The history of the Indianapolis Colts, and former Baltimore Colts, dates back before the AFL-NFL merger, which the franchise acting as one of the founding teams in the NFL as we know it. During their 67 years as an organization, the Colts, in time, picked up several rivalries among other franchises in pursuit of only one yearly winner of the Super Bowl.
Here are the Colts' biggest rivals, ranked.
5. Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs and Colts have only met 22 times in the regular season, but the two AFC franchises also have a cherished history intermingled in the playoffs, meeting for what's tied for the most times for Indy with five matchups, most recently in 2018-19.
The Colts are 13-9 all time in the regular season against Kansas City and 4-1 in the postseason, first meeting in 1995 in the AFC Divisional Round. Indianapolis, without star rusher Marshall Faulk, won a decisive, yet low-scoring, game, 10-7, against the conference's No. 1 team.
The Chiefs and Colts would meet three times over the 10 years in 2003-13, never in the conference championship, with Indy winning every matchup. Andrew Luck probably tops the best head-to-head matchup between the teams in the 2013 Wild Card Game, which saw the Colts score 35 second-half points in furious fashion. It was half-Colts comeback and half-Chiefs meltdown in an unforgettable performance by then-sophomore Luck.
4. Las Vegas/Oakland Raiders
The Raiders were another early AFL-NFL merger founding franchise that gave the Colts a run for their money early in the Super Bowl era. The Raiders are among 10 franchises the Colts have a losing regular-season record against, going 7-9 in 16 matchups. In the playoffs, the two teams met twice in the 1970's, splitting the victories with the newly relocated Las Vegas organization.
The Raiders and then-Baltimore team met in the conference championship in 1970-71, with superstar quarterback Johnny Unitas leading the way in a 10-point win over Oakland. Unitas and co. would later narrowly defeat the Dallas Cowboys for the franchise's first Super Bowl title.
The Raiders and Colts later met in 1977-78 with Ken Stabler and Oakland winning in upset, double-overtime fashion in Baltimore.
3. New York Jets
The Colts and Jets ignited their rivalry when Baltimore lost Super Bowl III as the heavy favorite over Joe Namath and the New York Jets. The Colts would have to wait until the next millennium to face Gang Green in the postseason again, where they were absolutely blanked 42-0 by Chad Pennington and the Jets in the wild card game.
Peyton Manning and the Colts beat the Jets in the 2009 AFC Championship Game, dashing rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez and New York's Super Bowl hopes. Sanchez and the Jets the next year came back and beat Indy in upset fashion in the wild card round. Despite losing to the Jets in the third Super Bowl, New York hasn't made a championship game appearance ever since.
2. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers and Colts' rivalry was further stoked in the 2000's during Ben Roethlisberger's rise at QB for Pittsburgh while Manning was known as the best AFC gunslinger. Before that, though, the two teams met four times in the postseason—a pair of back-to-back meetings in the 1970's and '90s.
The Colts yet to manage to defeat the Steelers in the playoff setting and have the worst regular-season record against them, too (6-19). The nearby industrial metropolis has owned Indy over the years, and Roethlisberger and the Steelers won two championships together in the AFC while Manning and the Colts only came away victorious in 2006-07 (in between the pair of Pittsburgh titles).
Before that, the Steelers stopped the Colts dead in their tracks in the divisional round in back-to-back years in the '70s, later meeting in the AFC title game in 1995-96 only to rematch in the first round the next year—all Pittsburgh W's.
1. New England Patriots
The Colts' fiercest all-time rival has to be the Patriots, who have stood in their way time and again for AFC supremacy—especially during future Hall of Fame quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Tom Brady's collective rise in the NFL.
The Pats and Colts have met 76 times in the regular season, with New England owning the 48-28 advantage. The two franchises have played against one another five times in the postseason, with Indy only winning once. They played three times in four years and four times in 10 years, making these two intricately linked in the annals of the AFC.
In 2003 and 2004, the Pats and Colts met in the conference championship and divisional round, respectively, both leading to New England wins and later Super Bowl victories. In Jan. 2007, the Colts finally got the edge over the Patriots, winning at home in a nail-biter and later winning the big game to break their 36-year title drought.
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