The
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 20 ...
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 po ...
was the franchise's 60th season 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 ma ...
and the 29th in
Indianapolis. The Colts earned the first selection in the
2012 NFL Draft
The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...
due to a dismal 2–14 record in
2011 and used their first pick on
Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
quarterback
Andrew Luck
Andrew Austen Luck (born September 12, 1989) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for seven seasons with the Indianapolis Colts. One of the most highly touted amateur prospects during his ...
. The season marked the first for both
head coach
A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other Coach (sport), coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manage ...
Chuck Pagano
Charles David Pagano (born October 2, 1960) is a former American football coach and player. Pagano spent six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts from 2012 to 2017. He also served as the defensiv ...
and general manager
Ryan Grigson
Ryan Grigson (born February 23, 1972) is an American football executive who is the senior vice president of player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL).. From 2012 to 2016, he served as the general manager of ...
with the franchise.
It was also the Colts' first season since
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
without
Peyton Manning
Peyton Williams Manning (born March 24, 1976) is an American former American football, football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons. Nicknamed "the Sheriff", he spent 14 seasons with the Indianapolis Col ...
on the roster as he was released by the Colts in March 2012, after having missed the previous season due to neck surgeries, and signed with 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 ...
during that offseason.
Offensive coordinator
Bruce Arians
Bruce Charles Arians (born October 3, 1952) is an American football executive and former coach in the National Football League (NFL). Since 2022, he has been a senior football consultant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Arians was previously the he ...
served as interim head coach while Pagano underwent treatment for leukemia from week 5–16. Pagano returned, with his cancer in remission, during the final week of the regular season. The team went 9–3 under Arians, who won the
Coach of the Year Award. The Colts earned a playoff berth, but were defeated by the eventual
Super Bowl champion
The Super Bowl is the annual American football game that determines the champion of the National Football League (NFL). The game culminates a season that begins in the previous calendar year, and is the conclusion of the NFL playoffs. The winne ...
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...
in the Wild Card round.
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 a ...
calculated the 2012 Colts were the worst team to ever go 11–5 in a season.
Personnel changes
On January 2, 2012, one day after the final game of the
2011 season, Colts owner
Jim Irsay
James Irsay (born June 13, 1959) is an American businessman, known for being the principal owner, chairman and CEO of the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL).
Irsay's father, Robert Irsay, built a fortune estimated to be ...
fired team Vice Chairman
Bill Polian
William Patrick Polian Jr. (born December 8, 1942) is an American football executive. He rose to league prominence as the General Manager of the Buffalo Bills, building a team that participated in four straight Super Bowls—the most consecutiv ...
(who had been the team's general manager since
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
) and his son, team Vice President and general manager
Chris Polian
Chris Polian is an American football executive who is the director of pro personnel for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served over ten years as a scout and executive with the Indianapolis Colts, inc ...
. Nine days later (January 11),
Ryan Grigson
Ryan Grigson (born February 23, 1972) is an American football executive who is the senior vice president of player personnel for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL).. From 2012 to 2016, he served as the general manager of ...
was named the new general manager. Head coach
Jim Caldwell was fired on January 17, 2012. Eight days later (January 25), former
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays it ...
' defensive coordinator
Chuck Pagano
Charles David Pagano (born October 2, 1960) is a former American football coach and player. Pagano spent six seasons in the National Football League (NFL) as head coach of the Indianapolis Colts from 2012 to 2017. He also served as the defensiv ...
agreed to becoming the
Colts new head coach.
Roster changes
Draft
Notes
:
During the draft, the Colts traded up five spots from the fourth-round (#97) to the third-round (#92), with the team sending a
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...
fifth-round selection to the
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
.
:
The Colts traded their original sixth-round selection—#172 overall—to the
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...
in exchange for
tackle
Tackle may refer to:
* In football:
** Tackle (football move), a play in various forms of football
** Tackle (gridiron football position), a position in American football and Canadian football
** Dump tackle, a forceful move in rugby of picking ...
Winston Justice
Winston Frederick Justice (born September 14, 1984) is a former American football offensive tackle. He was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the second round (39th overall pick) of the 2006 NFL Draft. He played college football at USC.
Cu ...
and the Eagles' sixth round selection—#187 overall. The Colts later traded the #187 overall selection to the
New York Jets in exchange for
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 Ame ...
