INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- At the end, it was Edgerrin James doing the smiling, and Deion Sanders taking the blame.

	Edgerrin James is caught from behind by Deion Sanders, but James and the Colts would get the last laugh.

Sanders saved one touchdown by catching the Indianapolis rookie from behind at the 3-yard line, but a rare mistake in pass coverage let Marvin Harrison get behind him for a 40-yard TD reception as the Colts beat the Dallas Cowboys 34-24 Sunday.

"They had been running the ball successfully," Sanders said. "I was looking right into the backfield. The guy just ran past me. It's my fault. I'm not blaming anyone else.

"He has my vote for the Pro Bowl. He's a great receiver," Sanders added. "We couldn't contain him."

Harrison caught six passes from Peyton Manning for 85 yards. James, who rushed for 113 yards, also had seven receptions for 92 yards. He also scored one touchdown, and received some encouragement from Sanders.

"Deion is fast, I know that," James said, smiling and shaking his head. "Throughout the game, he was laughing and joking with me. He was pointing at me and telling me that I had the moves and everything. He said I was playing well, and that's the type of thing you want a top-caliber player to say about you. That means a lot to me."

Dallas (4-3) led 17-3 in the second quarter before the young trio of Harrison, Manning and James started making the plays for the Colts (5-2), who scored on all but one possession of the second half.

GAME NOTES

Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson, who set the Colts' single season record of 1,659 yard rushing in 1988, was recognized at halftime and also participated in the pregame coin toss. The Colts put together their longest TD drive of the season as they moved 90 yards in eight plays in the third quarter. The crowd of 56,860 was the 153rd consecutive sellout for Dallas, a streak that dates back to Dec. 16, 1990. Emmitt Smith is closing in on Dickerson for third on the NFL's all-time rushing list. Dickerson finished with 13,259 yards. Smith's total climbed to 13,174. Indianapolis had its first touchback of the season following its TD on the opening play of the fourth quarter. Peyton Manning has thrown a TD pass in 20 consecutive games and his 40 TD passes in 23 games is the seventh-highest by a Colt. He and Marvin Harrison have hooked up for 16 TDs. Dallas linebacker Randall Godfrey sprained his right knee. The Cowboys have lost eight consecutive road games to non-divisional opponents.

Emmitt Smith's second touchdown run put the Cowboys up 24-21 late in the third quarter before Manning completed passes to Terrence Wilkins, Harrison and Marcus Pollard, taking Indianapolis to the Dallas' 40 as the period ended. On the next play, Harrison blew past Sanders and was untouched as he ran to the end zone for the go-ahead score.

"I just ran my route," Harrison said. "It may have been that Deion thought somebody else was going to pick me up. I don't know what defense they were in. I just knew I was wide open."

On the next series, Troy Aikman was sacked hard by Jeff Burris and went to the bench to clear his head as the Cowboys had to punt.

A holding penalty against Dallas, then a face-mask penalty on Sanders brought Indianapolis to the Cowboys' 17, and four plays later Mike Vanderjagt's 33-yard field goal put Indianapolis up 31-24.

Jason Garrett relieved Aikman on the next Dallas possession, just his second appearance of the season, and the Colts got the ball back on another punt a minute later. Manning, who passed for 312 yards, hit James on a 54-yarder to the Dallas 25, and six plays later Vanderjagt kicked a 27-yard field goal for a 34-24 lead.

Aikman returned for the final two Dallas possessions, but couldn't engineer a comeback.

"We weren't able to get the safety out of the middle of the field. We weren't able to move the ball up the field as much as we would like," said Aikman, who was 19-for-24 for 159 yards but was sacked four times. "We couldn't get open downfield, and as a result there were more sacks."

Colts defensive end Mark Thomas was injured late in the final period and was taken off the field on a stretcher after a delay of about 10 minutes. He was hospitalized with an apparent concussion.

Two field goals by Vanderjagt were the only points for the Colts in the first half. Trailing 17-6 at the break, the Indianapolis turnaround started with passes by Manning of 38 yards to Jerome Pathon and 28 yards to James to the Dallas 3. James then ran two yards but fumbled into the end zone, where Wilkins recovered for a touchdown.

On the first play after the following kickoff, Aikman was sacked by Chad Bratzke and fumbled. Bratzke batted the ball toward the end zone, but the Cowboys' Erik Williams batted it back into Bratzke's hands. Before Bratzke could score, however, he fumbled, and the ball was recovered at the 1 by Michael Barber.

James scored on the next play for the Colts' first lead.

CBS reported earlier that Colts owner Jim Irsay and president Bill Polian were called to the NFL office in New York last week and fined $10,000 for Polian's comments critical of officiating in a recent game.

"I can't comment on anything like that, because the league prohibits it," Polian said after the game. "All I can tell you is there was a meeting in New York. We requested the meeting."