1984 Indianapolis Colts season

1984 Indianapolis Colts season
Owner	Robert Irsay
General manager	Jim Irsay
Head coach	Frank Kush
Home field	Hoosier Dome
Results
Record	4–12
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify

The 1984 Indianapolis Colts season was the 32nd season for the team in the National Football League (NFL) and first in Indianapolis, as they relocated from Baltimore after the 1983 NFL season. The Colts finished the year with a record of 4 wins and 12 losses, and fourth in the AFC East division. In their inaugural game in Indianapolis, they lost 23–14 to the New York Jets and did not win their first game at Indianapolis until week 5, when they defeated the Buffalo Bills 31–17. The Colts lost five games in a row (including another one to the Bills, who started the season 0-11 and finished 2–14) to end the season and miss the playoffs for the 7th straight season.

The Colts' 2,107 passing yards and 4,132 total yards gained on offense were the fewest in the league in 1984.

Personnel

Staff

1984 Indianapolis Colts staff

Front office President and treasurer – Robert Irsay Vice-president and general manager – Jim Irsay Assistant general manager – Bob Terpening Director of player personnel – Jack Bushofsky Head coaches Head coach – Frank Kush Offensive coaches Offensive coordinator/quarterbacks – Zeke Bratkowski Running backs – Roger Theder Receivers – Richard Mann Tight ends – Mike Westhoff Offensive line – Hal Hunter

Defensive coaches Defensive line – Gunther Cunningham Linebackers – Rick Venturi Secondary – George Catavolos Special teams coaches Special teams – Mike Westhoff Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Tom Zupancic

Roster

1984 Indianapolis Colts roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 9 Mark Herrmann 18 Mike Pagel 10 Art Schlichter Running backs (RB) 33 Curtis Dickey 43 Frank Middleton 32 Randy McMillan FB 34 George Wonsley Wide receivers (WR) 85 Matt Bouza 80 Ray Butler 88 Bernard Henry 87 Tracy Porter Tight ends (TE) 83 Tim Sherwin

Offensive linemen (OL) 76 Karl Baldischwiler T 53 Ray Donaldson C 75 Chris Hinton T 64 Ben Utt G 66 Ron Solt G 73 Steve Wright T Defensive linemen (DL) 48 Mark Bell DE 95 Chris Scott DE 99 Donnell Thompson DE 96 Blaise Winter DE 69 Leo Wisniewski DT

Linebackers (LB) 52 Greg Bracelin 98 Johnie Cooks 56 Steve Hathaway 57 Mike Humiston 55 Barry Krauss 90 Gary Padjen Defensive backs (DB) 38 Eugene Daniel CB 27 Preston Davis CB 25 Nesby Glasgow FS 29 Mark Kafentzis SS 28 Bo Metcalf 21 George Radachowsky SS 35 Tate Randle CB 41 Vaughn Williams Special teams 2 Raúl Allegre K 3 Rohn Stark P

Reserve 81 Pat Beach TE (IR) 47 Leonard Coleman CB (IR) -- Duane Galloway CB (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 2	New York Jets	L 14–23	0–1	Hoosier Dome	61,148
2	September 9	at Houston Oilers	W 35–21	1–1	Astrodome	43,820
3	September 16	St. Louis Cardinals	L 33–34	1–2	Hoosier Dome	60,274
4	September 23	at Miami Dolphins	L 7–44	1–3	Miami Orange Bowl	55,415
5	September 30	Buffalo Bills	W 31–17	2–3	Hoosier Dome	60,032
6	October 7	Washington Redskins	L 7–35	2–4	Hoosier Dome	60,012
7	October 14	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 7–16	2–5	Veterans Stadium	50,277
8	October 21	Pittsburgh Steelers	W 17–16	3–5	Hoosier Dome	60,026
9	October 28	at Dallas Cowboys	L 3–22	3–6	Texas Stadium	58,724
10	November 4	San Diego Chargers	L 10–38	3–7	Hoosier Dome	60,143
11	November 11	at New York Jets	W 9–5	4–7	Giants Stadium	51,066
12	November 18	New England Patriots	L 17–50	4–8	Hoosier Dome	60,009
13	November 25	at Los Angeles Raiders	L 7–21	4–9	Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum	40,289
14	December 2	at Buffalo Bills	L 15–21	4–10	Rich Stadium	20,693
15	December 9	Miami Dolphins	L 17–35	4–11	Hoosier Dome	60,411
16	December 16	at New England Patriots	L 10–16	4–12	Sullivan Stadium	22,383
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Miami Dolphins(1)	14	2	0	.875	8–0	10–2	513	298	W2
New England Patriots	9	7	0	.563	6–2	9–3	362	352	W1
New York Jets	7	9	0	.438	3–5	7–7	332	364	L1
Indianapolis Colts	4	12	0	.250	2–6	4–8	239	414	L5
Buffalo Bills	2	14	0	.125	1–7	1–11	250	454	L2

Regular season

Game summaries

Week 2: vs. Houston Oilers

Week 2: Indianapolis Colts at Houston Oilers

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Colts	0	21	7	7	35
Oilers	7	7	0	7	21

at Astrodome • Houston, Texas

• Date: September 9, 1984
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. EST
• Game attendance: 43,820
• Referee: Fred Wyant
• TV announcers (NBC): Phil Stone (play-by-play) and Reggie Rucker (color commentator)
• Pro-Football-Reference.com

Game information
Colts Oilers

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP IND HOU 1 Oilers Campbell 2-yard touchdown run, Kempf kick good 0 7 2 Colts Pagel 1-yard touchdown run, Biasucci kick good 7 7 2 Oilers Campbell 15-yard touchdown run, Kempf kick good 7 14 2 Colts Dickey 15-yard touchdown run, Biasucci kick good 14 14 2 Colts Butler 31-yard touchdown reception from Pagel, Biasucci kick good 21 14 3 Colts Butler 14-yard touchdown reception from Pagel, Biasucci kick good 28 14 4 Oilers Campbell 1-yard touchdown run, Kempf kick good 28 21 4 Colts Porter 33-yard touchdown reception from Pagel, Biasucci kick good 35 21 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 35 21

Week 8 vs. Pittsburgh

"Good Things come to those who hustle", are words attributed by Pittsburgh's eventual Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll when he recalled Franco Harris Immaculate Reception in 1972. Those words were never so true when Ray Butler scored in the last minute of play off a deflected pass to give the Colts a dramatic 17–16 win over the eventual AFC Central Division champion Steelers. The 54-yard score capped a 17-point fourth quarter for the Colts, as they moved on drives of 57, 77 and 80 yards for the Colts third victory for the season.

See also

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