Drew Stanton
Drew may refer to:
__NOTOC__ Places
;In the United States
* Drew, Georgia, an unincorporated community
* Drew, Mississippi, a city
* Drew, Missouri, an unincorporated community
* Drew, Oregon, an unincorporated community
* Drew County, Arkansas
...
and a seventh-round selection (#214 overall).
:
Compensatory selection
The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...
s.
:
Mr. Irrelevant
Mr. Irrelevant is the nickname given to the last pick of the annual National Football League Draft. Although NFL drafts date back to 1936, the first person to be called Mr. Irrelevant was Kelvin Kirk of the 1976 NFL Draft.
History
"Mr. Irrel ...
.
Undrafted free agents
All undrafted free agents were signed just after the
2012 NFL Draft
The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...
concluded on April 28.
Departures
Additions
Staff
Final roster
Schedule
Preseason
Regular season
:Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Regular season
Week 1: at Chicago Bears

The Colts began their season on the road against the Bears. The game was highly hyped due to the start of the career of rookie QB Andrew Luck. The Colts drew first blood in the first quarter as Jerrell Freeman returned an interception 3 yards for a touchdown and a 7–0 lead. However, the Bears tied the game with Michael Bush's 1-yard run to tie the game at 7–7. In the 2nd quarter, the Bears took the lead as Brandon Marshall caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Jay Cutler to make the score 14–7. They then increased their lead when Robbie Gould scored a 35-yard field goal to make the score 17–7. The Colts drew closer to shorten the lead to 3 with Donald Brown's 18-yard touchdown run to make the score 17–14. However, with just seconds before halftime, the Bears drove down the field while Michael Bush ran in on a 1-yard touchdown for a 24–14 halftime lead. In the 3rd quarter the Bears gained momentum once more with Matt Forte's 6-yard touchdown run for a 31–14 lead and then Robbie Gould's 26-yard field goal for a 34–14 lead. In the fourth quarter, Luck threw his first touchdown pass of the regular season. A 4-yard pass to Donnie Avery to shorten the lead to 34–21. However, the Bears capitalized the victory with Cutler's 42-yard pass to Alshon Jeffery for a final score of 41–21.
With the loss, the Colts began their season 0–1.
Week 2: vs. Minnesota Vikings
After a tough loss to the Bears, the Colts returned home to take on the Vikings. The Vikes took the lead as Blair Walsh nailed a field goal from 51 yards out for a score of 3–0. However, the Colts made it 7–3 with Andrew Luck's 3-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Allen. The Vikings came within a point as Blair Walsh kicked a 29-yard field goal for a 7–6 score. However, the Colts moved further ahead as Vinatieri scored a 26-yard field goal, followed by Andrew Luck's 30-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne for leads of 10–6 and then 17–6 at halftime. In the 3rd quarter, the Colts increased their lead when Vinatieri scored a 45-yard field goal to make the score 20–6. However, in the fourth quarter the Vikings were able to score 2 straight touchdowns with Christian Ponder's 7-yard pass to Stephen Burton to make the score 20–13 and then a 6-yard pass to Kyle Rudolph to tie the game at 20–20. With 8 seconds left, the Colts drove down the field and wrapped the game up with Vinatieri 53-yard field goal for a final score of 23–20.
With the win, the Colts improved to 1–1 and remain undefeated at home against the Vikings as a franchise.
Week 3: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
After the tough home win over the Vikings, the Colts stayed home for a division rival duel against the Jaguars. Scoring started early as the Jags drew first blood scoring a 44-yard field goal from Josh Scobee to take a 3–0 lead. However, the Colts took the lead with Andrew Luck's 40-yard touchdown pass to T. Y. Hilton for a 7–3 lead. The Colts increased their lead in the 2nd quarter with Andrew Luck's 4-yard touchdown pass to Mewelde Moore for a 14–3 halftime lead. In the 3rd quarter, the Jaguars were able to fire back as Maurice Jones-Drew ran in a touchdown from 59 yards out to cut the lead to 14–10. Followed up quickly by Scobee's 47-yard field goal to shorten the lead to a point 14–13. In the fourth quarter, the Jags were able to take the lead with Scobee kicking a 26-yard field goal for a 16–14 lead. The Colts however retook the lead with Vinatieri's 37-yard field goal for a 17–16 lead. But then the Jags were able to complete the comeback attempt 11 seconds later with Blaine Gabbert's touchdown pass to Cecil Shorts III (with a failed 2-point conversion) to make the final score 22–17.
