1982 Baltimore Colts season

1982 Baltimore Colts season
1982 Baltimore Colts season
Owner	Robert Irsay
General manager	Ernie Accorsi
Head coach	Frank Kush
Home field	Memorial Stadium
Results
Record	0–8–1
Conference place	14th AFC
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None
	← 1981; Colts seasons; 1983 →;

The 1982 Baltimore Colts season was the 30th season for the team in the National Football League (NFL), and the Colts’ penultimate season in Baltimore. It was their first under former Arizona State coach Frank Kush, who was hired to replace Mike McCormack after he recorded a 2–14 record in 1981.^[1]

The Colts finished the NFL's strike-shortened 1982 season without a victory, finishing with eight losses and one tie in their nine games. The Colts became the third team since the league’s expansion era began in 1960, after the 1960 Dallas Cowboys and the 1976 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the second team since the AFL-NFL merger to finish a regular season winless. Since then, the 2008 Detroit Lions and the 2017 Cleveland Browns have posted winless seasons; the Colts are the only one of these five teams that did not do so in a full, uninterrupted season (the Cowboys played twelve games, the Buccaneers fourteen, and the Lions and Browns sixteen, as per the league standards of the time). The Colts are also the only winless team to not have a winning percentage of .000 due to the tie giving them a percentage of .056 which is the worst non-zero win percentage for a team in post-1900s North American sports history. It would be the final season the Colts tied a game for 40 years. This record is only breakable by an NFL team going 0–16–1 (.029) in a season, an MLB team going 8–154 or worse, an NBA team going 4–78 or worse, or by an NHL team finishing with 9 points or fewer.

As mentioned above, the NFL's 1982 season was disrupted by a strike by the league's players. In the Colts’ first game after the end of the strike on November 21, they were shut out by the New York Jets 37–0. The following week, they were shut out by the Buffalo Bills 20–0, in a game in which the Colts’ offense never crossed the 50-yard line.^[2] Nevertheless, the week after that, they lost by only three points to the playoff-bound and defending AFC champion Cincinnati Bengals.

Offseason

NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1982 Baltimore Colts draft
1	2	Johnie Cooks	Linebacker	Mississippi State
1	4	Art Schlichter	Quarterback	Ohio State
2	28	Leo Wisniewski	Nose tackle	Penn State
2	34	Rohn Stark *	Punter	Florida State
3	57	Jim Burroughs	Cornerback	Michigan State
4	98	Mike Pagel	Quarterback	Arizona State
5	113	Terry Crouch	Guard	Oklahoma
6	140	Pat Beach	Tight end	Washington State
7	169	Fletcher Jenkins	Defensive tackle	Washington
8	196	Tony Loia	Guard	Arizona State
9	225	Tony Berryhill	Center	Clemson
10	252	Tom Deery	Safety	Widener
11	280	Lamont Meacham	Defensive back	Western Kentucky
12	307	Johnnie Wright	Running back	South Carolina
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

1982 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player	Position	College
Bernard Henry	Wide Receiver	Arizona State

Personnel

Staff

**1982 Baltimore Colts staff**
	Front office President and Treasurer – Robert Irsay General manager – Ernie Accorsi Director of Pro Personnel – Bob Terpening Head coaches Head coach – Frank Kush Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Zeke Bratkowski Running Backs – Roger Theder Receivers – Richard Mann Offensive Line – Hal Hunter Assistant Offensive Line – Mike Westhoff			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Bud Carson Defensive Line – Gunther Cunningham Linebackers – Rick Venturi Secondary – Bob Valesente Special teams coaches Special Teams – Bob Valesente

