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San Diego, California - Two of the NFL’s most successful franchises in the past four years will meet when the defending Super Bowl Champion Indianapolis Colts make their first visit to San Diego since 1999 to take on the Chargers on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

 

The Chargers lead the all-time series over the Colts, 13-9, and the teams split the last two meetings, both in Indianapolis. The Colts won 34-31 in overtime in 2004 and the Chargers returned the favor, winning 26-17 in 2005 to end Indianapolis’ 13-0 start.

 

Since 2004, the Chargers and Colts rank among the NFL’s winningest franchises. Indianapolis’ 45 wins are tied with New England for the most in the NFL, while the Chargers’ 39 wins in that span rank third. Indianapolis is in the wake of its first-ever Super Bowl championship, a 29-17 win over the Chicago Bears in February in South Florida’s Dolphin Stadium. This marks the sixth consecutive year that the Chargers will face one or both of the previous season’s Super Bowl teams. The Bolts opened this season with a 14-3 win over last season’s Super Bowl runner-up, the Chicago Bears. The Chargers have won three straight against the previous season’s Super Bowl participants, they are 7-3 in such games since 2002, and are 3-0 when facing the defending Super Bowl champs.

 

Sunday night promises a festive atmosphere at Qualcomm Stadium as NBC’s Al Michaels, John Madden and Andrea Kremer will be on hand to call the game for a national TV audience. The Chargers will don their Powder Blue alternate jerseys for the second time this season and all fans in attendance will receive a commemorative 2007 team photo, courtesy of Diet Pepsi. Sunday’s game is the first of two nationally televised home night games on the Chargers schedule. The Bolts have won three in a row at home under the lights and four of their last five.

 

This is the fourth-consecutive year the Chargers are .500 or better at the midpoint of their season. The Chargers will play three of their next five games against teams from the AFC South. Those three opponents, Indianapolis, Tennessee and Jacksonville are a combined 18-6. The Bolts’ other two games are against 4-3 Baltimore and 4-4 Kansas City.

 

 

Playing the third of five nationally-televised evening games and meeting the second of three consecutive 2006 playoff opponents, the Indianapolis Colts, 7-1, visit the San Diego Chargers, 4-4, on Sunday, November 11. Kickoff for the contest in Qualcomm Stadium is 8:15 p.m. (EST)/5:15 p.m. (PST). NBC Sports will telecast the game nationally, while Westwood One broadcasts nationally from Qualcomm Stadium.

 

The Colts and Chargers are meeting for the third time in four years, with both prior meetings coming in the RCA Dome. Indianapolis took a 34-31 overtime win on December 26, 2004, and the Chargers thwarted the Colts' 13-0 start to the 2005 season by winning on December 18, 26-17. Indianapolis is 2-0 this year in prime-time games, taking a 41-10 victory over New Orleans on September 6, and a 29-7 win at Jacksonville on October 22. The win at Jacksonville gave Indianapolis a 12-game winning streak in prime time, dating back to 2004. Indianapolis has remaining evening games at Atlanta (November 22) and at Baltimore (December 9). Indianapolis reaches Sunday's game after a 24-20 home loss last Sunday to New England.

 

The contest last week was a renewal of last season's conference title game. After facing the Chargers, Indianapolis hosts Kansas City on November 18, a team it met last year in the Wild Card round. San Diego saw its record move to 4-4 with a 35-17 loss last week at Minnesota.

 

Owners of the NFL's best regular-season record (96-40) since the start of the 1999 season, while being the only team to earn seven playoff appearances in the last eight seasons, Indianapolis enters Sunday's game as victors in 41 of its last 49 regular-season games. Indianapolis' winning ways include a 26-7 record in AFC South play, while the club has owned or shared the lead in 87 of 94 weeks of the division's existence. The Colts have won the past four AFC South championships, the best divisional title streak in club history.