The winless Bears have rubbed off on the Indianapolis Colts in more ways than one. By stretching their record to 0-7 Monday night in a 9-6 loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Colts matched the Bears for record futility and for quarterback frustration.
Paul Justin replaced an injured Jim Harbaugh in the third quarter and neither of the ex-Bears, both taking snaps from ex-Bear center Jay Leeuwenburg, could get the Colts into the end zone.
Neither could young Bills quarterback Todd Collins, but he moved his team 69 yards in 13 plays before Steve Christie won it with his third field goal, a 27-yarder, on the game’s final play.
It was only the second game in NFL history with no touchdowns and no turnovers, the only memorable angle the “Monday Night Football” crew could boast. The other game was a 6-3 New England win over Miami in 1988.
Harbaugh suffered a sprained right ankle after being sacked five times in only 17 dropbacks. Justin led both Colt field goal drives, but coach Lindy Infante dodged the question of who might start against the San Diego Chargers next week. Infante didn’t think Harbaugh could have returned on Monday night.
“A couple of times they were just right there before I even had a chance to look,” Harbaugh said.
Bills end Bryce Paup and Bruce Smith treated Colts tackles Tony Mandarich and rookie Adam Meadows like turnstiles, but Justin completed five of his six passes without a sack in the final quarter and a half.
Against the same team four weeks ago, the Colts blew a 26-0 lead and lost 37-35 in their only offensive production of the season. In other losses, the Colts have scored 10, 6, 3, 12, 22, and 6 points.
“Confidence is such a big thing,” said director of operations Bill Tobin, himself a former Bears employee who can identify with Chicago’s plight.
The last time the Colts were on national television they were playing the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC playoffs last year. The last time they were on “Monday Night Football,” they beat the Miami Dolphins last September to remain the last undefeated team in the league at 4-0. A once-magical Colts team has gone poof.
Harbaugh claimed he hasn’t lost confidence.
“I feel like I can put the ball where I want to put it. When I had a chance to look the routes over and make the throws, I felt that I was doing it,” Harbaugh said.
Not since the 0-11 New Orleans Saints of 1980 had a winless team played so late in the season on Monday night as the Colts.
Although they were greeted by an enthusiastic sellout crowd for the first time this season, the Colts exposed their shortcomings in an atrocious sequence before halftime that ABC commentator Dan Dierdorf said would have embarrassed a high school team.
Harbaugh had been having trouble hearing Infante’s play-calls on his helmet headset and had to waste two timeouts to beat the play clock. On first down at the Bills’ 20 with 1:13 left, Harbaugh was sacked for four yards. On second down, he was sacked for 10. While lining up for third down, the Colts wasted 32 seconds before frantically calling their final timeout so Cary Blanchard could try a 51-yard field goal. He missed.
Two Bills stars set milestones Monday night. Running back Thurman Thomas got more than 11,000 yards and receiver Andre Reed joined Jerry Rice, Art Monk and Steve Largent in the rare 800-catch club.
