Super bowl lxi
It was a rough start for the Colts in the game against the Bears, as Chicago's star kick returner Devin Hester took back the opening kickoff for a touchdown. On February 4, 2007, in Miami, Florida, the Colts were finally playing the in Super Bowl. And it was about the Colts, for the first time in 36 years, playing in and winning a Super Bowl - the first time they did such in Indianapolis. It was about finally getting that monkey off of Peyton Manning and the Colts' backs. It's important to reflect on the events leading up to the game just as much on the game itself, because so much more went into the meaningfulness of the game than just the 29-17 victory over the Chicago Bears.
![super bowl lxi super bowl lxi](https://akns-images.eonline.com/eol_images/Entire_Site/2016321/rs_600x600-160421113517-600-prince-super-bowl-2007.jpg)
On the next drive, Marlin Jackson intercepted Tom Brady's pass to send the Colts to the Super Bowl. Trailing 34-31 with just a few minutes left to play, Manning led the Colts down the field and the drive was capped off by Joseph Addai's two-yard touchdown run to put the Colts up 38-34 with a minute left to play. They fell behind 21-3 only to storm back and tie it up, getting into a shootout between the best two quarterbacks in the NFL in Manning and Tom Brady. We could spend a lot more time discussing that game, but it will go down as one of, if not the, greatest game in Colts history. Fittingly, the AFC Championship game would be against the Patriots, and it would be held in Indianapolis. The team beat the Chiefs at home in the Wild Card round and then beat the Ravens on the road in the Divisional round - both powered by the strong defense. With the return of Bob Sanders, the Colts' defense suddenly became dominant, however. The Colts were AFC South champions and were 12-4, but nobody expected them to do much in the playoffs.
![super bowl lxi super bowl lxi](https://www.mercurynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/eagles-patriots-super-bowl-41.jpg)
The Colts lost four of their next six games, including an awful defensive showing in week fourteen against the Jaguars, as Jacksonville ran all over the Colts for 375 yards. It started just like any other season, with the Colts starting 9-0, but then things fell apart. Could Tony Dungy finally reach and win a Super Bowl after coming close a couple of times? Could Bill Polian really build a Super Bowl winning team after the Bills team he built lost four in a row in the early 1990s? These were the questions surrounding the Colts as they entered the 2006 season. It was about more than just Peyton Manning, though the focus was on him. Manning was just two years removed from a record-breaking 2004 campaign in which he threw 49 touchdown passes and won his second NFL MVP award, but the one thing that he had yet to check off of his career accomplishments list was hoisting the Lombardi Trophy. The 2003 Colts team made the AFC Championship game but couldn't get past the Patriots, who became a big hurdle for the Colts - winning three of four Super Bowls in the early 2000s. He had quarterbacked a 13-3 team in 1999 and a 14-2 team in 2005, but both lost at home in the divisional round of the playoffs. Through his first nine seasons in the NFL, Peyton Manning had yet to reach the Super Bowl. Today we look at one of the good ones, as the Indianapolis Colts defeated the Chicago Bears 29-17 in Super Bowl XLI.
![super bowl lxi super bowl lxi](https://c8.alamy.com/comp/RAHWNA/tab-lxi-steph-blancardi-anatomia-reformata-sive-concinna-corporis-humani-dissectio-ad-neotericorum-mentem-reimagined-RAHWNA.jpg)
Some games will be good ones for the Colts, while others won't be. The Colts' franchise, dating back to their days in Baltimore, has played in four Super Bowls, however, and we're going to take a look at each one of those this week leading up to this year's Super Bowl. It's Super Bowl week, but unfortunately the Indianapolis Colts won't be playing in it, as this year's game features the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots.