INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- With the surprising Indianapolis Colts closing in on a playoff berth, Marvin Harrison is nearing the franchise's oldest single-season record. The Colts (10-2) can clinch a playoff spot by defeating New England (7-5) Sunday if either Miami, Kansas City or Seattle lose. An Indianapolis victory, along with a tie by either Kansas City or Seattle, also would put the Colts into the playoffs.

Harrison goes into the game at the RCA Dome having achieved career highs of 82 receptions for 1,229 yards receiving. With four games remaining, he needs only 60 yards to top the season-record set by Hall of Famer Raymond Berry in 1960. And five more receptions will top the franchise single-season mark of 86 by Marshall Faulk last year.

Harrison goes into the game second in the league in receptions (69), No. 1 in yards receiving, and his 12 TD receptions shares the league lead with Minnesota's Cris Carter.

But he's still not satisfied.

"I could be a lot further along than I am right now. It (his numbers) might be big to everyone else around, but I know what I can do, where I can be at this point," he said. "I can't complain where I am, but I'm not overwhelmed, either."

Harrison remembers the team going 3-13 the past two years and says it is too early to start celebrating.

"It is good to be in the position we are right now. But, the main thing is it is not over with. We still have four games remaining," he said. "We just can't get hooked up on our success. We need to look forward to where we can be."

Meanwhile, the Patriots need a victory to keep their playoff hopes alive after snapping a three-game losing streak by defeating Dallas 13-6 last week.

"It was pretty important. That was a back against the wall type situation," defensive end Willie McGinest said. "We needed that game to get ourselves going mentally."

Sunday, McGinest and his unit deal with an explosive offense that has helped produce eight straight wins and given Indianapolis a two-game lead over Buffalo and Miami in the AFC East. The Colts have lost seven straight to New England.

"We still have a long way to go. We have to get that winning attitude back," said McGinest, who leads New England with eight sacks. "In the past we've been a real resilient team. We've been the type of team when we had our backs to the wall, we usually performed pretty good under pressure. But it is a whole new year."

The Patriots are fourth in the AFC East, three games behind an Indianapolis team that most preseason forecasts had finishing at the bottom of the conference. Their seven-game turnaround puts the Colts just a victory away from matching the second-biggest in league history. Two victories would tie the league record turnaround set by the New York Giants in 1929 and matched by the Oakland Raiders in 1963.

Harrison, Peyton Manning and rookie running back Edgerrin James have lifted the Colts to the AFC lead in total offense and passing offense.

"There isn't a way to deal with them right now, they're too dynamic," New England coach Pete Carroll said of an offense averaging 369.8 yards per game and 261.6 passing. And James has 1,210 yards rushing to lead the NFL.

"They're running the football with James, as hot as Peyton is and their ability to throw the ball not only down the field to (Terrence) Wilkins and Marvin, they do a very nice job of controlling it with underneath stuff," Carroll added. "There is no formula that anybody has figured out."

New England won the first meeting between the teams 31-28, overcoming a 28-7 halftime deficit.

"We just came out and played our technique, just did what we had to do," McGinest said. "They executed really well the first half. They didn't make any mistakes. They were perfect in everything. ... They came out and they shocked us."

New England's defense settled down, and the Patriots got the victory with the help of touchdown drives of 81 and 78 yards and four Colts turnovers.

"They have to be much stronger mentally than they were earlier," Carroll said. "They've had so much success, eight wins in a row will do that for you."

Manning goes into the game as the AFC's highest-rated quarterback (91.6).

"Watching him with the tremendous confidence he has, and the weapons he has, this guy has made an enormous leap," Carroll said of Manning, who will be playing only his 29th NFL game on Sunday. "Very few guys have been able to do this. ... There's no question this guy has it all."

NEW ENGLAND Season schedule and results

INDIANAPOLIS Season schedule and results

September 12 @NY Jets W 30-28 September 19 Indianapolis W 31-28 September 26 NY Giants W 16-14 October 3 @Cleveland W 19-7 October 10 @Kansas City L 14-16 October 17 Miami L 30-31 October 24 Denver W 24-23 October 31 @Arizona W 27-3 November 15 NY Jets L 17-24 November 21 @Miami L 17-27 November 28 @Buffalo L 7-17 December 5 Dallas W 13-6 December 12 @Indianapolis 1:00pm ET December 19 @Philadelphia 1:00pm ET December 26 Buffalo 1:00pm ET January 2 Baltimore 1:00pm ET

September 12 Buffalo W 31-14 September 19 @New England L 28-31 September 26 @San Diego W 27-19 October 10 Miami L 31-34 October 17 @NY Jets W 16-13 October 24 Cincinnati W 31-10 October 31 Dallas W 34-24 November 7 Kansas City W 25-17 November 14 @NY Giants W 27-19 November 21 @Philadelphia W 44-17 November 28 NY Jets W 13-6 December 5 @Miami W 37-34 December 12 New England 1:00pm ET December 19 Washington 1:00pm ET December 26 @Cleveland 1:00pm ET January 2 @Buffalo 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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