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Finishing flourish Veteran Patriots school Colts in 31-28 comeback win
Posted: Sunday September 19, 1999 10:58 PM
FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) -- Drew Bledsoe stayed calm despite a 21-point deficit. He threw three of his four touchdown passes as the New England Patriots pulled out of a 28-7 halftime hole and stunned the Indianapolis Colts 31-28 Sunday. "The only way this team is going to be out of a game is if we panic," he said after leading the Patriots to their second straight game-winning field goal by Adam Vinatieri in the final minute. And the defense, victimized in the first half by three touchdown passes from Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison and a 1-yard scoring run by Edgerrin James, also kept cool. No stirring halftime speeches were needed. "No speech in the world was going to get us 21 points," defensive end Willie McGinest said. "We had to do it out on the field." They did it by allowing just 79 yards in the second half after giving up 265 in the first. And the Patriots (2-0) served notice that they weren't about to be upstaged by the young and improving Colts (1-1), who opened their season with a 31-14 win over Buffalo. "We let it slip out of our hands," Manning said. "They put on a football clinic in the second half." "This is our stadium," Patriots strong safety Lawyer Milloy said. "We wanted to come out aggressive." They did when Bledsoe threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Terry Allen in the third quarter and 3- and 10-yarders to Ben Coates in the fourth before Vinatieri won the game with a 26-yard field goal with 35 seconds left. "We were hurt by turnovers, penalties, broken coverage, missed tackles," Colts coach Jim Mora said. The costliest turnover was made by James, the No. 4 pick in the draft who had run for 112 yards in his NFL debut a week earlier. On Sunday, he rushed for 118 yards on 32 carries. But he fumbled with 2:32 to go and the score tied at 28. Brandon Mitchell recovered at the Indianapolis 37, starting the drive toward Vinatieri's field goal. "I made a critical turnover at a critical time," James said. "That basically sums it all up. I was trying to get extra yards." The previous Sunday, the Patriots capitalized on another turnover -- an interception by Chris Slade -- and beat the New York Jets 30-28 on Vinatieri's 23-yard field goal with three seconds left. "We're happy to win no matter how we win," McGinest said. "You can do whatever you want to do if you put your mind to it." Manning completed 18 of 30 passes for 223 yards. Bledsoe was 27-for-45 for 299 yards. Allen ran 15 times for 74 yards -- 17 of them on the final drive -- as the Patriots beat the Colts for the seventh straight time and won their fifth consecutive home opener. In the first half, Manning, the top pick in the 1998 draft, threw scoring passes to Harrison covering 42, 10 and 8 yards. All the Patriots could manage was Bledsoe's 11-yard touchdown pass to Shawn Jefferson. The second half was an entirely different story. Bledsoe threw his touchdown to Allen with 4:35 left in the third quarter and his 3-yarder to Coates with 9:43 remaining in the fourth. The Patriots then marched 78 yards on 10 plays and tied the score with 3:03 left on Coates' 10-yard reception and Vinatieri's extra point. Bledsoe began the winning drive with a 7-yard completion to backup tight end Rod Rutledge. The Patriots then got a first down at the 25 when cornerback Jeff Burris was called for holding Jefferson. Allen, signed in late August after being released by Washington, then ran three straight times for 13, 2 and 2 yards, and Bledsoe followed it with a 5-yard keeper. After a delay penalty, Vinatieri made his winning kick. The Colts' last possession ended when Chris Carter intercepted Manning's desperation pass with five seconds remaining. Notes: The Colts, who sacked elusive Doug Flutie five times a week earlier, tackled the less mobile Bledsoe just once. Manning wasn't sacked for the second straight week. He was sacked only 22 times last year. ... The Patriots played without two injured starting linemen, left guard Heath Irwin and right tackle Zefross Moss. ... Manning has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 15 consecutive games. Harrison has a reception in each of his 46 NFL games. ... Bledsoe completed passes to 10 receivers. He threw to nine players in the opener against the Jets. ... Bledsoe's 10 wins against the Colts are the most he's had against any team. ... Indianapolis had 18 first downs in the first half, just five in the second. ... New England's Terry Glenn had seven catches for 122 yards a week after grabbing seven for 113.
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