PRO FOOTBALL : Colts Rally to Beat Bills, but Lose Playoff Berth

The Indianapolis Colts, saddled with a 1-5 start, did their job by defeating AFC Eastern Division champion Buffalo, 17-14, Sunday and then had their playoff hopes extinguished while in the locker room.

The Colts, who put together two long fourth-quarter drives for their comeback victory, were eliminated when the Cleveland Browns rallied to defeat Houston, 28-23.

Gary Hogeboom, who lost his starting job after the first game of the season, completed touchdown passes of 3 and 7 yards in the fourth quarter on drives that covered 80 and 75 yards.

He entered the game late in the third quarter when starter Chris Chandler was injured.

“This was it, right now. If we lost we had no chance. If we won, we still had a chance,” said Hogeboom, who completed 10 of 15 passes for 89 yards. “To be in the playoffs, we had to win.”

As Hogeboom spoke, the news of Cleveland’s victory reached the locker room.

“It’s a disappointment because we should have been there,” said Hogeboom, who threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Albert Bentley with 1:18 left for the winning score.

Said Colt Coach Ron Meyer: “We played excellent football. Hogeboom came in and really sparked the team. It was just an outstanding performance by Gary. There’s no other way to describe it.”

The AFC Eastern Division champion Bills, advancing to the playoffs for the first time since 1981, got 2 touchdown passes from Jim Kelly to Andre Reed, but finished the regular season at 12-4.

Indianapolis ended at 9-7 after winning 8 of its final 10 games.

“We just put ourselves behind the eight-ball going 1-5 at the start,” Meyer said. “We did so much just to put ourselves in this position where we were here waiting to hear from Cleveland.”

Hogeboom, who asked to be traded, then relented and served as backup to Jack Trudeau, then to Chandler after Trudeau was injured 2 weeks later, relished his return in the final game.

“I live for any chance to get on the field. That’s what I work for,” Hogeboom said. “That’s what all these years have meant.”

Eric Dickerson rushed for 166 yards in 36 carries for the Colts and had a key 14-yard run on the winning touchdown drive.

Dickerson raised his season total to a Colt-record 1,659 yards but finished 85 yards short of becoming the first runner in NFL history to gain 10,000 yards in his first 6 seasons.

The Colts trailed, 14-3, early in the fourth quarter before rallying.

After Hogeboom’s first touchdown pass, a 3-yarder to Matt Bouza, the Colts stopped the Bills and forced them to punt.

Hogeboom then drove the Colts from their own 25. A 19-yard pass to Bouza and Dickerson’s 14-yard run took Indianapolis to the Buffalo 25 with under 2 minutes remaining.

Three plays later, Bentley ran 9 yards to the 13, and the Bills were called for delay of game, giving the Colts first down at the 7.

Hogeboom passed to Bentley on the next play for the winning touchdown.

Buffalo’s last chance ended near midfield when Kelly was sacked by rookie Jeff Herrod and Indianapolis took over on downs with 16 seconds left.

The Bills took a 7-3 lead late in the second quarter on Kelly’s first touchdown pass to Reed, a 23-yarder. Buffalo appeared to put the game out of reach on a 6-yard scoring pass to Reed early in the fourth quarter.

The touchdown was set up when defensive end Bruce Smith sacked Chandler at the Colts’ 1-yard line, knocking Chandler out of the game with a concussion and forcing a punt.

Buffalo took over at the Indianapolis 37 and scored 5 plays later.