1992 Indianapolis Colts season

The 1992 Indianapolis Colts season was the 40th season for the team in the National Football League and ninth in Indianapolis. The Colts looked to improve on their dismal 1991 season, where they finished 1–15.

The Colts improved by eight games, recording a 9–7 record, and finished third in the AFC East division. It was the team's first season under the returning Ted Marchibroda, who had spent the previous five seasons as the quarterbacks coach and later offensive coordinator for the Buffalo Bills; Marchibroda had been the head coach of the team from 1975 until 1979 when it was in Baltimore. Marchibroda succeeded interim coach Rick Venturi, who coached the last eleven games of the 1991 season following the firing of Ron Meyer. Venturi remained on Marchibroda's staff as defensive coordinator.

Football Outsiders calls the 1992 Colts "possibly the luckiest team in NFL history", due to ranking the Colts as the second worst team in 1992, statistically.

The Colts finished 9–7 even though opponents outscored them 302–216

Football Outsiders continued,

They were 4–7 after losing 30–14 to Pittsburgh on November 22. Then they finished the year with a five-game winning streak – but they won those games by an average of four points. ... It didn't hurt that the Colts recovered 59 percent of fumbles that season and had a below-average schedule.

The Colts' 1,102 rushing yards is the lowest for any team in a single season in the 1990s.

Offseason

On April 26, 1992, the Colts parted ways with Eric Dickerson after five seasons, trading him to the Los Angeles Raiders. Although they had gone to great lengths to acquire him in 1987 and he led the NFL in rushing while playing for them in 1988, the Colts' relationship with Dickerson soured during the 1990 season and he was suspended twice for conduct detrimental to the team. Dickerson was also unhappy with the Colts' fans blaming him for the team's lack of success and was said to be angry over the team's firing of Ron Meyer, his former college coach, during the previous season.

Undrafted free agents

1992 undrafted free agents of note

Player	Position	College
Derrick Franklin	Running back	Indiana State
Errol McCorvey	Defensive back	Florida State
Isaac Morehouse	Defensive back	Jackson State
John Ray	Tackle	West Virginia
Alec Thomas	Defensive back	Auburn
James Williams	Defensive back	Texas Southern

Regular season

Schedule

style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Week	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Date	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Opponent	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Result	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Record	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Venue	style="Template:NFLPrimaryStyle"| Attendance
1	September 6	Cleveland Browns	W 14–3	1–0	Hoosier Dome	50,766
2	September 13	Houston Oilers	L 10–20	1–1	Hoosier Dome	44,851
3	September 20	at Buffalo Bills	L 0–38	1–2	Rich Stadium	77,781
4	Bye
5	October 4	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 24–14	2–2	Tampa Stadium	56,585
6	October 11	New York Jets	W 6–3 (OT)	3–2	Hoosier Dome	48,393
7	October 18	San Diego Chargers	L 14–34	3–3	Hoosier Dome	48,552
8	October 25	at Miami Dolphins	W 31–20	4–3	Joe Robbie Stadium	61,117
9	November 1	at San Diego Chargers	L 0–26	4–4	Jack Murphy Stadium	40,324
10	November 8	Miami Dolphins	L 0–28	4–5	Hoosier Dome	59,892
11	November 15	New England Patriots	L 34–37 (OT)	4–6	Hoosier Dome	42,631
12	November 22	at Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14–30	4–7	Three Rivers Stadium	51,101
13	November 29	Buffalo Bills	W 16–13 (OT)	5–7	Hoosier Dome	50,221
14	December 6	at New England Patriots	W 6–0	6–7	Foxboro Stadium	19,429
15	December 13	at New York Jets	W 10–6	7–7	Giants Stadium	33,684
16	December 20	Phoenix Cardinals	W 16–13	8–7	Hoosier Dome	46,763
17	December 27	at Cincinnati Bengals	W 21–17	9–7	Riverfront Stadium	47,837
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

See also

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