NFL Old School Game of the Week: Colts Upset Defending Super Bowl Champion 49ers

Colts quarterback Jim Harbaugh completed 12 of 18 passes for 175 yards and threw one touchdown in Indy's win over the 49ers in 1995.

The 1995 season for the Indianapolis Colts was a wild ride where the majority of the games would go down to the wire.

Such was the case in Week 7 when the Colts hosted the defending Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers.

The Colts entered the game with a 3-2 record as all five of their games had been decided by a touchdown or less with four of those games decided by a field goal or less.

Led by quarterback Jim Harbaugh, the Colts had staged memorable comeback wins over the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins were they had to overcome 21-point deficits in each game to win in overtime on field goals by Cary Blanchard.

The 3-2 start had given Indianapolis fans hope that the Colts would make the playoffs for the first time since 1987.

While the Colts were looking to end their playoff drought, the 49ers were trying to defend their Super Bowl title from the year before as they entered their game with the Colts with a 4-1 record.

The 49ers were led by head coach George Seifert and the famous "West Coast" offense under the direction of quarterback Steve Young and wide receiver Jerry Rice.

However, the 49ers were still searching to find a replacement for running back Ricky Watters, who had left the team in the offseason to sign with the Philadelphia Eagles, as Derek Loville and William Floyd looked to fill the void left by Watters.

Despite that, the 49ers were 10 point favorites for their trip to Indianapolis to take on the Colts, a team that had not beaten San Francisco dating back to 1968 as the Colts were one of the three NFL teams to move into the AFC following the AFL-NFL merger, meaning the 49ers and Colts rarely played in the regular season, playing only three times since the merger with the 49ers winning all three.

The Colts would get the ball at their 24-yard-line to start the game as they would drive 61 yards in 15 plays on a drive which took over nine minutes and ended with a 32-yard field goal by Blanchard to give Indianapolis a 3-0 lead with 5:53 left in the first quarter.

The 49ers would start its first possession of the game at their 18-yard-line where after picking up one 1st down gave the ball back to the Colts when Young was sacked by Indianapolis defensive end Tony Bennett, causing a fumble that was recovered by fellow defensive end Bernard Whittington at the San Francisco 30-yard-line.

However, the Colts could not convert the turnover into points as Indianapolis would drive to the San Francisco 16-yard-line until Harbaugh was intercepted by 49ers free safety Merton Hanks, whose 23-yard return gave the 49ers the ball at their 40-yard-line.

The 49ers would then hold the ball for over seven minutes as they drove 60 yards in 12 plays as Young completed all seven of his passes on the drive for 53 yards, including the five-yard touchdown pass to Rice to give San Francisco a 7-3 lead with 10:53 left in the second quarter.

49ers quarterback Steve Young completed 28 of 40 passes for 229 yards and threw one touchdown, but was sacked six times in the 49ers' loss to the Colts.

After both teams went three-and-out on their next possessions, the Colts got the ball back at their 41-yard-line when Harbaugh handed the ball off to Faulk, who picked up eight yards that became a 23-yard play when 49ers defensive lineman Junior Bryant get called for unnecessary roughness, drawing a 15-yard penalty and putting Indy at the San Francisco 36-yard-line.

From there, the Colts ran the ball five straight times, picking up 14 yards until Harbaugh was sacked by 49ers defensive end Jamal Fountaine on 3rd & 8, dropping him for a six-yard loss and forcing the Colts to settle for a 46-yard field goal by Blanchard to trim the San Francisco lead to 7-6 with 2:44 left in the first half.

When the 49ers got the ball back at their 26-yard-line, they went no-huddle in hopes of getting some points before halftime.

Young hit Loville for 13 yards on the second play of the drive, then connected with Floyd for 11 more yards to convert on 3rd & 10 at the San Francisco 39-yard-line to give the 49ers a 1st down at midfield.

Following a two-yard pass to Floyd, Young found John Taylor for 21 yards and a 1st down at the Colts' 27-yard-line with 1:15 left in the half.

After two incomplete passes, Young completed a 11-yard pass to  Rice to give the 49ers a 1st down at the Indianapolis 16-yard-line as San Francisco called timeout with 55 seconds left.

A five-yard run by Loville followed by a five-yard pass to Floyd gave San Francisco 1st & goal at the Colts' six-yard-line when Young hit a two-yard pass to Loville, then tried to run in for the touchdown only to be stopped at the one-yard-line by Colts linebacker Quentin Coryatt as the 49ers used their last timeout with 25 seconds left and needing one yard to get into the end zone.

That is when Coryatt stepped up again as he stopped for Young for no gain as the 49ers tried to get the field goal unit on before time expired in the first half when they got a repreive from the referees as a second football come onto the field allowing them to stop the clock with two seconds before 4th & 1.

Instead of taking the three points, Seifert gambled and went for the touchdown as Young handed the ball to Loville only to have Colts linebacker Trev Alberts break into the backfield causing Loville to move to his left where he was dropped for a two-yard loss by Indy free safety Jason Belser as time expired in the first half with the 49ers coming away with zero points and clinging to a 7-6 lead.

The 49ers would get the ball to start the second half from their 29-yard-line but would gave it right back to the Colts when on 3rd & 4 Young was intercepted by Colts linebacker Derwin Gray, whose 10-yard return gave Indianapolis the ball at the San Francisco 34-yard-line.

From there, Harbaugh would fire a 18-yard pass to Dilger, which was followed by an one-yard run by Faulk and then a 15-yard touchdown pass from Harbaugh to Dilger to give the Colts a 12-7 lead with 11:42 left in the third quarter.

Colts tight end Ken Dilger caught seven passes for 125 yards and scored the first touchdown of his NFL career.

