Colts Fashion Victory Over Patriots

Marshall Faulk knotted the yellow-and-brown tie around his neck and straightened his monogrammed white dress shirt. Nearby, Jim Harbaugh sat with an ice bag taped around his left thigh and grass stains on his pants.

The flashy runner and the blue-collar quarterback had just led Indianapolis to a 24-10 victory over the New England Patriots that helped the Colts’ playoff chances and may have ended the Patriots’.

The Colts (6-5) snapped a two-game losing streak in the key AFC East matchup. The Patriots (4-7) had won their previous two games and three of four.

“If we’re talking about playoffs, every game is critical,” Colt defensive back Ray Buchanan said.

Harbaugh and Faulk outplayed the Patriots’ combination of Drew Bledsoe, the can’t-miss quarterback who missed quite a bit, and rookie Curtis Martin, the third-round draft pick who had been running like a first-rounder.

“I know I’ll never be Drew Bledsoe. I don’t have the gun,” Harbaugh said. “I know what I am and I need other players around me to do well and I’m finally in a situation where I got some help.”

That came from Faulk, who rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown and gained 71 more on eight catches. Harbaugh also helped himself, throwing scoring passes of three yards to rookie tight end Ken Dilger and 14 yards to Floyd Turner.

Harbaugh was waived after the 1993 season after seven years with Chicago and signed with the Colts. He started Sunday’s game as the NFL’s top-ranked passer and probably will stay there after completing 20 of 26 passes for 232 yards.

“I’m just a grinder, a mudder” said Harbaugh, who had been limited by a groin injury to four quarters in the previous three games. “I always believed in myself, even when nobody else did.”

Bledsoe, the top pick in the 1993 draft, was 20 for 39 for 180 yards with five sacks after being sacked once in his previous 168 passes before Sunday.

“‘They were the best we faced at getting into our backfield,” Bledsoe said in a monotone. “It seemed like every drive we would go out and make some mistake.”

Martin, whose 520 rushing yards the previous four weeks were more than any other player in that span, was held to one catch, 48 rushing yards and a touchdown against the NFL’s fourth-best run defense. The Colts didn’t allow a 100-yard rusher for the 24th consecutive game.

“We weren’t even worried about him,” Buchanan said. “I think he’s a great back, but I’m going to have more confidence in our defense than in his ability.”

Only 10 games into his career, Martin had invited comparisons with Faulk.

“I don’t think he’s faced as many different defenses as I have. That makes it more difficult for him,” Faulk said.