Series History:
26th meeting. The Chargers lead the regular season series, 14-9. The postseason series between the two franchises is tied at 1-1. Indianapolis won the regular-season meeting between the two teams, taking a 23-20 decision on Nov. 23 as PK Adam Vinatieri booted a 51-yard field goal as time expired. San Diego has won nine of the past 14 meetings in the regular season, although the Colts have a 7-4 record at Qualcomm Stadium (including playoff games). The two franchises have played twice in the postseason, with Indianapolis taking a 35-20 win at Qualcomm Stadium in an AFC wildcard game and the Chargers pulling off a 28-24 win at the RCA Dome in an AFC Divisional playoff game. San Diego and Indianapolis have also had other memorable meetings, such as in 2005 when the Chargers snapped the Colts? 13-game winning streak (26-17, Dec. 18, RCA Dome). And in 2004 when Indianapolis rallied from a 31-16 deficit in the fourth quarter to register a 34-31 overtime victory (Dec. 26, RCA Dome). QB Peyton Manning?s scoring pass to WR Brandon Stokley tied the game at 31-31 late in the fourth quarter and allowed Manning to set the NFL single-season TD pass record at 49. PK Mike Vanderjagt?s field goal in overtime was the game winner.
Notes, Quotes
? Counting postseason games, Indianapolis and San Diego have played six times in the last four seasons. Over the past two seasons, the Colts and Chargers have played three times. This week?s game will be the fourth meeting in the last two seasons. The past three meetings have been decided by a total of nine points.
? Indianapolis? nine-game winning streak is the longest such streak to end a regular season since the franchise moved to Indianapolis. The previous long win streak at the end of the regular season was five. It?s also the eighth longest such streak to end a regular season in the Super Bowl era.
? The Colts have earned their seventh consecutive trip to the postseason and a ninth such accomplishment in the past 10 seasons.
? Indianapolis is 5-1 against the postseason field with wins over Minnesota, Baltimore, Tennessee, Pittsburgh and the Chargers. The Colts? only loss came to the Titans (31-21) on Oct. 27.
? The Colts have registered a 4-1 record over divisional champions this season with wins over Tennessee (AFC South), Pittsburgh (AFC North), San Diego (AFC West), and Minnesota (NFC North).
? Indianapolis has a 7-5 record in the playoffs under head coach Tony Dungy.
? Dungy has a 3-3 career coaching record against the Chargers.
? Dungy has a 9-9 career playoff record.
? Dungy has guided his 10th consecutive team to the playoffs.
? Dungy has led 11 of his 13 teams to the postseason.
? ?That?s really hard to say. I think we?ve gone in in pretty good shape health-wise those years. And, we played at home so that helped. You have the momentum and the crowd, but there is really no way to explain it.??Dungy on the Colts? wild-card success during his watch (3-0).
? ?I think you do like that routine as a player and you know what you?re doing and you go. We?ve had bye weeks during the season, though, that we?ve been able to come back and play well. We just haven?t seemed to play as well after our bye in the playoffs. Being in the routine and being in the groove, I think does help and hopefully that will be the case this year.??Dungy on carrying the success from the regular season on to the playoffs without a bye week.
? ?It?s probably how you look at it, but we?ve played a lot of good teams. You?re not always going to play games where you have that type of cushion, especially on the road. I think part of it is us being able to finish games and making plays in the fourth quarter, and that?s what you?re going to have to do in the playoffs.? Dungy on the Colts? success in close games this season: the mark of a resourceful team or the mark of a team that can?t seem to pull away from an opponent.
? The Colts have a 17-17 post-season record dating back to 1958.
? Indianapolis had a 4-3 record in AFC wildcard games.
? Indianapolis has a 2-0 record in games with common opponents as the Chargers. The Colts have beaten both New England and Pittsburgh. San Diego, meanwhile, was 1-1 against those same two opponents.
