Colts Snub Bills From Playoffs

It wasn't Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison who kept the Indianapolis Colts alive in the AFC playoff race.

It was Paul Shields, Jeff Burris and Bernard Holsey.

Shields blocked a punt to set up one third-quarter score and Burris sacked Rob Johnson to force a fumble that Holsey returned 48 yards for another touchdown as the Colts beat the Buffalo Bills 44-20 Monday night.

Mustafah Muhammed added a 40-yard interception return for a score in the fourth quarter as the Colts scored 35 points in the second half, 21 by the defense or special teams.

The win kept Indianapolis (8-6) alive for an AFC playoff berth and eliminated the Bills (7-7), although the Colts still need help to make it.

Indianapolis' victory also enabled Denver to qualify for the postseason, joining Oakland, Tennessee and Baltimore with two spots in the conference still open.

This was clearly a victory for the Indianapolis defense, which for two years has played the supporting cast to Manning, Harrison and James.

This time, the offense supported the defense.

While Manning was just 13-of-24 for a career-low 132 yards, the defense sacked Johnson and Doug Flutie nine times after getting just six sacks in its previous five games. The two turnovers for touchdowns were among three for the game for a team that entered the game with just 15 takeaways, last in the NFL.

The Colts led 9-6 at halftime after an exchange of field goals by Mike Vanderjagt and Buffalo's Steve Christie.

But Indianapolis came out energized in the second half, especially on defense.

It stopped the Bills on three plays on the opening series, then Shields, who started four games at fullback last year but had been cut and re-signed twice this season, broke up the middle and blocked Chris Mohr's punt.

That gave Indianapolis the all at the 25. James carried the ball four straight times, the last time taking it in from the 1.

The play that broke it open came late in the third quarter.

With Buffalo facing a third-and-2 at the Colts' 45, Burris blitzed from the right corner and hit Johnson from the blind side. The ball came loose and was picked up by Holsey, who took it untouched to the end zone to make it 23-6.

Buffalo cut it to 23-12 on a 1-yard run by Sammy Morris late in the third quarter that was set up by a 34-yard pass from Johnson to Eric Moulds. But the Colts came right back and went 62 yards on 12 plays, scoring on the second 1-yard TD run by James, who finished with 111 yards on 27 carries.

After Muhammed's interception return, the Bills added a late touchdown on a 29-yard pass from Flutie to Peerless Price.

James closed out the scoring with a 13-yard TD run giving him 34 TDs in two seasons. That ties Eric Dickerson and Gale Sayers for most touchdowns in two seasons.

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