INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- The Indianapolis Colts gave life to a new defense and killed any playoff hopes for the Buffalo Bills.
The third-worst defense in the AFC made up for an off night by two-thirds of the "Big Three," recording nine sacks and scoring twice in a 44-20 win that kept Indianapolis alive in the playoff race.
"I was really proud of our defense tonight," Colts coach Jim Mora said. "We scored a couple of touchdowns -- that is a pretty good feat in itself."
The Colts opened up a close game in a 49-point second half as defensive tackle Bernard Holsey scored on a 48-yard fumble return and cornerback Mustafah Muhammad returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown.
"Actually, there was one little phrase among a few of the players," Muhammad said. "The phrase was, `If a play is going to be made, I'm going to make the play.'"
Indianapolis began the night 14th in the conference with 350.4 yards allowed per game and a minus-11 turnover ratio but allowed more than half of 294 yards in garbage time and forced the only three turnovers.
"As everyone knows, we've struggled at time this year," said defensive end Brad Scioli, who had two sacks. "And we wanted to come out and make a point that we're not going to quit, that we're going to fight to the end and do anything we can to make the playoffs."
The reigning AFC East champs, the Colts (8-6) shook off a three-game losing streak. They need to win their final two games and hope the New York Jets or Miami Dolphins lose their last two to make the postseason.
The Jets host the Detroit Lions on Sunday while the Colts visit the Dolphins.
"We can't control what happens with the Jets and Detroit," quarterback Peyton Manning said. "We can control what happens with Miami. That's going to be our focus."
Edgerrin James led the "Big Three" by running for 111 yards and three TDs. Manning had his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass snapped at 13, going 13-of-24 for 132 yards, while Marvin Harrison had just two catches for 27 yards.
"Offensively, we didn't take advantage of all our opportunities we had, but we did a good job of keeping with our offensive game plan tonight," said Manning, whose team totaled just 237 yards of offense.
En route to his 17th career 100-yard game, James tied an NFL record set by Gale Sayers and matched by Eric Dickerson with 34 TD runs in his first two seasons.
Part of an endless quarterback controversy, Rob Johnson was the victim of Indianapolis' defensive explosion. He completed 12-of-22 passes for 188 yards with two interceptions as Buffalo (7-7) had its playoff hopes come to an end.
"I tried to make some plays, but they turned out to be bad decisions on my part," Johnson said. "It's just very frustrating being out there and not being able to make plays."
With the Bills' loss, Denver (10-4) clinched an AFC wild card berth. The conference's other two playoff teams will come out of the East.
The Colts won a battle of field goals during a defensive first half, with Mike Vanderjagt kicking a 39-yarder on the final play of the second quarter for a 9-6 lead.
"It's been the story of our season," Bills receiver Eric Moulds said. "I feel that in every game we go out and play tough in the first half and then in the second half, we just fall off."
Indianapolis took control on the first possession of the second half. Mark Thomas recorded the team's fourth sack on third down before fullback Paul Shields came up with the Colts' first blocked punt in 11 years.
James ran the ball on the next four plays, scoring from one yard 2:05 into the third quarter for a 16-6 lead.
"We fought hard in the first half, but we had a blocked punt where our punter kicked it into somebody," Bills coach Wade Phillips said of Chris Mohr. "Then the Colts had a fumble return for a touchdown and that put us out of the game real quick."
Johnson was sacked and threw an interception on Buffalo's next possession, then was dropped twice on the team's ensuing series of plays. The second sack resulted in Holsey lumbering for a TD.
"It's a great feeling for me," said Holsey, who had not scored a defensive touchdown, even in high school. "I mean, I saw the ball hit the ground and I picked it up and just ran with it."
Phillips challenged the call, thinking Johnson's throwing arm was going forward when the ball came loose. But the play stood.
With Buffalo trailing, 23-6, Johnson shined on the ensuing drive, completing 4-of-4 passes for 79 yards before Sammy Morris ran in from a yard.
But the Colts answered with a touchdown drive of their own on the initial possession of the fourth quarter, going 62 yards in 10 plays and scoring on another one-yard run by James for a 30-12 cushion.
Desperate, the Bills came out passing. On second down, Johnson telegraphed a pass for Peerless Price that Muhammad picked off and raced 40 yards down the right sideline for a 37-12 lead.
That was it for Johnson, who received a vote of confidence from Phillips after returning from an injury but has gone 1-3 since. Facing a well-orchestrated blitz, he was sacked eight times.
"We tried to stop their blitz by going to more seven-man protection," Johnson said. "But they just continued to bring the heat and they executed their zone blitz to perfection."
Doug Flutie, who has more wins and mobility than Johnson, led the Bills to a TD on their next possession, capping a 67-yard drive with a 29-yard pass to Price.
Flutie was 6-of-12 for 82 yards.
"Whoever their quarterback, we just play," Holsey said. "It really doesn't matter to me."
Indianapolis later got the ball at Buffalo's 13-yard line on a 30-yard punt return by Terrence Wilkins and a 15-yard face mask penalty on cornerback Ray Hill. James capped the scoring on the next play.
