Colts Make Eagles Land With a Thud

A healthy Marshall Faulk is back, just in time for the Indianapolis Colts to make a run for the playoffs.

Hampered much of the year because of a dislocated toe, Faulk rushed for a season-high 101 yards and two touchdowns as the Colts routed the Philadelphia Eagles, 37-10, Thursday night.

“Things happen to you in life,” Faulk said. “Hurting my toe, my natural gifts weren’t there. But I got a little wiser. I had to work on my reads a lot harder.

“Things happen for a reason, and now I can see myself as things come back, my natural abilities, all the things I’ve worked on for years. It’s making me a lot better player. It’s making me see things I probably wouldn’t see otherwise.”

And right now, the Colts are seeing the playoffs.

After losing five of six games, the Colts have now beaten an NFL division leader two straight games. Again, they got a big game from kicker Cary Blanchard, who set a Colts season scoring record and came within one of the NFL season record for field goals.

And journeyman Kerwin Bell, drafted by Miami in 1988, made his first NFL appearance in relief of injured Paul Justin and threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Harrison.

The loss by the Eagles (8-6) dropped them a half-game behind Dallas and Washington in the NFC East and clinched a playoff berth for NFC Central leader Green Bay. It also kept the Colts (8-6), who beat Buffalo in overtime on Sunday, alive in the crowded race for an AFC wild card.

Blanchard, 34 of 38 for the season, made three field goals in the second quarter as the Colts scored on every possession thanks to three straight interceptions off Ty Detmer.

“I think this team earned what they got done out there,” Colt Coach Lindy Infante said. “We had a short week. When we came back to work Monday, we got busy and did a week’s work in three days.

The three interceptions by the Colts gave them nine in the past four games, compared with a total of only three through the first 10 games of the season.

“Defensively, the last couple weeks, we’re playing the way we’re going to have to play the rest of the way,” Infante said.

The Colts’ next game is Dec. 15 at Kansas City. Philadelphia plays Dec. 14 at the New York Jets.

“They put a lot of pressure on the offensive line. We let it get away from us right from the start,” said Detmer, who was 17 of 34 for 182 yards before being relieved in the final quarter by Rypien (10 of 13 for 76 yards).

The three field goals moved Blanchard within one of the NFL record of 35 set by Ali Haji-Sheikh of the New York Giants in 1983 and tied by Jeff Jaeger of the Los Angeles Raiders in 1993. Along with four extra-points, he set a Colts season record of 123 points, breaking the mark of 120 by Lenny Moore in 1964.

Justin, starting his second straight game in place of injured Jim Harbaugh (knee), was 14 of 23 for 144 yards and left early in the third quarter because of a bruised and sprained shoulder. Bell, who played the past three years in the Canadian Football League, completed all five of his pass attempts for 75 yards.