It is hard to argue against the fact that the Peyton Manning era was not the best period in regards to the heralded history of the Indianapolis Colts. With a similar notion being true for the Johnny Unitas era for the Baltimore version of the Colts, each legendary quarterback brought home a title for their respective cities and this organization.
Even though the aforementioned Unitas that led the Colts to the team's first ever Super Bowl title in 1970, it is actually the Manning-led Colts from 2006 that serve as the best team in franchise history.
Not only was this team absolutely stacked from top to bottom, but the 2006 Colts also made a little bit of history in the process of capturing a memorable win over the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI. In addition to defeating a Midwestern rival in the Bears, former Colts head coach Tony Dungy infamously became the first ever African-American head coach in NFL history to lead his team to a Super Bowl title. Impressively leading the Colts to the postseason in each of his seven years at the helm in Indianapolis, Dungy finally got it done in 2006 while becoming a NFL legend in the process.
Dungy did have some help, though, as Manning played alongside a talented cast that also featured the likes of running back Joseph Addai, wide receivers Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark. Although the Colts' offense was definitely the star of the show, the team's defense held its own as well while being led by the pass rushing tandem of Robert Mathis and Dwight Freeney.
Finishing the 2006 regular season at a stellar 12-4 en route to a AFC South title, the Colts kicked off the campaign with nine consecutive wins. Despite a bit of a rocky ending to the regular season, the Colts then waltzed through the postseason as the No. 3 seed, defeating the likes of the Kansas City Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots in the AFC portion of the playoffs. After somehow managing to fend off that nearly unfathomable road to the Super Bowl, the Colts finally took care of the Bears by the score of 29-17 with Manning going on to earn Super Bowl MVP honors.
Because of the talent level and all-around well-roundedness of the 2006 Colts, it is difficult to think that the 1970 Colts even come close to such greatness. Granted, Unitas is one of the most well-known and legendary signal-callers in the history of the league, but Manning, who has since achieved similar status, had more than enough help around him—not to mention one of the best football minds ever in Dungy leading the way along the sideline.
The Colts have reached the Super Bowl since 2006-07, though Indianapolis ultimately came up short as the team's last title came nearly 15 years ago. However, the Colts have remained a perennial playoff team with Manning, Dungy and others no doubt paving the way for continued success in Indianapolis well after their respective departures, which elevates the greatness of the 2006 Colts that much more.
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