APThe Patriots tied the game on Dillon’s 1-yard run on the second play of the second quarter. Indianapolis countered with an 82-yard drive capped by Joseph Addai’s 2-yard touchdown run, before New England tied it again on Dillon’s 4-yard run.
Then Terrence Wilkins returned the kickoff 70 yards to the Patriots 29 and Vinatieri put the Colts ahead for good 17-14 with a 33-yard field goal with 1:46 left in the half. New England’s final possession before intermission ended on Bob Sanders’ interception at the Indianapolis 3.
“We’re not going to win many games that way, giving up big plays on special teams, defense,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said.
Vinatieri’s miss on a 37-yarder early in the third quarter was his first failure in 16 attempts this season and ended a string of 12 possessions in which the Colts scored 10 times. The only two times they failed in that stretch were at the end of their last two first halves, when Manning knelt down with the ball.
Harrison’s 4-yard scoring catch made it 24-14 midway through the third quarter. Gostkowski then kicked a 49-yard field goal, Vinatieri connected from 31 and Gostkowski was good again from 26. Harrison’s TD was a twisting, diving one-handed catch in the right edge of the end zone on which he barely dragged both feet in bounds.
Notes: Troy Brown broke Stanley Morgan’s team record for career receptions with the Patriots with 538 after making five catches. Morgan caught 534. ... Harrison broke a tie with Lenny Moore for most touchdowns by a Colt. He has 115, two more than Moore, who played when the team was in Baltimore. ... For the first time this season, the Colts scored fewer than 30 points and the Patriots allowed more than 17.
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