1987 Indianapolis Colts season

The 1987 Indianapolis Colts season was the 35th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL) and fourth in Indianapolis. The team finished the strike-shortened season with a record of 9 wins and 6 losses, and won the AFC East division.

1987 Indianapolis Colts season
Head coachRon Meyer
General managerJim Irsay
OwnerRobert Irsay
Home fieldHoosier Dome
Results
Record9–6
Division place1st AFC East
Playoff finishLost Divisional Playoffs
Dickerson rushing the ball during an away game against the Cleveland Browns in 1987.

This season marked the first winning season, division championship, and the first trip to the playoffs for the Colts in Indianapolis. It was the franchise's first playoff appearance in ten seasons.

Offseason

NFL Draft
1987 Indianapolis Colts draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 2 Cornelius Bennett *  Linebacker Alabama
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the NFLPA strike, the following team was assembled:

Roster of the 1987 Replacement Colts

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

  • 54 Will Benjamin
  • 52 Ricky Chatman
  • 56 Ed Grimsley
  • 92 Jeff Leiding
  • 51 Bob Ontko
  • 90 Gary Padjen
  • 90 Roger Remo
  • 57 Brian Bulluck

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Roster
1987 Indianapolis Colts final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

 Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

 Reserve lists


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
 active, inactive, practice squad

Regular season

On October 31, 1987, the Los Angeles Rams traded Eric Dickerson to the Indianapolis Colts in a three team trade involving the Buffalo Bills. The Rams sent Dickerson to the Colts for six draft choices and two players. Buffalo obtained the rights to Cornelius Bennett from Indianapolis. Buffalo sent running back Greg Bell and three draft choices to the Rams, while Indianapolis added Owen Gill and three of their own draft picks to complete the deal with the Rams.[1]

Schedule
Week Date Opponent Result Record Game Site Attendance
1 September 13, 1987 Cincinnati Bengals L 21–23 0–1 Hoosier Dome
59,387
2 September 20, 1987 Miami Dolphins L 10–23 0–2 Hoosier Dome
57,524
3 September 27, 1987 at St. Louis Cardinals Canceled [2] 0–2 Busch Memorial Stadium
4 October 4, 1987 at Buffalo Bills W 47–6 1–2 Rich Stadium
9,860
5 October 11, 1987 New York Jets W 6–0 2–2 Hoosier Dome
34,927
6 October 18, 1987 at Pittsburgh Steelers L 7–21 2–3 Three Rivers Stadium
34,627
7 October 25, 1987 New England Patriots W 30–16 3–3 Hoosier Dome
48,850
8 November 1, 1987 at New York Jets W 19–14 4–3 The Meadowlands
60,863
9 November 8, 1987 San Diego Chargers L 13–16 4–4 Hoosier Dome
60,459
10 November 15, 1987 at Miami Dolphins W 40–20 5–4 Joe Robbie Stadium
65,433
11 November 22, 1987 at New England Patriots L 0–24 5–5 Sullivan Stadium
56,906
12 November 29, 1987 Houston Oilers W 51–27 6–5 Hoosier Dome
54,999
13 December 6, 1987 at Cleveland Browns W 9–7 7–5 Cleveland Stadium
70,661
14 December 13, 1987 Buffalo Bills L 3–27 7–6 Hoosier Dome
60,253
15 December 20, 1987 at San Diego Chargers W 20–7 8–6 Jack Murphy Stadium
46,211
16 December 27, 1987 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 24–6 9–6 Hoosier Dome
60,468

Game summaries

Week 7
1 234Total
• Colts 3 736 19
Jets 0 707 14

[3]

Standings
AFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Indianapolis Colts(3) 9 6 0 .600 5–3 8–6 300 238 W2
New England Patriots 8 7 0 .533 6–2 8–4 320 293 W3
Miami Dolphins 8 7 0 .533 2–6 5–7 362 335 L1
Buffalo Bills 7 8 0 .467 4–4 6–6 270 305 L2
New York Jets 6 9 0 .400 3–5 6–5 334 360 L4

Playoffs

The team received a bye for the Wild-Card round of the playoffs and traveled to Cleveland for the Divisional round. After being tied with Browns for most of the game the 4th quarter proved to be their undoing, as they were outscored 17–7.

Playoff Round Date Opponent (seed) Result Record Game Site Attendance
Wild Card First-round Bye
Divisional January 10, 1988 at Cleveland Browns (2) L 21–38 0–1 Cleveland Stadium
78,586

References
  1. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York,NY, ISBN 0-7611-2480-2, p.286
  2. The 24-day players' strike reduced the 16-game season to 15, causing week 3 to be canceled.
  3. Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Oct-15.

See also
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