Published: December 23, 2007 10:09 pm         

Clark pays respect to Colts legend Mackey after breaking two of his franchise records

Indianapolis — Dallas Clark knows all about former Baltimore Colts tight end John Mackey and his impact on the history of the National Football League.

So it was with a certain amount of pride Sunday that Clark — who broke two of Mackey’s single-season franchise records (total catches in a season by a tight end and touchdown catches in a season by a tight end) in the Indianapolis Colts’ 38-15 win over Houston — talked about the man who once held two of the franchise’s receiving records for the position.

“Yes, I was fortunate enough to meet [Mackey]. I won the Mackey Award [which is given each year to the top collegiate tight end in the country] my last year at Iowa. At the presentation of the award, I got to meet him,” Clark recalled Sunday.

“A very great man. Just hearing from coach [Tony] Dungy telling me how he played. The great thing about meeting him was seeing his passion. Even at his age, he truly loves the game of football. To be in the same sentence as to what he did to this position … I think he really kind of revolutionized the tight end position and to be mentioned in that category is a true honor.”

In addition to raising the bar for tight ends who play for the Colts, Clark also got some attention for his 15-yard run on a fourth-and-2 reverse at the Houston 31-yard line in the third quarter. It was his second running attempt of the season, which netted 14 yards on a similar type play in the season-opening game with New Orleans.

“I don’t want to show my hand, but its authentic. It’s very unique,” he joked afterward when asked to describe his running style. “It’s deceivingly effective. That’s my running style. So hopefully we can get some more looks at that and I can maybe get in the end zone. That would be good.”

n Moving the chains — The Colts had 33 first downs against the Texans. The franchise record (34) was set against Houston a year ago (9/17/06).

Indianapolis had 458 yards in total offense Sunday while limiting Houston to 299 total yards, including 66 on the ground.

• Improved running game — Indianapolis got good performances from Kenton Keith and Clifton Dawson, who saw the bulk of the work at running back Sunday. That was the plan heading into the game, as the Colts wanted to ease off Joseph Addai’s workload a bit and give Keith more playing time.

Indianapolis averaged 3.9 yards a carry against the Texans.

n Injury list — Wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez (foot), tight end Ben Utecht (shoulder) and cornerback Tim Jennings (apparently shoulder) were hurt Sunday. None of the injuries were thought to be serious.

Addai left the game for a short time in the first quarter with an apparent knee or leg injury.

But he was able to come back to score on a 2-yard run in the second quarter.

“Anthony and Joseph probably could have come back in and played,” Dungy said. “Those guys are not nicked up too bad. We will have to see on Utecht and Tim Jennings.”

• Game plan for playing time — Dungy has yet to decide how much playing time key personnel like quarterback Peyton Manning and others will get in the regular-season finale with Tennessee.

“We will take a took at it,” the Colts coach said Sunday. “We still have some things that we want to do better. This was really the important game for us. We wanted to get that taste of not playing our best game against Oakland [last week] out.

“But we will look at [playing time]. There will be some guys that we might hold out, especially once we get the medical report.”

• Pregame inactives — Defensive end Josh Thomas was a pregame inactive after showing the effects of flu-like symptoms Sunday morning. Thomas was held out as a precautionary measure.

Also sitting out the Houston game were wide receiver Marvin Harrison (knee), defensive tackle Raheem Brock (rib), defensive end Robert Mathis (knees), safety Antoine Bethea (knee) and offensive tackle Ryan Diem (knee). Joining them as pregame inactives were wide receiver Craphonso Thorpe and offensive tackle Michael Toudouze.

• Pro Bowl alternate — While alternates for the 2008 Pro Bowl rosters are not usually announced, Dungy mentioned Sunday that defensive tackle/end Darrell Reid received votes as the AFC special-teams representative.

It’s not known how many votes Reid received or where on the pecking order he is listed as an alternate.