The 2000 season was the Indianapolis Colts' 48th in the National Football League (NFL) and their 17th in Indianapolis. They finished second in the AFC East with a 10âÂÂ6 record, but lost in overtime to their division rival Miami Dolphins in the wildcard round of the playoffs.
As in the previous season, the Colts once again sent Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison to the Pro Bowl at the end of the season.
This was the first time the Raiders had ever visited Indianapolis, Their previous regular season away game against the Colts occurred as far back as 1975, although they also played in Baltimore during the 1977 postseason. This anomaly was due to old NFL scheduling formulas in place prior to 2002, whereby teams had no rotating schedule opposing members of other divisions within their own conference, but instead played interdivisional conference games according to position within a season's table.
This was the first occasion the Colts hosted the Vikings in the regular season since 1968 in Baltimore, although the two teams would again play in the Coltsâ stadium during that postseason. The intervening gap of 31 seasons constitutes the second-longest gap without one team visiting another in NFL history, and at the time was a record.
The team earned a Wild Card berth to the playoffs as the No. 6 seed and traveled to Miami to face the Dolphins. The Dolphins turned the ball over three times in the first half as the Colts staked a 14âÂÂ0 lead by halftime. Miami then outscored the Colts 17âÂÂ3 in the second half to send it to overtime. The Colts had a chance to win the game with a 49-yard FG but Mike Vanderjagt's kick was wide right. The Dolphins then marched 61 yards in 11 plays, ending with a Lamar Smith game-winning touchdown.