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 coach	Ron Meyer
General manager	Jim Irsay
Owner	Robert Irsay
Home field	Hoosier Dome
Results
Record	9–6
Division place	1st AFC East
Playoff finish	Lost 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 5 Blair Kiel QB/P 7 Gary Hogeboom 14 Terry Nugent Running Backs 30 Mel Carver 36 Chris McLemore 37 Chuck Banks 42 Gordon Brown Jeff Atkins Wide Receivers 80 Steve Bryant 80 James Noble 84 Kelley Johnson 85 Tim Kearse 86 Walter Murray 87 Mark Bellini Clyde Duncan Todd Feldman Tight Ends 81 Joe Jones 83 Greg Hawthorne 88 John Brandes Deron Miller Mike Russell		Offensive Linemen 60 Mark Boggs 61 Marsharne Graves 62 Jeff Criswell 67 Ron Plantz 69 Sid Abramowitz 73 Steve Knight Defensive Linemen 62 Don Thorp 63 Steve Knight 65 Jim Merritts 94 Chris Scott 94 Scott Kellar 95 Bob Hamm 96 Bill Elko 97 Frank Mattiace Mark Smythe		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 27 Terry Wright 28 Lee Davis 29 Jitter Fields 33 Bryant Jones 39 Mike Prior 40 Pat Ballage 41 John Simmons 43 Jim Perryman 45 Craig Curry Richard Peavy Special Teams 6 Steve Jordan K Manny Matsakis K 5 Craig Colquitt P

Roster

1987 Indianapolis Colts final roster

	Quarterbacks  7 Gary Hogeboom 10 Jack Trudeau 13 Sean Salisbury Running backs 20 Albert Bentley 29 Eric Dickerson 34 George Wonsley Wide receivers 87 Mark Bellini 85 Matt Bouza 80 Bill Brooks 86 Walter Murray 87 James Noble Tight ends 81 Pat Beach 88 John Brandes 84 Mark Boyer 49 Mike McCloskey 83 Tim Sherwin		Offensive linemen 74 Bob Brotzki T 71 Kevin Call T 69 Randy Dixon 53 Ray Donaldson C 75 Chris Hinton T 65 Joel Patten G 66 Ron Solt G 64 Ben Utt G Defensive linemen 79 Harvey Armstrong DT 78 Jon Hand DE 94 Scott Kellar NT 76 Jerome Sally DT 99 Donnell Thompson DE		Linebackers 57 Dave Ahrens 50 Duane Bickett 98 Johnie Cooks 55 Barry Krauss 92 Jeff Leiding 56 Orlando Lowry 93 Cliff Odom Defensive backs 38 Eugene Daniel CB 25 Nesby Glasgow SS 37 Chris Goode 39 Mike Prior FS 47 Freddie Robinson 42 Willie Tullis CB 27 Terry Wright Special teams  4 Dean Biasucci K  3 Rohn Stark P		Reserve lists 74 Chris Gambol T (IR) 32 Randy McMillan RB (PUP) 52 Micah Moon LB (IR) Practice squad 86 Roy Banks WR 48 Chuckie Miller DB 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 2 3 4 Total • Colts 3 7 3 6 19 Jets 0 7 0 7 14 Date: November 1 Location: Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Game start: 1:00 p.m. Game attendance: 60,863 Game weather: 53°F; wind 9

Scoring summary Q1 IND Biasucci 36 yard field goal IND 3–0 Q2 IND Bouza 44 yard pass from Trudeau (Biasucci kick) IND 10–0 Q2 NYJ Hector 12 yard run (Leahy kick) IND 10–7 Q3 IND Biasucci 44 yard field goal IND 13–7 Q4 IND Biasucci 38 yard field goal IND 16–7 Q4 IND Biasucci 33 yard field goal IND 19–7 Q4 NYJ Hector 20 yard run (Leahy kick) IND 19–14

• Eric Dickerson's first game with Colts

[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

• History of the Indianapolis Colts
• List of Indianapolis Colts seasons
• Colts–Patriots rivalry