Bledsoe, Coates Get Yardage, Bahr Points for Patriots

Whenever New England needed some yardage, Drew Bledsoe threw the ball to tight end Ben Coates. Whenever the Patriots needed some points, Matt Bahr did his job.

Bledsoe and Coates set up four field goals by Bahr in a 12-10 victory over the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday night.

“I’d love to throw to Ben Coates every play,” said Bledsoe, the NFL’s leading passer, who set a team single-season passing yardage record.

Twelve of his completions went to Coates, who had 119 yards and became the NFL’s first tight end with 1,000 yards in receptions in a season since 1986.

New England (6-6), which won its third consecutive game, moved into a three-way tie with Buffalo and the New York Jets for second place in the AFC East, two games behind Miami with four to go.

Indianapolis (5-7) took a 10-9 lead on a 50-yard field goal by Dean Biasucci with 10:22 left.

Bledsoe then completed five consecutive passes on the next possession, including three to Coates, who juggled the last one before hauling it in to give the Patriots a key first down and set up the go-ahead 42-yard field goal by Bahr with 4:01 to go.

Bledsoe was 26 of 36 for 271 yards and raised his season total to 3,526 yards, breaking the former team record of 3,465 set by Babe Parilli in 1964.