after a dissapointing/losing season in 01, the colts named tony dungy as the new head coach, and with a lot of the pieces in place, this really started the awesome run, we have been on, ever since. the edge was back, from season ending surgery, and with the personale we had, we played a lot of 3 wr sets, with quadry ismail, being the 3rd wr, we had 2 new o-linemen, rick demulling, and ryan diem, at the guard positions, 2 new d-linemen-dwight freeney (1st round), and larry triplett (2nd round), a new cb, walt harris, a new safety, david gibson, and new returner,troy walters. james led in rushing (989), and harrison in rec (143-1722), and tds (11), peterson in int (3) and freeney in sacks (13), we finished the year 10-6, made the playoffs and lost to the jets 41-0. marv, and peyton made the pro bowl, this was the year of marv, he set the new club record for career tds , and receptions by a wr, became the first wr in league history to post 4 consecutive 100 + receptions in a season, and set a league record with 143 receptions. freeney set a club record with 13 sacks, and the 2nd highest total for a rookie in league history, manning set a league record with his 4th consecutive 4000+ yards passing , and on a sad note, the great qb, johnny u. passed away. in 03, we finished 12-4, made the playoffs, beat denver 41-10, the chiefs 38-31, and lost to the patsies in the championship game 24-14, the colts were losing 21-14, with several minutes left to play, and i still am in shock when i watch this game, as the patsies db's all but tackled the colts receivers as they ran their routes, just one of many reasons, i have no respect for that team, if you have class, and talent, win fair, if you have to cheat, then it really doesnt count, in my book. every year in the draft mr polian was adding key pieces, and this year it was dallas clark , the only other new starter on off was guard-steve sciullo (4th round), on def, a new de-raheem brock, dt-montae raeger,lb-david thortan, and safety-mike doss (2nd round), we also had a new returner- brad pyatt. james led in rushing(1259), and tds (11), marv in rec (94-1272), harper in int (4), and freeney in sacks (11), peyton, marv, freeney, and vanderjagt made the pro bowl, one of the most memorable games in colts history was played on 10/6, as the colts scored 3 tds in the last 3 minutes of the game, and winning on a fg in overtime on coach dungys return to tampa, and on his birthday. harrison set the club record for career yards by a wr, james became the all time leading rusher in colts history, vanderjagt set a league record with 41 consecutive field goals, manning passed for 4000 + yards for the 5th cons. year, and had a perfect passer rating in the playoff win over the broncos, and set a club record with 6 tds passes in a game, the playoff win over the chiefs was the first home win for the colts since 1971.
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