs with the Colts in 2006-07 (coming back from 18 to do it), and then beating New England twice in the AFC title game with Denver, in both 2013 and 2015. So, that was hardly a game worthy of being considered a renewal.
Tonight, the Patriots will host the Colts once again. It is questionable just how much this will renew the rivalry, although with all of the upsets that we are seeing so far this season, you just never know, right?
Still, my money would be on the Patriots taking this. It was just a few days ago that the Pats showed their true colors after early struggles, and completely took apart their division rivals, the Miami Dolphins. Expect New England to do that again tonight, against a Colts team that, quite frankly, is nowhere near as good as they were just a few seasons ago.
I think the last real game in this rivalry was eight years ago when Manning was still with the Colts. This rivalry died when Manning left for Denver.
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