? QB Peyton Manning has a 7-7 career record in the playoffs, 3-2 in AFC wildcard games. He has completed 323-of-522 passes (61.9 percent) for 3,898 yards, 21 touchdowns and 17 interceptions in those 14 postseason games.
? Manning has completed 110-of-160 passes (68.8 percent) for 1,434 yards, 11 touchdowns and four interceptions in five career AFC wildcard games.
? WR Marvin Harrison has played in a franchise-record 15 post-season games.
? Harrison has a franchise-leading 62 career playoff receptions and 863 postseason receiving yards.
? WR Reggie Wayne has averaged 80.4 receiving yards in five previous career meetings with the Chargers.
? Wayne has caught seven touchdown passes in 12 career postseason games.
? TE Dallas Clark has caught 39 passes for 624 yards and three touchdowns in eight career playoff games. Clark is averaging 8.4 pass receptions and 78 receiving yards per postseason game.
? DE Dwight Freeney has six career postseason sacks.
? S Bob Sanders has two career postseason interceptions. The Colts have posted a 41-12 record with Sanders in the starting defensive lineup. Conversely, Indianapolis is 27-8 without him starting.
? PK Adam Vinatieri is the NFL?s postseason career leader with 172 points and 41 field goals.
? Vinatieri has hit on 41-of-50 postseason field goal attempts (82 percent), with a long kick of 51 yards. He has connected on 15 of his last 16 playoff field goal attempts since coming to the Colts prior to the start of the 2006 season.
? ?I?ve been blessed to be able to play as long as I have and to play with those two quarterbacks. That means I get to get on the field a lot and kick a lot of extra points. You look across the league and you see that there are 20 teams out there that aren?t playing anymore the rest of this year and the transactions that are being done right now and teams that go out there and go 0-16 or 4-12, it?s definitely a blessing to be able to play for this team and be a part of 12-win seasons. It?s hard to come by, and to be able to be a part of those types of things is great, but we can?t get lost in past successes and that kind of stuff. What we?re thinking about now is not playoffs in general. We?re thinking about one playoff game. If you don?t win that game, you go home and the rest of the successes all year long don?t mean anything.??Vinatieri on playing with both Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.
By The Numbers: 5?Indianapolis is taking a winning streak of at least four games into the postseason for the fifth time in the franchise?s history. In three of the last four times that it?s occurred, the Colts have reached the league?s title game (1959, five in a row and beat the New York Giants 31-16 in the NFL championship game; 1968, eight in a row and lost to the New York Jets 16-7 in Super Bowl III; 1970, four in a row and beat Dallas 16-13 in Super Bowl V; 1975, nine in a row and lost to Pittsburgh 28-10 in an AFC divisional game).
Quote To Note: ?It?s just been different. It?s been an entirely different season. I think the one thing that?s been inaccurate is that the seasons we were starting out 13-0, 8-0, 7-0 that it was easy, so all of a sudden this year we are 3-4 and now things are hard. Believe me it?s never easy to win a game. I?ve never taken for granted winning a football game. Those seasons that we were starting off with a winning streak it was hard, we were earning those victories. But this year we certainly found ourselves in a hole starting off with the first game being 0-1. We hadn?t lost an opener in a long time. But really, at that 3-4 mark, I think you do find out a lot about yourself as a player for one thing and as an individual - are you still doing the same things at 3-4 that you would have been doing if you were 8-0 and all things were good? - but as a team also, what kind of character that we had as a team. I?ve just been proud to be a part of a team that really reached down and dug down deep and found a way to get out of that hole.??QB Peyton Manning on how difficult a year 2008 has been for the Colts.
Strategy And Personnel
Safety Bob Sanders is ready to get back to work.
Sanders has seen limited work this season, first due to a high right ankle sprain and then due to chronic swelling in his right knee after undergoing a medical procedure designed to clean out old scar tissue. He started against Jacksonville two weeks ago and did not suffer any problems. Sanders was held out of the Tennessee game as a precaution.
