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Colts' Manning carves up Bengals

Dec 19, 2006 - 7:17 AM INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Peyton Manning needed about 30 minutes to break out of his slump.

Manning threw for 282 yards and four touchdowns as the Indianapolis Colts broke a two-game losing streak with a 34-16 rout of the Cincinnati Bengals.

With the Colts looking to avoid losing three straight games for the first time since 2002, Manning went back to a familiar script - hooking up with favorite wideout Marvin Harrison early and often.

Manning connected with Harrison on three TD passes - none longer than four yards - as Indianapolis (11-3) pulled even with the Baltimore Ravens in the race for the No. 2 playoff seed in the AFC.

"We hadn't had trouble moving the ball even in the three games we lost," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "We just weren't scoring because of the mistakes we were making. We are trying to finish off drives. So I thought it was important that we did finish them off.

"Marvin made two big catches in tight coverage and we didn't turn the ball over when we got close. That was important for us and getting the lead was obviously important for us."

Although they clinched their fourth straight AFC South title when Jacksonville lost at Tennessee on Sunday, the Colts stumbled into the game with three losses in their past four games.

Among the reasons for that was the play of Manning, who had just four touchdown passes against six interceptions in that span.

"Well, we certainly knew what was at stake," Manning said. "Jacksonville lost and we won the division sort of by default, not really how we wanted to win. So we wanted to get this win tonight.

"We are playing for momentum going into the postseason and certainly playing for seeding right now."

A two-time NFL MVP, Manning was back on his game against the Bengals, shredding their defense with surgical-like precision. At one point, he had completed 26 of 29 passes as the Colts cruised to a 31-13 lead after three quarters.

It was the 15th time Manning has thrown four TD passes in a game and gave him 270 for his career, allowing him to surpass Vinny Testaverde for eighth place in NFL history.

"The last two weeks have been kind of unfamiliar," Manning said. "That is something that we did not want to continue. We wanted to answer the ball, answer the challenge. Both sides of the ball kind of fed off each other."

The Bengals' loss allowed the Ravens to clinch the AFC North crown and dropped Cincinnati into a tie with four teams at 8-6 in the wild card race.

As good as Manning was, his counterpart, Carson Palmer, was mediocre. The Bengals' quarterback finished 14-of-28 for 172 yards, and his three first-half completions set a career low.

Cincinnati's inefficiency in the red zone was costly, as it converted just one chance and had to settle for three field goals by Shayne Graham of 27, 30 and 28 yards.

"I didn't play well enough," Palmer said. "Peyton Manning is going to score his points. You're not going to hold him to seven points. And offensively, we didn't do a good enough job, and I didn't play good at all.

"I played terrible. I missed too many balls ... that my teammates and coaches expect me to hit and I should hit."

After the teams traded field goals, Manning capped an 11-play, 70-yard drive with a four-yard toss to Harrison for a 10-3 lead with 10:25 left in the opening half.

A fumbled punt by Indianapolis' Terrence Wilkins set up Cincinnati's only touchdown. The Bengals needed only four plays to cash in on the turnover, with running back Rudi Johnson scoring from 12 yards out to tie it at 10-10.

Manning brought the Colts right back, completing all eight passes on a 13-play, 61-yard drive, which was capped when he hit Harrison on a three-yard slant with 13 ticks left in the half for a 17-10 lead.

Utilizing the short passing game, Manning finished 18-of-20 for 148 yards in the half.

"That's what they really do in their offense, and then they work to try and get the chunk," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "And you want to try and limit it, but we didn't do a very good job of tackling those catches in the first half."

After Graham's second field goal cut the deficit to 17-13, Manning connected on third-quarter TD passes to Harrison for one yard and Reggie Wayne for 18 to extend the lead to 31-13 with 2:16 left in the period.

"We knew as a unit, as a team, we had to stick to our program and don't worry about everyone talking," Wayne said. "We knew it would come and tonight, it came fast."

Harrison finished with eight catches for 86 yards and now has combined with Manning for 103 career TD receptions to extend their NFL record. He also tied Jerry Rice's league mark with eight consecutive seasons of at least 80 receptions.

Johnson rushed 22 times for 79 yards and a touchdown, pedestrian numbers against a defense that was gashed for 345 on the ground last week against Jacksonville.

"Going out there and being able to dominate on defense against a team that was hot, feels really good,' Colts linebacker Gary Brackett said. "We knew that the things we did wrong last week were correctable. Today, we went out there and got them fixed."

About the only negative for Indy was an ankle injury to rookie running back Joseph Addai, who sprained his right ankle.