Cary-Over for Colts’ Heroics : Pro football: 49ers follow Dolphins as upset victims when Blanchard connects, 18-17.

A castoff kicker gave the comeback Colts another victory, this time over the Super Bowl champion San Francisco 49ers and an ailing Steve Young.

Cary Blanchard, who played two years with the New York Jets and was cut by San Francisco and New Orleans before the season began, kicked a 41-yard field goal with 2:36 to go Sunday, lifting Indianapolis to an 18-17 victory.

It was Blanchard’s fourth field goal of the game and sixth without a miss since he signed with Indianapolis two weeks ago.

“Hollywood could not have written a better script for me,” Blanchard said. “I knew this would be my last chance at making it in the NFL. I would have never thought in my first two games I would have kicked the game winners.”

A week earlier, Blanchard kicked the winning field goal in overtime as the Colts (4-2) rallied from a 21-point deficit to hand Miami its first defeat. Indianapolis also came back from 21 points down to beat the Jets earlier in the season.

This time, the victory was in doubt until the 49ers (4-2) missed a chance to go ahead with 50 seconds left when Doug Brien’s 46-yard field goal attempt went wide right.

Young left the game for one play after he was tackled hard on the 49ers’ last drive, but returned and completed one pass before Brien’s missed field goal.

“It’s been a nightmare,” Young said. “I had the flu last night. When you play long enough, you try to be straight up with yourself and the coach.

“It’s not the kind of thing that if you feel you’re going to injure yourself for the future you’re going to stay in. I didn’t feel that way until I hit it right there at the end, and then I hurt.”

Coach George Seifert said Young would get an MRI today.

“What the doctors have told me is he has a bruise to the back,” Seifert said. “We’ll wait to see what the test reveals.”

Young had hurt his shoulder earlier in the game and “was consistently in pain,” Seifert said. “That last hit was really the decider.”

It was the third consecutive upset for the Colts, who also surprised then-undefeated St. Louis and Miami the previous two weeks. It also was the first time since 1973 the Colts beat a defending Super Bowl champion.

The 49ers led, 17-15, on a career-long 51-yard field goal by Brien midway through the fourth quarter, but a 33-yard reception by rookie Ken Dilger on the next series helped set up Blanchard’s winning kick.

San Francisco reached the Indianapolis 28 with 50 seconds to go, but Brien missed and the Colts ran out the clock.

“I missed the kick. I’ll try again next time,” Brien said.

Dilger, a second-round pick out of Illinois, had seven receptions for 125 yards, including a 42-yarder that set up Blanchard’s third field goal late in the third quarter. His 125 yards marked the first time a Colt tight end topped 100 yards since Kerry Cash had 104 against the Jets in 1992.

“They didn’t rush us too hard, so I got out on routes and made some big plays,” Dilger said. “Each week, they come out with a different look for every different team. We really didn’t know what to expect, but we came out and adjusted to what they threw at us.”

Jerry Rice had only 43 yards and one touchdown and increased his career reception yardage to 13,911. The record of 14,004 set two years ago by James Lofton could fall next week when the 49ers play at St. Louis.

The only other major receiving record still unclaimed by Rice--although it should belong to him by late this season or early next season--is Art Monk’s 934 receptions. With six catches Sunday, Rice has 867 for his 11-year career.

“We doubled Jerry as much as we possibly could,” Colt Coach Ted Marchibroda said. “But it’s one of those games that happens. Jerry’s going to get his yardage, there’s no question.”

Rice capped the 49ers’ only scoring drive of the first half with a five-yard touchdown reception from Young, who finished 28 of 40 for 229 yards. It was the 146th touchdown of Rice’s career.

“A lot of teams try to control the ball in order to control our offense,” 49er tackle Steve Wallace said. “We should be able to step up and handle those situations. You have to give them credit.”

The Colts, who scored first on a 32-yard field goal by Blanchard on the game’s opening series, pulled within 7-6 on another field goal, this one from 46 yards, with 2:53 left in the half.

San Francisco moved from its 26 to the Indianapolis 1 in the closing seconds of the first half. The game clock apparently ran out before the 49ers could get off a field goal, but officials put two seconds back on the clock. This time, instead of a field goal, the 49ers went for the touchdown, with Derek Loville stopped just short of the goal line by Jason Belser as the half ended.

An interception by Derwin Gray early in the third quarter gave Indianapolis the ball at the San Francisco 34. Jim Harbaugh, who was 12 for 18 for 175 yards, connected with Dilger on an 18-yarder, Marshall Faulk ran one yard to the 15 and Dilger made his first touchdown catch on the next play.

Loville put the 49ers back on top with a four-yard touchdown run on the next series before Blanchard started the deciding exchange of field goals.