Peyton Returns
The speculation is finally over. Peyton Manning will return to Indianapolis on Oct. 20 for Sunday Night Football on NBC. Manning spent 13 seasons with the Colts and there will be more than a few eyes turned to the city of Indianapolis to watch No. 18 take on his former team. The Colts will be coming off a short week (see below) prior to the Week 7 meeting with the Broncos.
Primetime Team
After a year in which the Colts saw just one primetime spot (a Thursday night game in Jacksonville), Indianapolis finds itself in the spotlight on four different occasions this year. All four contests come in a one-month span beginning on Monday, Oct. 14 with a game @San Diego. The other three primetime games are as followed:
Oct. 20, Denver, 8:30 (NBC)
Nov. 3, @Houston, 8:30 (NBC)
Nov. 14 (Thursday), @Tennessee, 8:25 (NFL)
West Coast Trips
The Colts will make three separate trips to the Pacific Time Zone in 2013. The first comes on Sept. 22 when the Colts take on the 2012 NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers for a 4:25 p.m. kickoff. The next comes on Oct. 14 when the Colts travel to San Diego to play on Monday Night Football for the first time since Oct. 3, 2011. The final trip out west will come on Nov. 24 when Indianapolis takes on former interim head coach Bruce Arians and the Arizona Cardinals for a 4:05 p.m. kickoff.
Divisional Matchup’s
Last season the Colts didn’t see the Houston Texans until Week 15 of the regular season. This year the team’s first meeting will come on Nov. 3 in Houston for Sunday Night Football. The next meeting will come on Dec. 15 when the Colts look to keep Houston winless in Indianapolis.
Jacksonville will kickoff the Colts AFC South slate on Sept. 29 and three months later the Jaguars will close out the 2013 regular season when they travel to Indianapolis.
The Colts will play the Tennessee Titans two times in a 17-day span beginning on Thursday, Nov. 14 in Nashville. Tennessee will then return to Indianapolis on Dec. 1 to close out the season series.
Bye Week
The 2013 bye week for the Colts comes during Week 9 of the regular season, splitting the schedule into a seven-game first-half and a nine-game second-half. Last year the Colts had the earliest bye week of any team in the NFL (at the end of September), after just three games. This year’s bye week comes on Oct. 27 and breaks up three straight primetime contests for the Colts.
REGULAR SEASON
September 8 (Sunday) OAKLAND 1:00PM (CBS)
September 15 (Sunday) MIAMI 1:00PM (CBS)
September 22 (Sunday) at San Francisco 4:25PM (CBS)
September 29 (Sunday) at Jacksonville 1:00PM (CBS)
October 6 (Sunday) SEATTLE 1:00PM (FOX)
October 14 (Monday) at San Diego 8:40PM (ESPN)
October 20 (Sunday) DENVER 8:30PM (NBC)
October 27 BYE
November 3 (Sunday) at Houston 8:30PM (NBC)
November 10 (Sunday) ST. LOUIS 1:00PM (FOX)
November 14 (Thursday)* at Tennessee 8:25PM (NFL Network)
November 24 (Sunday)* at Arizona 4:05PM (CBS)
December 1 (Sunday)* TENNESSEE 1:00PM (CBS)
December 8 (Sunday)* at Cincinnati 1:00PM (CBS)
December 15 (Sunday)* HOUSTON 1:00PM (CBS)
December 22 (Sunday)* at Kansas City 1:00PM (CBS)
December 29 (Sunday)* JACKSONVILLE 1:00PM (CBS)
All times local to Indianapolis
*Kickoff time subject to change
Source: Indianapolis Colts