With the loss, the Colts went into their bye week at 1–2. It would also be their last loss to a division opponent at home until 2015.
Week 5: vs. Green Bay Packers
Coming off their bye week, the Colts stayed home for a duel against the Packers. Scoring got off to an early start as John Kuhn ran for a 2-yard touchdown to take a 7–0 lead. In the 2nd quarter, the Packers increased their lead with Aaron Rodgers's 6-yard touchdown pass to James Jones to make the score 14–0. After this, the Colts finally got on the board with Vinatieri's 24-yard field goal to make the score 14–3. However, the Packers pulled away as Aaron Rodgers connected with Randall Cobb for a 31-yard touchdown pass to take a 21–3 halftime lead. After the break, the Colts began to fire back As Andrew Luck connected with Dawyne Allen on an 8-yard touchdown pass, followed by Vinatieri's 50-yard field goal and then Luck's 3-yard rushing touchdown (with a failed 2-point conversion) to shorten the lead to 21–10, 21–13, and then 21–19. In the 4th quarter the Colts took the lead as Vinatieri kicked a 28-yard field goal for a 1-point lead 22–21. However, the Packers again retook the lead as Rodgers found Jones again for an 8-yard touchdown pass (with a failed 2-point conversion) and led 27–22. However, the Colts were able to capitalize the comeback victory with Luck's 4-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne with the 2-point conversion successful and win the game 30–27. This game was rated #7 on the Top 20 NFL Games of 2012 on NFL.com, as Wayne's World.
The Colts also improved their record to 4–0 against the Packers at home.
With the win, the Colts improved to 2–2.
Week 6: at New York Jets
After their tough home win over the Packers, the Colts traveled to take on the Jets at Metlife Stadium. The Colts scoring took off in the first quarter with Adam Vinatieri's 20-yard field goal to take a 3–0 lead. However, the Jets took the lead in the 2nd quarter with Mark Sanchez looking up with Stephen Hill for a 5-yard touchdown pass for a 7–3 lead. They would later increase their lead with Shonn Greene's 10-yard run for a 14–3 lead. However, the Colts were able to draw closer with Vinatieri's 50-yard field goal to make the score 14–6. However, the Jets pulled away as Sanchez found Jason Hill on a 5-yard touchdown pass to make the score 21–6 at halftime. The Jets went back to work as Shonn Greene ran for a 4-yard touchdown to make the score 28–6. The Colts scored another field goal from Vinatieri from 47 yards out to make the score 28–9, however the Jets wrapped the game up with Shonn Greene's 2-yard touchdown run to make the final score 35–9.
With the huge loss, the Colts fell to 2–3 while rookie QB Andrew Luck would have his first career game without a single touchdown pass.
Week 7: vs. Cleveland Browns
The Colts managed to recover from the blowout loss against the Jets and improved to 3–3 with the win.
Week 8: at Tennessee Titans
With the overtime win, the Colts improved to 4–3.
Week 9: vs. Miami Dolphins
In a close match of rookie quarterbacks, Andrew Luck barely outmatched Ryan Tannehill in a close win 23–20, with the win the Colts improved to 5-3. In the fourth quarter, referee Tony Corrente unintentionally screamed out obscenities on the microphone, causing announcer Kevin Harlan to apologize to television audiences.
Week 10: at Jacksonville Jaguars
Week 11: at New England Patriots
Week 12: vs. Buffalo Bills
Week 13: at Detroit Lions
Week 14: vs. Tennessee Titans
Week 15: at Houston Texans
This was Indianapolis' last loss to a divisional opponent until 2015.
Week 16: at Kansas City Chiefs
Week 17: vs. Houston Texans
With the win, the Colts finished the season 11-5 and 2nd place in the AFC South. Good enough for the fifth seed, first wild card in the AFC playoffs. Also, they would improve to 11–0 against the Texans at home. The Colts also improved from their 2–14 record from 2011.
Standings
Postseason
Wild Card: at Baltimore Ravens
References
External links
*
2012 Indianapolis Colts at ''ESPN''
{{2012 NFL season by team
Indianapolis
Indianapolis Colts seasons
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 20 ...