Roster

**1982 Baltimore Colts roster**

	Quarterbacks 11 David Humm 18 Mike Pagel 10 Art Schlichter Running backs 33 Curtis Dickey 31 Zachary Dixon 32 Randy McMillan FB 28 Cleveland Franklin 38 Johnnie Wright Wide receivers 80 Ray Butler 85 Matt Bouza 87 Elmer Bailey 88 Bernard Henry 84 Holden Smith Tight ends 81 Pat Beach 86 Reese McCall 83 Tim Sherwin		Offensive linemen 53 Ray Donaldson C 68 Jeff Hart T 62 Ken Huff G 75 Terry Crouch G 63 Nat Hudson G 65 Glenn Hyde T 78 Greg Murtha T 79 John Sinnott T 67 Arland Thompson G 64 Ben Utt G Defensive linemen 73 Cleveland Crosby DE 72 Steve Durham DE 92 James Hunter DT 94 Fletcher Jenkins DE 93 Harry Stanback DE 99 Donnell Thompson DE 69 Leo Wisniewski DT		Linebackers 98 Johnie Cooks 55 Barry Krauss MLB 54 Sanders Shiver 52 Greg Bracelin 50 Joe Harris 57 Mike Humiston 51 Ricky Jones 49 Cliff Odom 90 Gary Padjen 60 Dave Simmons Defensive backs 26 Kim Anderson FS 25 Nesby Glasgow CB/FS 42 Derrick Hatchett CB 30 Larry Anderson SS 45 Jim Burroughs CB 34 Jeff Delaney CB 27 Darryl Hemphill CB 44 Sid Justin CB 35 Dwayne O'Steen CB Special teams 16 Mike Wood K 3 Rohn Stark P 1 Dan Miller K		Reserve lists 71 Mike Ozdowski DE (IRTooltip Injured reserve) Practice squad Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Original week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	1	September 12	New England Patriots	L 13–24	0–1	Memorial Stadium	39,055
2	2	September 19	at Miami Dolphins	L 20–24	0–2	Miami Orange Bowl	51,999
—	3	September 26	New York Jets	Canceled	0–2	Memorial Stadium	NFLPA Strike
—	4	October 3	at Detroit Lions			Pontiac Silverdome
—	5	October 10	Buffalo Bills			Memorial Stadium
—	6	October 17	at Cleveland Browns			Cleveland Municipal Stadium
—	7	October 24	Miami Dolphins	Postponed (played January 2)		Memorial Stadium
—	8	October 31	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	Canceled		Memorial Stadium
—	9	November 7	at New England Patriots			Schaefer Stadium
—	10	November 14	Los Angeles Raiders			Memorial Stadium
3	11	November 21	at New York Jets	L 0–37	0–3	Shea Stadium	46,970
4	12	November 28	at Buffalo Bills	L 0–20	0–4	Rich Stadium	33,985
5	13	December 5	Cincinnati Bengals	L 17–20	0–5	Memorial Stadium	23,598
6	14	December 12	at Minnesota Vikings	L 10–13	0–6	Metrodome	53,981
7	15	December 19	Green Bay Packers	T 20–20 (OT)	0–6–1	Memorial Stadium	25,920
8	16	December 26	at San Diego Chargers	L 26–44	0–7–1	Jack Murphy Stadium	49,711
9	17	January 2, 1983	Miami Dolphins	L 7–34	0–8–1	Memorial Stadium	19,073
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Miami Dolphins⁽²⁾	7	2	0	.778	6–1	6–1	198	131	W3
New York Jets⁽⁶⁾	6	3	0	.667	2–2	2–3	245	166	L1
New England Patriots⁽⁷⁾	5	4	0	.556	3–1	5–3	143	157	W1
Buffalo Bills	4	5	0	.444	1–3	3–3	150	154	L3
Baltimore Colts	0	8	1	.056	0–5–0	0–7–0	113	236	L2

AFC v t e
#	Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
Seeded postseason qualifiers
1	Los Angeles Raiders	8	1	0	.889	260	200	W5
2^[a]	Miami Dolphins	7	2	0	.778	198	131	W3
3^[a]	Cincinnati Bengals	7	2	0	.778	232	177	W2
4^[b]^[c]	Pittsburgh Steelers	6	3	0	.667	204	146	W2
5^[b]^[c]	San Diego Chargers	6	3	0	.667	288	221	L1
6^[c]	New York Jets	6	3	0	.667	245	166	L1
7	New England Patriots	5	4	0	.556	143	157	W1
8^[d]	Cleveland Browns	4	5	0	.444	140	182	L1
Did not qualify for the postseason
9^[d]	Buffalo Bills	4	5	0	.444	150	154	L3
10^[d]	Seattle Seahawks	4	5	0	.444	127	147	W1
11	Kansas City Chiefs	3	6	0	.333	176	184	W1
12	Denver Broncos	2	7	0	.222	148	226	L3
13	Houston Oilers	1	8	0	.111	136	245	L7
14	Baltimore Colts	0	8	1	.056	113	236	L2
Tiebreakers
^ ^a ^b Miami finished ahead of Cincinnati based on better conference record (6–1 to Cincinnati’s 6–2). ^ ^a ^b Pittsburgh finished ahead of San Diego based on better record against common opponents (3–1 to Chargers' 2–1). Conference tiebreak was initially used to eliminate New York Jets. ^ ^a ^b ^c Pittsburgh and San Diego finished ahead of New York Jets based on conference record (Pittsburgh and San Diego 5–3 against Jets’ 2–3) ^ ^a ^b ^c Cleveland finished ahead of Buffalo and Buffalo ahead of Seattle based on conference record (4–3 to Buffalo’s 3–3 to Seattle’s 3–5).

References

^ Lowman, Wayne (December 22, 1981). "McCormack's Fall Traced to Chaos in Front Office". The Evening Sun. Hanover, Pennsylvania. p. 8.
^ "Against Bills, Colts Have No Offense". Los Angeles Times. Times Wire Services. November 29, 1982. p. 6.