MIAMI -- After another big game from Edgerrin James, all but a lock to be Offensive Rookie of the Year, Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Mora was asked again if he felt vindicated in drafting James ahead of Ricky Williams.

	Edgerrin James has helped carry the Colts to the top of the AFC East.

"Talk to Bill Polian," Mora replied. "He's the one who made the decision."

Ah yes, when you're 10-2 after a 3-13 season and on the verge of a title in the NFL's toughest division, everyone praises everyone.

So after Indianapolis beat Miami on Sunday to take a two-game lead in the AFC East, Mora was praising Polian, the Colts' president; Polian was praising Mora and everyone was praising the players, from Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and James to Mike Vanderjagt, whose 53-yard field goal on the Colts' final play won the game.

In a sense, it does start with Polian, who helped build a four-time AFC champion in Buffalo and was the architect of a Carolina team that made it to the NFC title game in its second season.

But he arrived in Indy a bit tarnished because the Panthers fell as quickly as they rose, the result, Polian now acknowledges, of difficult chemistry between some of the old-timers he signed as free agents and youngsters like Kerry Collins.

He's tarnished no more.

His first coup was taking Manning ahead of Ryan Leaf with the first pick of the 1998 draft.

That seems like a no-brainer now that Leaf has imploded in San Diego. But it wasn't before the draft -- the general consensus was that Manning was more prepared to play immediately, but that Leaf might have a better upside.

But picking James over Ricky Williams was immediately controversial.

The first question was why Polian didn't do what the Redskins did after him -- trade the rights to Williams to New Orleans for the Saints' entire draft. Polian says he thought for a long time about it, but decided that he wanted James and couldn't get him if he went all the way down to 12th overall.

The other question, of course, is why Polian didn't take Williams.

His answer was that James was a better receiver and fit better in an offense with Manning and Harrison than Williams, the kind of back who needs 25 to 30 carries a game to be effective.

James had 23 carries for 130 yards on Sunday, and didn't catch a pass for the first time this season. Still, he has 46 receptions for 467 yards this season, one of the main reasons why the Colts are where they are.

In other words, Polian was right again -- Williams has labored well for New Orleans, but he's labored hurt, too, and the Saints, with no Manning and no Harrison, are 2-10.

Polian, meanwhile, is on track for a fifth "Executive of the Year" title, an award voted on by his fellow executives and awarded by "The Sporting News." That would tie him with George Young, the former Giants GM who is now the NFL's vice president for football operations.

Polian says he thinks it should go to Floyd Reese, the general manager of the Tennessee Titans.

Nice thought, but the Titans lost Sunday.

The Colts, 3-13 before and after Polian, seem to be headed a long way, maybe even all the way.

"I told the guys in the fourth quarter that if we win this game, it will put us on our way to get to the Super Bowl," said Cornelius Bennett, one of five defensive starters on the Colts who played for Polian in other venues.

Polian likes to play down expectations.

But in the wacky NFL of 1999, it's getting harder to downplay that one.