Patriots 27, Colts 24
FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi figures the streaking Super Bowl champs were starting from scratch in the NFL season opener.
No one cares about last year, Bruschi said.
The question is, 'Can you do it again?'
On Thursday night in New England's 27-24 victory over Indianapolis, Patriots linebacker Willie McGinest did, and Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt didn't.
One play after McGinest sacked Peyton Manning for a 13-yard loss, Vanderjagt's field-goal streak ended at 42 when he missed a 48-yarder with 19 seconds left, giving New England its 16th straight victory two shy of the NFL record.
I was going to swipe at the ball and try to get the fumble out, but I figured he'd dropped back far enough, said McGinest, who stopped Edgerrin James on a fourth-and-1 play with 14 seconds left last season in Indianapolis in the Patriots' 38-34 victory.
Two-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady completed 26 of 38 passes for 335 yards and three touchdowns, but threw his first interception at home since 2002.
In the rematch of New England's 24-14 victory in the AFC championship game, Indianapolis gained 446 yards, more than the Patriots gave up in any game last season.
James rushed for 142 yards, but the Colts turned the ball over twice at the Patriots' 1 on Bruschi's interception on their first series and James' fumble on their next to last possession.
The 1-yard line proved to be a tough obstacle for the Colts again.
This year's a different year, different teams, Manning said. You're supposed to score when you have chances down there.
Manning threw two scoring passes to Marvin Harrison and Brandon Stokley. But the star quarterback is 2-9 against the Patriots and 0-6 in Foxboro, where he's thrown nine touchdown passes and 16 interceptions. Brady is 5-0 against the Colts and 41-12 as an NFL starter, including the playoffs.
There's lots of room for improvement because you just don't want to let it come down to such close plays at the end of the game, Brady said.
That helps keep the Patriots from looking ahead to Oct. 10 when they play Miami in what could be their record 19th straight win in the streak that includes the playoffs. Miami is one of five NFL teams that share the mark.
You can't win all those games in one week, Brady said.
The Colts' chance to win Thursday ended when Vanderjagt, whose 32-yarder tied it at 3 early in the second quarter, sent his final attempt wide right.
We had a lot of bad football going on before that kick, Colts coach Tony Dungy said. It was probably a fitting end to the game.
Vanderjagt said I didn't choke but took the blame for his first miss since a 44-yarder in the 14th game of the 2002 season.
When you crash, you crash and burn, he said. I blame it on no one but myself.
Before the opening kickoff, the NFL staged an hour-long entertainment show at Gillette Stadium. It was telecast with a 10-second delay to give the league and ABC a chance to pull the plug on anything too racy such as Janet Jackson's breast-baring at the Super Bowl halftime show.
Elton John headlined the show that included the unveiling of the Patriots' second Super Bowl banner. But McGinest said, I think our show was a little more exciting than the pregame show.
Corey Dillon made his Patriots debut after seven seasons in Cincinnati and gained 86 yards in 15 carries.
This is what I have been looking for my whole career, he said. Playing with a bunch of guys who play till the end and know how to win.
The Patriots turned a 17-13 halftime deficit into a 27-17 lead when Brady threw touchdown passes of 25 yards to David Patten and 8 yards to Daniel Graham in the third quarter.
The Colts cut that to 27-24 on Manning's 7-yard pass to Stokley and Vanderjagt's extra point with 11:05 left in the game. But they didn't score again even though a 22-yard pass-interference penalty in the end zone against Asante Samuel gave them the ball at the 1 one play before James lost the fumble.
We were so close, James said. I shouldn't have tried to stick the ball out toward the goal line.
The Patriots shouldn't let the win go to their heads.