Manning brings Colts back again
Peyton Manning has mastered the great escape. Now the Indianapolis Colts want to make things a little easier for their quarterback.
For the third straight week, the two-time MVP led Indianapolis on a late touchdown drive, this time throwing a 2-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne with 5:10 left to give the Colts a 14-13 victory – and avoid Tennessee’s improbable upset bid Sunday in Indianapolis.
“You can’t end up relying on that, falling back on it,” coach Tony Dungy said. “We’ve just got to play better and I think we will.”
Manning used an unorthodox strategy, scoring twice on touchdown runs, to beat Jacksonville and the New York Jets the previous two weeks.
Against winless Tennessee, Manning used a more conventional method. He connected with Marvin Harrison and Wayne for second-half scores that rallied the Colts from a 10-point deficit. The win kept the Colts unbeaten and in control of the AFC South, even if it was far from perfect.
Saints 24, Buccaneers 21: At New Orleans, Reggie Bush brought back a critical punt return 65 yards for a touchdown with under five minutes remaining to lift New Orleans to a victory over Tampa Bay.
The runback kept the Saints atop the NFC South while spoiling a valiant effort by winless Tampa Bay.
Vikings 26, Lions 17: At Minneapolis, Detroit squandered a 17-3 lead in the fourth quarter and the Vikings defense scored two touchdowns on turnovers by Jon Kitna in the final period to get the win.
Ben Leber returned a Kitna fumble 1 yard for a touchdown and Ryan Longwell made a 20-yard field goal to give the Vikings a 19-17 lead with 3 minutes to play. Kitna was intercepted on the ensuing possession, sealing the win for the Vikings.
Patriots 20, Miami 10: At Foxborough, Mass., Asante Samuel intercepted two passes by Joey Harrington that led to two touchdowns, and New England overcame a mediocre performance by Tom Brady to beat Miami.
Dante Culpepper missed the game with a bruised shoulder, a cumulative result of the 21 sacks he endured in the first four games.
Panthers 20, Browns 12: At Charlotte, N.C., Julius Peppers had a sack, forced a fumble and hit quarterback Charlie Frye five other times and Richard Marshall returned an interception for a touchdown as the Panthers beat the Browns.
Al Wallace also had a sack for Carolina, which held the Browns to 98 yards rushing in winning its third straight game.
Bears 40, Bills 7: At Chicago, Rex Grossman threw two touchdown passes, Cedric Benson scored his first two NFL touchdowns and the Bears forced five turnovers in a drubbing of Buffalo that launched Chicago to its first 5-0 start since 1986.
Robbie Gould had four field goals for Chicago, improving to 17 for 17 on the season.
Giants 19, Redskins 3: At East Rutherford, Michael Strahan and a much-maligned defense limited Washington to 164 total yards, and Eli Manning threw a touchdown pass and set up three of Jay Feely’s four field goals with long passes to lead the Giants to a victory over the Redskins.
The victory was only the Giants’ fourth in 18 post-bye week games. It snapped a five-game skid in the week after the bye and was only their second in the last 11 post bye games.
Jaguars 41, Jets 0: At Jacksonville, Fla., the Jaguars scored touchdowns on four of their first five possessions, quickly rebounding from consecutive losses by beating New York.
Maurice Drew ran for two touchdowns, Fred Taylor added another and Byron Leftwich capped the fast start with a 1-yard TD pass to George Wrighster.
49ers 34, Raiders 20: At San Francisco, Arnaz Battle caught two touchdown passes from Alex Smith and the 49ers overcame Randy Moss’ 100th career TD reception with a strong second half in the win over Oakland.
Frank Gore rushed for a career-high 134 yards and third-string running back Maurice Hicks scored on a 33-yard screen pass for the rebuilding 49ers.
Chiefs 23, Cardinals 20: At Glendale, Ariz., Larry Johnson rumbled 78 yards on a pass play from Damon Huard to set up Lawrence Tyne’s 19-yard field goal with 1:36 to play and the Chiefs rallied from 10 down in the fourth quarter to beat Arizona.
Matt Leinart, in his first NFL start, completed his first six passes, two of them for touchdowns. He finished 22 of 35 for 253 yards and two touchdowns with one interception in the loss.