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The Indianapolis Colts want to forget their painful past.
They have lost five straight playoff games since 1995 and haven't won a home playoff game since the 1970 season.
Coach Tony Dungy has endured three straight first-round exits in either Tampa Bay or Indianapolis, and Peyton Manning has done just about everything except win in the playoffs.
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This week, as the Colts try to revise history, coaches and players are again
being peppered with the annual question: Can Indianapolis win a playoff game?
``We'll get another chance and I think we have the players to do it,'' Dungy said.
The Colts (12-4) have traditionally stumbled this time of year.
Tennessee's Eddie George beat them in the 1999 playoffs with a 68-yard touchdown run. The next year, they lost at Miami when Mike Vanderjagt missed a 49-yard field goal at the end of regulation. Miami's Lamar Smith ran for 209 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown in overtime to win it.
Last year, Indianapolis was embarrassed in a 41-0 loss against the New York Jets, the worst playoff defeat in franchise history.
Some have tried to pin the blame on Manning or Dungy, suggesting they can't win big games. But the Colts' playoff hex began long before Manning or Dungy ever wore a horseshoe.
While the Colts are not dealing with folklore such as the Curse of the Bambino or the Curse of the Billy Goat like the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs, the Colts have endured similar frustrations.
Since beating Dallas 16-13 in the fifth Super Bowl, the Colts are just 2-11 in postseason games -- a mark they intend to change Sunday when they host Denver (10-6) in their second home playoff game since 1977.
``We lost three in a row to Oakland and Pittsburgh when I was there,'' former Baltimore Colts quarterback Bert Jones said. ``If you look it up, Oakland and Pittsburgh were pretty good teams.''
The Raiders and Steelers won five Super Bowls in six years, including all three years they beat Jones' Colts in the mid-1970s.
While part of the trouble has been the opposition, since moving to Indianapolis in 1984, the Colts have played indoors and the results have been telling.
In five postseason games played in cold-weather environments, the Colts have been outscored 148-61, with only one win -- 10-7 at Kansas City in 1995.
They actually beat San Diego in a warm-weather game 35-20. They lost 19-16 in their only other playoff game in Indianapolis, against the Titans.
The Colts are hoping by being home Sunday they can change course.
``Being home means a lot for us,'' Edgerrin James said. ``We don't always play that well in the cold weather, so that's important for us.''
There are other issues.
Indianapolis' defense wasn't staunch enough to win in 1999 and 2000, and last year James was still fighting his way back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. He wasn't running with the same power he did when he won rushing titles in 1999 and 2000. He is now.
The Colts also were a young team when Manning guided them to his first two playoff appearances.
Denver, which has two Super Bowl wins under coach Mike Shanahan, knows there is no substitute for postseason experience.
``You definitely need some veteran leadership to make it to the bowl,'' cornerback Lenny Walls said. ``We have it on offense and defense, guys who have been there.''
This week, the Colts face another predicament: The Broncos ran for 227 yards without their top runner, Clinton Portis, in a 31-17 victory at Indianapolis two weeks ago.
If the Colts are to change their postseason history, they must find a way to stop the Broncos' ground game and keep Manning & Co. on the field for more than 37 plays.
Shanahan will use a simple game plan.
``Usually in the playoffs you let players make plays,'' he said. ``You want players to go out there and do what they've been doing all season and try to put the game in their hands.''
That's all Dungy is asking of his players, too.
If they succeed Sunday, the Colts know they'll finally have an answer to the annual question -- and a new one to answer: How far can they go in the playoffs?
``I guess most people would
say we haven't done very well, we haven't won too many,'' Dungy said. ``A playoff
win is the next step for us.''