Colts Biggest Rivalries

The Indianapolis Colts biggest rivalry is the New England Patriots. These two teams played each other twice a year in the same division for decades. In the year 2002 the Divisions were realigned and the Indianapolis Colts were moved down to the AFC South. The two team’s rivalry really started when Tom Brady, the starting quarterback for the Patriots, and Peyton Manning, the starting quarterback for the Colts, started facing each other in the AFC Playoffs. The outstanding play from each quarterback started a debate about who was the better player and has helped fueled the rivalry. Brady has led the Patriots to three Super Bowl wins, while Manning has only led the Colts to one.

Since the year 2003 the two teams have met in the Playoffs three times. The first time was the 2003 AFC Championship game with the Patriots winning that game and a trip to the Super Bowl. The following year they met again but this time it was in the Divisional round of the Playoffs. Once again the Patriots came out on top. The Colts finally extracted some revenge for the playoff losses to the Patriots.

In 2006, in another AFC Championship game the Colts came out on top. They won the game by four points and went on to win the Super Bowl that year. The Colts have other division rivalries now since they have moved into the AFC South like the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans but no one can replace the Patriots as their most heated rivalry.