Colts Beat Jaguars on Monday Night Football
I N D I A N A P O L I S, Sept. 26 -- There’s more to the Indianapolis Colts thanPeyton Manning and the other members of the triplets, MarvinHarrison and Edgerrin James.
Terrence Wilkins for one. A defense led by Chad Bratzke foranother.
Manning passed for a franchise-record 440 yards and threw forfour touchdowns as the Colts dominated the second half to beatJacksonville 43-14.
Wilkins, playing his first game of the season, chipped in withnine catches for 148 yards and a touchdown. And the defense thatblew a 21-point lead at home to Oakland two weeks ago showed upthis time, sacking Mark Brunell five times including a safety, andpicking off a pass that set up a score.
“It was good for us to show people that we have otherweapons,” Manning said of Wilkins, who looked like the secondreceiver the Colts need to take pressure off Harrison.
“If they do double team Marvin, we can beat them with otherguys.”
Manning Back on Track
The defense thrilled coach Jim Mora.
“They took a lot of criticism, a lot of it from me and from themedia,” Mora said. “They shut them down in the second half, theygot sacks, turnovers, played extremely well. You don’t beat teamslike Jacksonville with just three players. You do it with completeoffense, with defense and with good kicking game performance.”
But it was Manning’s show as the Colts went on a 22-0 run in thesecond half after leading by only a touchdown at halftime.
After throwing three interceptions in his first two games, hewas perfect on Monday night, starting with a 76-yard TD pass toHarrison on the Colts’ third play from scrimmage. Manning also hada 27-yarder to Wilkins and a 16-yarder to Jerome Pathon asIndianapolis (2-1) took a 21-14 lead.
Manning added a 4-yarder in the final quarter for the firstfour-touchdown game in his two-plus NFL seasons. James completedthe scoring with a 14-yard TD run.
Manning, who completed 23 of 36 passes, broke his own teamrecord of 404 yards set against San Diego last Sept. 26. JohnnyUnitas’ top total was 401 for Baltimore.
Related Stories
ABC News Live