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Packers shackle Manning, rout Colts

Oct 20, 2008 - 2:02 AM GREEN BAY, Wisconsin (Ticker) -- A future Hall of Fame quarterback generated offense once again for the Green Bay Packers. This time, it was Peyton Manning.

The Packers returned two interceptions by Manning for touchdowns en route to a 34-14 rout of the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Ryan Grant scored his first touchdown of the season and Aaron Rodgers was an efficient 21-of-28 for 186 yards with one TD for Green Bay (4-3), which put forth its most-complete performance of the season.

"I thought it was a very good team win," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "I definitely felt the offense played to the defense based on who our opponent was. I thought the special teams did a nice job."

Green Bay, which is playing in its first season without Brett Favre, took advantage of Manning, who was 21-of-42 for 242 yards with two interceptions. Nick Collins returned Manning's first pick 62 yards for a score and Aaron Rouse took one back 99 yards in the fourth quarter to cap the rout.

Manning, who normally carves up defenses with his play-calling at the line, looked out of sorts against the Packers' defense, which didn't allow the strong-armed signal-caller to set his feet in the pocket.

"We just need to play better," Manning said. "I need to play better and we need to try and find a way to get into the end zone. We need to try and find a way to keep the score even. Our offense needs to try and get the lead to help our defense out a little bit, and we didn't do our job offensively today."

Ironically, one of the Colts' most promising drives ended with Rouse's interception. Manning drove Indianapolis to Green Bay's 6 before setting quickly and firing an errant pass to the left on second down, only to see Rouse jump Anthony Gonzalez's slant route and return the pick untouched for a score down the left sideline with 4:27 left in the game.

"All I saw was green in front of me," Rouse said. "Once I saw that real estate, I'm going to go and get it, nobody was going to catch me. I got a good read on Peyton, just from watching film all week long. Once I saw that he was going to try to go outside to the corner, I made a break on it and pick-six from there."

A star runner in Green Bay's trip to the NFC Championship game last season, Grant has gotten off to a slow start this campaign. He ran for 96 yards on 30 carries in this one, scampering in from 11 yards out to give the Packers a 17-7 lead just before halftime.

"Ryan Grant is a hard runner," Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney said. "He made some plays for two or three yards when we had him stopped in the backfield. That may not show up in the box score, but those are big plays."

Rodgers gave Green Bay the lead for good just 45 seconds into second quarter, hitting Donald Lee on a 12-yard scoring strike to make it 10-7.

After a 31-yard field goal by Mason Crosby to open the scoring with 8:06 left in the first, Dominic Rhodes gave the Colts a brief lead with a 3-yard TD run - the first of his two scores in the contest. Rhodes plunged in from one yard out for a meaningless TD that provided the final margin in the waning minutes.

Rhodes ran for 73 yards on 20 carries for the Colts (3-3), who will play at undefeated Tennessee (6-0) next week.

"I thought Dom ran well," Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy said. "We just didn't have the ball enough on offense and didn't get him a chance to run enough. That was really our fault for allowing some long drives."

While Rhodes had a decent game, Colts receivers Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne combined for just four catches for 35 yards. Manning, for his part, took some of the blame for not getting them involved.

"With a lot of double coverage," Manning said of how the Colts' receiving corps were stopped. "When a team plays double coverage on first, second, and third down it makes them susceptible to run, which we did in the first series. In the second half, we got behind and were playing uphill.

"That plays to their strength. It is hard to run the ball in that situation. We have to find a way to beat the double coverage. I think Marvin and Reggie had two catches, and that is not what we want. We need to do a better job of getting the ball in their hands and giving them a chance to make plays. That is probably my fault."