NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Peyton Manning isn't one to check off his latest
achievements, especially not during the season.
Good thing. They're piling up almost as quickly as victories for
Manning and his Colts.
Manning's near-perfect start to the season continued Sunday night
as he had 309 yards passing and three touchdown passes, and the Colts
never trailed in beating the AFC South rival Tennessee Titans 31-9
for their NFL-best 14th straight regular-season win.
"It was a great win," Manning said. "This is a tough place to play."
With his performance, Manning joined Kurt Warner and Steve Young as
the only NFL quarterbacks to open a season by throwing for at least
300 yards in the first five games. He will have to wait out a bye
week to try and match them with a sixth such game.
The lone scare came post game. Manning said he would have to see a
doctor for some treatment of the left knee after a hit from Titans
end Kyle Vanden Bosch. That's the knee that kept him out of the 2008
preseason and led to a slow start.
Manning also reached another milestone when he threw a first-quarter
TD pass, the 343rd of his career. He passed Fran Tarkenton and moved
into third by himself, behind only Brett Favre and Dan Marino in that
category.
He also became the third quarterback in NFL history to have 70 games
with a passer rating of 100 or better, the fourth time he's done it
this season. He had a rating of 109.2, and he trails Favre (96) and
Tarkenton (74) in that category.
When asked about the latest milestones, Manning credited his team-
mates with helping make plays in the passing game.
"You try to do what you have to do to win. I've never been about
that or try to do that in the middle of the season. At the end of
the season, I'll admit that. I'll do that for other people. Like if
Reggie Wayne needs five catches, I'll do that," he said.
Titans coach Jeff Fisher has another opinion.
"He's just playing as well now as I think he's ever played in his
career," Fisher said.
Indianapolis (5-0) has not lost since its last visit to Nashville
and leaves now with a firm grip on the AFC South that the Colts have
controlled all but the two seasons Tennessee has won the division.
The Titans? Their winless misery isn't close to ending now that they
have matched their 0-5 start in 2006. It got so bad that Fisher put
in backup quarterback Vince Young in the fourth quarter.
"We've made our own mess," Fisher said. "We have to find our way out
of it."
The Colts manhandled Tennessee, which started 10-0 last season, with
Bob Sanders watching from the sideline along with starting cornerbacks
Kelvin Hayden and Marlin Jackson.
The Titans turned in their worst offensive performance this season
with 245 yards. Kerry Collins was intercepted in a ball taken away
from receiver Nate Washington. Young got a standing ovation from what
fans were left when he came in. The change didn't help. Young's first
pass was nearly intercepted by a Colts defender -- he was 0 for 3.
Fisher said Collins remains his starter and isn't the problem. Collins
wasn't happy at being pulled.
"It was the circumstances," Collins said.
The game was a mismatch almost from the start with Manning, the three-
time MVP, and the NFL's top passing offense against a defense tied for
worst in the league against the pass.
The Titans scratched cornerback Cortland Finnegan for his tight right
hamstring. When Nick Harper was sidelined in the third quarter with
a broken arm. That left the Titans with rookies.
Not that it mattered with Manning going to work.
Manning needed only the first of Tennessee's two turnovers to put
Indianapolis ahead to stay and notch a bit more history for himself.
Antoine Bethea knocked the ball loose from Titans tight end Alge
Crumpler, and Keyunta Dawson recovered in the first.
Five plays later, Manning found Reggie Wayne on a 3-yard TD toss that
was the 343rd of his career. Manning could have had a fourth TD in the
fourth quarter but Wayne dropped a ball in the end zone.
In the second quarter, he completed each of his seven passes for 81
yards. Joseph Addai capped the drive with a 1-yard TD run.
Tennessee got two turnovers in the first quarter off a muffed punt
and Keith Bulluck's interception of Manning, which he celebrated in
a sign of the Titans' desperation by heaving the ball up into the
stands. But the offense managed 6 and 9 yards after each turnover and
settled for field goals by Rob Bironas.
The Titans responded with their best drive of the night. But Jacob
Lacey, starting in place of Hayden, broke up Collins' pass to Justin
Gage in the end zone, and Tennessee had to settle for Bironas' third
field goal. Chris Johnson, the NFL's leading rusher, had just 34 yards
on nine carries.
"Our defense was able to keep him contained and didn't let him get
loose," Colts coach Jim Caldwell said.
Manning needed just 47 seconds to give Indianapolis a 21-9 halftime
lead. A 93-yard drive was helped by 30 yards of roughing the passer
penalties. Vanden Bosch was flagged for grabbing Manning's legs after
a throw, and Jacob Ford was called for a late hit on the quarterback.
Manning finished with a 39-yard TD toss to Austin Collie, and he
found him in the third for a 6-yard TD.
Game notes
The Colts are 63-7 when Manning has a passer rating of 100 or better.
Wayne had his third straight game with a TD catch. Titans tight end
Craig Stevens was having tests for a concussion suffered on the
opening kickoff of the game when he crashed helmets with teammate
Michael Griffin.
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