Patriots Win in Overtime; Millen Stars

His two best wide receivers were missing. Quarterback Hugh Millen wasn’t.

The New England Patriots trailed the Indianapolis Colts by 14 points going into the fourth quarter, but Millen brought the Patriots back for a 23-17 overtime victory Sunday.

The Patriots (5-9), who went seven consecutive quarters without a touchdown, scored two in the fourth quarter to erase a 17-3 deficit and force overtime.

“Hugh Millen is rapidly becoming something special,” Patriot Coach Dick MacPherson said.

It was the third game this season in which Millen has engineered late drives to give the Patriots victories in the final seconds. He survived eight sacks and completed 21 of 40 passes for 330 yards.

Irving Fryar left the game on New England’s first series with a bruise on his left leg, and Greg McMurtry was sidelined early in the fourth with an ankle injury. That left the Patriots with only two healthy wide receivers, Michael Timpson and Rob Carpenter.

So the Patriots used two tight ends, and one of them was rookie Ben Coates, who caught a two-yard touchdown pass with seven seconds left in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime.

Then, Millen hooked up with Timpson on a 45-yard touchdown pass play that won the game with 8:55 gone in overtime.

The touchdowns were the first in the NFL for Timpson and Coates.

The Colts fell to 1-13.