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Colts seek to continue domination of Texans

Dec 24, 2006 - 5:48 PM Indianapolis (10-3) at Houston (4-10) Sunday 1:00 pm EST

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Peyton Manning always loves to see the Houston Texans.

Manning and the Indianapolis Colts have won all nine meetings from their AFC South rivals by a combined score of 276-133 heading into Sunday's contest.

The two-time MVP passed for 400 yards and three touchdowns in the Colts' 43-24 victory over the Texans on September 17.

Last season, Manning completed 47-of-62 passes for 534 yards and five touchdowns in two games against the Texans.

Houston switched from a 3-4 defense to a 4-3 alignment under new coordinator Richard Smith this season. But the Texans were unable to muster a pass rush on Manning, who completed 26-of-38 passes and led the Colts to scores on six of their first seven possessions in the September 17 contest. Indianapolis totaled 515 yards.

Part of Houston's reasoning for selecting defensive end Mario Williams instead of Heisman Trophy-winning running back Reggie Bush with the first pick in the 2006 draft was to give it a better chance to beat Manning and the Colts. But Williams has just 4 1/2 sacks this season.

Indianapolis clinched the AFC South title last week for the fourth straight season and is coming off a 34-16 win over Cincinnati on Monday night. The Colts can clinch at least a first-round bye in the playoffs with wins over Houston and Miami in their last two games.

Manning threw for 282 yards and four touchdowns - three to Marvin Harrison - in the win over the Bengals. 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.

Harrison finished with eight catches for 86 yards and 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.

Harrison caught seven passes for 127 yards and Reggie Wayne had six receptions for 135 yards in the win over Houston in September.

The Colts rank last in the league in run defense, but limited 1,000-yard rusher Rudi Johnson to 79 yards on 22 carries last Monday.

David Carr was intercepted four times in the Texans' 40-7 loss at New England last week.

Carr completed 22-of-26 passes for 219 yards and three touchdowns in the loss to Indianapolis, but all of his TDs came in the final 12 minutes after the Texans trailed 30-3.