The Colts would go for two to try and make it a seven-point game but Harbaugh's pass was picked off in the end zone by 49ers strong safety Tim McDonald to keep it 12-7.

The 49ers would get good field position to begin its next drive as Jamal Willis returned the ensuing kickoff 38 yards to the San Francisco 45-yard-line where after Loville picked up six yards on the first two plays of the drive, Young connected with Floyd for 10 yards to give San Francisco a 1st down at the Colts' 39-yard-line.

Young would then hit J.J. Stokes for 20 yards and another 1st down at the Colts' 19-yard-line as the 49ers would run the ball on the next four plays, culminating with Loville's four-yard touchdown run to give San Francisco a 14-12 lead midway through the third quarter.

Following an exchange of punts the Colts had the ball at the 21-yard-line when Dilger made his presence felt again as he caught a 41-yard pass from Harbaugh to give Indianapolis a 1st down at the 49ers' 38-yard-line.

From there, Faulk would run the ball three straight times, picking up nine yards before the Colts called on Blanchard again, this time to make a 45-yard field goal, which he did to give Indianapolis a 15-14 lead with 91 seconds left in the third quarter.

The game would move into the 4th quarter with Indianapolis still ahead 15-14 when the 49ers got the ball back at their 20-yard-line as the drive began with Young throwing an incomplete pass intended for Rice, only to have Colts cornerback Eugene Daniel get called for pass interference, drawing a 13-yard penalty and a 1st down at the Indy 33-yard-line.

Young would then find Taylor for 15 yards and another 1st down at the Indy 48-yard-line before connecting with Loville for nine yards to put San Francisco in Colts territory where after an incomplete pass on 2nd & 1, Loville ran for six yards and a 1st down at the Indianapolis 37-yard-line.

Young would then hit Rice for eight yards and then Jones for five yards for another 1st down at the 24-yard-line until back-to-back incomplete passes and a quarterback sack by Alberts for a nine-yard-loss led to Seifert calling on Doug Brien to attempt a 51-yard field goal.

Brien successfully made the field goal to give the 49ers a 17-15 lead with 7:29 to go in the fourth quarter.

The Colts would begin its ensuing possession at their 14-yard-line when the Harbaugh-to-Dilger connection struck again as the rookie tight end caught a five-yard pass to start the drive, then made a 33-yard catch to give Indianapolis a 1st down at the 49ers' 48-yard-line.

A five-yard-loss on a Warren run and an incomplete pass lead to a 3rd & 15 where Harbaugh found Floyd Turner for 16 yards to give the Colts a 1st down at the 49ers' 37-yard-line when Harbaugh handed the ball off to Warren, who ran for 10 yards and another 1st down at the San Francisco 27-yard-line.

Three straight running plays would only pick up three more yards, forcing the Colts to call on Blanchard again to kick a 41-yard field goal that would put Indianapolis in the lead.

Blanchard's kick sailed through the uprights to give the Colts a 18-17 lead with 2:25 to go in the game, plenty of time for Young and the 49ers to drive down for the winning score.

Colts kicker Cary Blanchard made all four of his field goal attempts, including the game-winning 41-yarder late in the 4th quarter.

The 49ers got another great return from Willis as his 39-yard return put the 49ers at their 41-yard-line to begin what they would hoped to be a game-winning drive.

Young would complete a five-yard pass to Rice, then hit Jones for 10 yards to give San Francisco a 1st down at the Colts' 44-yard-line as the two-minute warning hit.

A four-yard run by Floyd followed by a seven-yard pass to Jones gave the 49ers another 1st down at the Colts' 33-yard-line when Young was hit hard by Colts defensive tackle Ellis Johnson on a pass for Loville that went for no gain.

Young was shaken up on the play causing San Francisco to spend its final timeout with 1:05 remaining in hopes of not having to take out Young of the game.

However, Young could not recover in time for 2nd down, so backup quarterback Elvis Grbac went in and threw an incomplete pass intended for Jones before Young came back into the game for 3rd down where he hit Floyd for five yards to set up 4th & 5 when the Colts called timeout with 50 seconds to go.

The Colts figured Brien would make the field goal so the Colts where trying to preserve time in order to mount a scoring drive of their own assuming Brien made the 46-yard kick that would give the 49ers the lead.

But Brien's kick sailed wide right allowing the Colts to take a knee to run out the clock and come away with the 18-17 win, giving Indianapolis its first win over the 49ers since 1968.

The 49ers would go on to finish with a 11-5 record, good enough to win the NFC West for the fourth year in a row and 12th time out of the previous 15 seasons, as well as the #2 seed in the NFC playoffs.

But the 49ers would be stunned in the Divisional Round by the Green Bay Packers 27-17, ending their season and their reign as Super Bowl champions.

As for the Colts, the emotional roller coaster known as the 1995 season was just beginning as Indianapolis finished the regular season with a 9-7 record, good enough to earn a Wild Card spot as Cary Blanchard kicked a 30-yard field goal in the fourth quarter of the Colts' 10-7 win over the New England Patriots in the regular season finale, which sent the Colts to the playoffs for the first time since 1987.

In the playoffs, the Colts would knock off the defending AFC Champion San Diego Chargers 35-20 in the Wild Card Round, then shocked the #1 seed Kansas City Chiefs 10-7 in the Divisional Round(To read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2019/01/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-colts-shock.html) to advance to the AFC Championship Game, where they lost a 20-16 heartbreaker to the Pittsburgh Steelers as Harbaugh's "Hail Mary" pass for Aaron Bailey fell to the ground(To read about that game, click on the link which is highlighted here: https://oldschoolsportsblog.blogspot.com/2017/11/nfl-old-school-game-of-week-steelers.html).

Still, the 1995 season was a magical one for the Indianapolis Colts and their win over the 49ers is one of their highlights.