Not a Colt Classic

On a night when Mike Vanderjagt’s streak ended, the New England Patriots kept theirs rolling along.

The Patriots won for the 16th consecutive time, posting a 27-24 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in a game decided when Vanderjagt’s 48-yard field-goal attempt fluttered wide right with 19 seconds to play. He had converted an NFL-record 42 consecutive field goals, gliding through last season without a miss.

“When you crash, you crash and burn,” Vanderjagt said. “I guess if I hit it well, it would have gone in. It was a good snap, good hold, good protection. The field was kind of nasty, but you get used to that in this league. I blame it on nobody but myself.”

The Colts, who have lost eight in a row at New England, were hoping to avenge their loss to the Patriots in last season’s AFC championship game but did themselves no favors with three turnovers in the red zone.

The last was especially crippling. Trailing by three with less than four minutes to play, the Colts had a first and goal at the one after New England was flagged for pass interference in the end zone. But Richard Seymour knocked the ball loose from Edgerrin James in a dive over the top, and Ty Warren recovered the fumble to end the threat with 3 minutes 43 seconds to play.

Indianapolis wasn’t done. In the final minute, quarterback Peyton Manning moved the Colts back to the New England 17. But on third down, Willie McGinest sacked him for a 12-yard loss, forcing the visitors to opt for a field goal that would have forced overtime.

“I was just trying to dig to get to him,” McGinest said. “I just wanted to get him down and get them out of field-goal range. This guy [Vanderjagt] never misses. I’m happy he missed one finally.”

Even-keeled Patriot Coach Bill Belichick downplayed the magnitude of the victory, one that had 68,756 spectators shaking Gillette Stadium to its pilings.

“It’s nice to win,” Belichick said in his familiar monotone. “But we’ve got 15 more to go. So if we go 1-15, I doubt anyone’s going to be doing handsprings about this one.”

Regardless, it was a pins-and-needles ending to an NFL opener that began with fireworks, an Elton John concert and a driving drizzle that persisted through much of the first half. The hour-long pregame show included a tribute to the Super Bowl champions that featured a giant inflatable Lombardi Trophy at midfield that peeled open to reveal rocker Lenny Kravitz.

The most valuable player in both of the Patriots’ Super Bowl victories was quarterback Tom Brady, who was scorching Thursday. He completed 26 of 38 passes for 335 yards with three touchdowns and an interception.

Brady spread the ball to seven different receivers, and got new running back Corey Dillon involved. The bruiser obtained in a trade with Cincinnati gained 87 yards in 15 carries and was serenaded by a crowd chanting, “Co-rey! Co-rey!”

“He broke some great runs, made defenders miss, ran over people, handled all the plays, all the pass protections,” Brady said. “It was a great opening night for him.”

Less so for the Patriot defense, which obviously misses condo-sized tackle Ted Washington, who signed as a free agent with Oakland.

His goal-line fumble aside, James rushed for 142 yards in 30 carries and time after time busted big runs up the middle. On a 66-yard touchdown drive in the second quarter, the Colts strung together nine consecutive runs and scored on a three-yard plunge by Dominic Rhodes.

It was an up-and-down night for Manning.

His first drive ended when linebacker Tedy Bruschi made a diving interception at the Patriot one. But Manning bounced back, throwing a pair of touchdown passes and giving the Colts at least a couple of chances to win.

Typical of his night, though, bad plays came right on the heels of good ones. He made a magnificent play in the third quarter, faking a handoff on fourth-and-one, keeping the ball and wheeling around to his right for a 19-yard gain to the New England 22. All that momentum evaporated on the following play, though, when defensive end Warren knocked the ball loose from James at the 18 and safety Eugene Wilson recovered the fumble.

Hoping against hope to erase the mishap, Colt Coach Tony Dungy threw a flag to challenge -- something he never did last season -- but the videotape backed up the call.

Asked after the game if he was angry about the way his team played, Dungy said, “This is the most disappointed I’ve been. We said we were going to have to come in here and play our game. It wouldn’t take a superhuman effort, it would take just doing what we should be able to do. And we couldn’t get it done.”