Regular Season

Peyton Manning and the Colts started their 2006 season playing against the New York Giants and his brother Eli Manning. Colts defeated Giants and proved that they are the strong Super Bowl contender that season. Manning leads the Colts to win their next 8 games including week 10 win against New England Patriots. In their final regular season game against Miami Dolphins, Manning was named Offensive Player of the week. Manning ended his regular season with 4397 yards and season high 31 touchdowns. His quarterback rating of 101.1 was highest in the league for the third year in a row. The Colts ended their regular season with the record of 12-4, and were on their way to the Super Bowl.

Post Season

Manning in AFC Championship game In the wildcard round Manning and the Colts played against the Kansas City Chiefs. Manning led the Colts to a 23-8 victory and advanced to a divisional playoff game. There next game was against Baltimore Ravens, their historic rivals. Although, Manning didn't score any touchdowns, he constantly moved his offense in the field goal range for Adam Vinateri field goals. The Colts won their divisional game with 15-6 score. Manning's next was the big one, against the New England Patriots, the rematch of week 10 at the RCA Dome. Manning and the Colts got off to a shaky start and trailed 21-6 at the half. But in the third quarter, Colts offense got back on track and overcome the 18 points deficit late in the third quarter. Manning drove his offense for 80 yards touchdown and took the lead late in the fourth quarter. This was the largest come from behind win in the post season history of the National Football League. With this win, Manning was on his way to win his first Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XLI

Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears squared off for the big one on February 3, 2007 in Miami. Manning was always criticized for failing to win the big games. People always questioned whether he would ever win the Super Bowl, or would end up like Dan Marino, who despite being one of the greatest quarterback never won the Super bowl. But things were different this time. Manning led the Colts to a 29-17 victory and was the MVP of the game. Manning exorcised his big-game demons by winning the Super Bowl. During the post-game conference he addressed media: "In years' past when our team's come up short, it's been disappointing. Somehow we found a way to have learned from some of those losses and we've been a better team because of it." Following the win in the Super Bowl, Manning restructured his contract with the Colts and saved the Colts $8.2 million in salary cap space.

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