Change of Look by Colts

SAN DIEGO —  The Colts have a big-bellied defensive tackle with a chubby face that seems to pour out of his helmet. The Colts have a quarterback who makes big plays with physical skills and guile. The Colts have won a playoff game.

What decade is this?

The year is 1996, so the defensive tackle is Tony Siragusa and not Art Donovan. The quarterback is Jim Harbaugh and not Johnny Unitas--not even close. And the home of the team is Indianapolis, not Baltimore. But time warp or not, the Colts defeated the San Diego Chargers, 35-20, Sunday in an AFC wild-card game. It was the Colts’ first playoff victory since 1971, when they resided in Baltimore.

“I wasn’t even born then,” said Colt fullback Zack Crockett, who gained the first 147 yards of his NFL life in Sunday’s game, including touchdown runs of 33 and 66 yards. “We’re happy we’re in and we hope this is the first one of many.”

The Colts (10-7) moved into the second round and will play the Chiefs (13-3) in Kansas City on Sunday. Buffalo plays Pittsburgh Saturday in the other conference semifinal.

Crockett’s tale is part of the Colts’ strange run to the final eight. His performance Sunday puts him squarely among the Colts of yesteryear.

Indianapolis started the season with Marshall Faulk at halfback and Roosevelt Potts at fullback. The Colts started Sunday’s game with Faulk at halfback, but he departed with an aggravated left-knee injury after gaining 16 yards on the game’s first play from scrimmage.

Lamont Warren replaced Faulk. Potts also has a knee injury, and he was put on injured reserve on Dec. 19, so all of the Colts and Chargers knew that Crockett would be in the lineup. But because Crockett had no yards on his lone carry during the regular season, it’s safe to assume everyone was a tad surprised when he eclipsed the Colts’ playoff rushing record of 116 yards, shared by Tom Matte and Norm Bulaich.

The Chargers did not exactly focus their game plan on stopping Crockett.

“You’d figure with Marshall Faulk out of the game, their running attack would be a non-factor,” Chargers defensive tackle Reuben Davis said. “You have to give Indianapolis a lot of credit. Crockett stepped up. I wouldn’t expect a fullback to have two big runs like that.”

Crockett, a 6-foot-2, 241-pound rookie from Florida State, was taken in the third round of the 1995 draft. But playing in the pass-oriented Seminoles’ offense, Crockett had only 481 yards in 111 carries in college.

When he gained 123 yards in 19 carries (two for touchdowns) against Maryland in 1994, he was the first Seminole fullback to gain 100 or more yards since 1984.

The Chargers said the Colts were able to spread the field and create holes in the San Diego defense.

“We played good in the first half, but we didn’t make the right adjustments in the second half,” Charger linebacker Junior Seau said. “We didn’t . . . do the things we need to do to win.”