?This is the playoffs, I have to be ready. Regardless of how much I played during the season, if I didn?t play a game at all and I came back in the playoffs, you have to be ready. No excuses, no explanations. You have to be ready to get on that field and make plays,? he said.
PLAYER NOTES
PLAYER PERSONNEL NOTES:
? RB Dominic Rhodes (chest/ribs) saw work during Tuesday?s practice and was able to get through Wednesday?s workout without any problems. Rhodes is expected to see extensive playing time Saturday night at San Diego.
? S Melvin Bullitt (shoulder) practiced Tuesday and Wednesday. Bullitt, who had been held out of last week?s game with Tennessee, will play against the Chargers Saturday night.
? LB Freddy Keiaho (hamstring) has practiced this week and is expected to start at San Diego Saturday night.
? S Bob Sanders (knee) practiced Tuesday but rested on Wednesday. He is expected to be in the starting lineup against the Chargers on Saturday night.
? WR Anthony Gonzalez (hip) took part in workouts Tuesday and Wednesday. Gonzalez will be available to play against San Diego this week.
? DT Eric Foster (neck/burner/finger) has been able to return to practice this week. Foster, who sat out Wednesday?s workout due to the finger injury, had been sidelined for the past three weeks. He remains hopeful of being available to play Saturday night at San Diego.
? CB Keiwan Ratliff (groin) did not practice Wednesday. He is expected to be available for the San Diego game Saturday night.
? CB Tim Jennings was held out of Wednesday?s workout in order to rest old injuries. He is expected to play Saturday night at San Diego.
Game Plan: Take advantage of red zone scoring opportunities. Pressure the quarterback on defense. Force turnovers.
That?s the game plan for the Colts as they travel west to face the San Diego Chargers in an AFC wildcard game Saturday night. Indianapolis can?t afford to trade touchdowns for field goals this time around. The Colts also have to come up with a semblance of a running game, or at least enough of one, in order keep San Diego?s defensive off-balance and allow the passing game to be productive.
Defensively, the Colts need to keep the pressure on San Diego?s quarterback. Indianapolis can?t allow him to make plays outside the pocket or to give him enough time to make plays downfield with his arm. And most importantly, the Colts have to try and contain the Chargers? running game. Don?t allow any breakouts. Control the tempo.
Matchups To Watch: Colts RDE Dwight Freeney vs. Chargers LT Marcus McNeill?Freeney is pumped to play this game. He was on the sidelines with a LisFranc injury to his right foot during last year?s AFC divisional playoff loss to San Diego. He had initially been hurt in the regular season meeting with the Chargers. This year, he did not record a sack in the initial meeting of the year between the two teams.
Chargers WRs Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers vs. Colts CBs Kelvin Hayden and Tim Jennings: San Diego?s big, tall, and athletic receivers have given opposing cornerbacks and safeties fits this season. Jackson, especially, has been difficult to cover. He had two catches for 57 yards and a touchdown in this year?s first meeting. Chambers, meanwhile, hauled in six passes for 61 yards.
Colts C Jeff Saturday vs. Chargers NT Jamal Williams: Saturday, the Pro Bowl center, will face Williams, a Pro Bowl defensive tackle. The smallish Colts center suffered a calf injury the last time these two teams met this year. He was hurt trying to help rookie offensive guard Mike Pollak block Williams, who had a sack in the first game this season.
Injury Impact: LB Gary Brackett (broken right fibula) will not play this week against the Chargers.
? OG Mike Pollak (ankle) has not practiced this week. His availability for the San Diego game won?t be determined until Thursday or Friday.
? C Jamey Richard (foot/ankle) has yet to practice this week. Richard?s status for the Chargers? game won?t be known until Thursday or Friday.
? WR Pierre Garcon (knee) has not practiced this week. Garcon?s availability for the San Diego game won?t be determined until Thursday or Friday.
Updated Jan 1, 2:05 pm EST
