Two-time MVP Peyton Manning carved up the Houston Texans for 297 yards and three touchdowns to lead the undefeated Indianapolis Colts to a 31-17 victory in the NFL on Sunday.
Manning completed 26 of 35 passes, while Marvin Harrison had seven catches for 108 yards and one TD, making Manning and Harrison the only tandem to top 10,000 career yards. The duo has hooked up for 755 completions, 10,034 yards and 90 TDs -- all NFL records.
"In this offense, it can be anyone's day," said Manning. "But when you see it on film, we do spread it around. ... It can put the defense in a bind."
PHOTO: AP
Edgerrin James ran 26 times for 122 yards and one touchdown, his 47th career 100-yard game. James is now tied with Franco Harris for eighth in NFL history and topped the 1,000-yard mark for the fifth time.
James and Harrison each had 100 yards in the same game for the 21st time, breaking the NFL record of 20 set by Dallas' Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin.
"They have so many weapons, you just can't let up," linebacker Antwan Peek. "But it's tough to stop them all."
David Carr was 16-of-25 for 138 yards for the Texans (1-8) and was sacked three times.
Bears 17, 49ers 9
At Chicago, Nathan Vasher returned a missed field goal 108 yards for a TD, the longest play in NFL history, and the Chicago Bears won their fifth straight game.
When Joe Nedney's 52-yard attempt went wide right in a stiff wind on the final play of the first half, Vasher caught the ball over his shoulder, hesitated momentarily on whether to come out of the end zone, sprinted to the 15, then reversed field, picking up a convoy of blockers.
The previous longest play was Baltimore's Chris McAlister's 107-yarder with a missed field goal in 2002. The Bears (6-3) have their longest winning streak since 2001, when they won six in a row en route to a division title.
With wind gusts up to 60kph shaking the goalposts, neither team could muster much offense and stuck mainly with the run. Cody Pickett, at one time a fourth stringer, attempted just two first-half passes for the 49ers (2-7) -- both were incomplete -- and finished 1-for-13.
Vikings 24, Giants 21
At East Rutherford, New Jersey, Minnesota became the first team in NFL history to get touchdown returns on a punt, a kickoff and an interception.
Then quarterback Brad Johnson finally put together a drive, setting up Paul Edinger's 48-yard field goal with 10 seconds remaining.
Safety Darren Sharper had three interceptions for the Vikings (4-5), one he returned for a 92-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter. Eli Manning finished 23-of-48 for 291 yards for New York (6-3) and threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer to give him 10 straight games with a touchdown pass, the longest active streak in the NFL. But he threw four interceptions and had two others that were dropped by Minnesota defenders.
Steelers 34, Browns 21
At Pittsburgh, Charlie Batch improvised a 1-yard touchdown run late in the second quarter, and his passing led to another score before he left with a broken right hand.
Tommy Maddox replaced Batch to run an efficient and time-consuming offense in the second half, and college QB-turned-wide receiver Antwaan Randle El threw a 51-yard scoring pass to Hines Ward on a reverse in the third quarter to put the Steelers (7-2) up 24-7.
Ward made eight catches for 124 yards to give him 543 receptions for his career, breaking Hall of Famer John Stallworth's team record of 537.
Patriots 23, Dolphins 16
At Miami, Tom Brady brought New England from behind twice in the second half, throwing a 17-yard TD pass to Benjamin Watson for the winning score with 2:16 left. Gus Frerotte drove Miami 70 yards to the 5 with a minute left, but his fourth-down pass was incomplete with 36 seconds to go.
Two-time defending Super Bowl champion New England (5-4) remained alone atop the AFC East. The Patriots have won 21 of their last 25 division games. Miami (3-6) missed a chance to tie for the division lead, instead losing for the fifth time in six games.
Four offensive starters were inactive for New England, and a fifth -- running back Corey Dillon -- played briefly because of a leg injury. Brady went 21-for-36 for 275 yards and a pair of touchdown passes to Watson.
Bills 14, Chiefs 3
At Orchard Park, New York, J.P. Losman, taking over after Kelly Holcomb hurt his head in the second quarter, led Buffalo touchdown drives on two of his first four possessions and showed he deserved his starting job back.
Losman finished 9-of-16 for 137 yards, hitting Lee Evans for both touchdowns. Losman was focused and efficient, looking nothing like the hesitant first-year starter who went 1-3 before being replaced by Holcomb following a 19-7 loss to New Orleans on Oct. 2.
The Bills (4-5), coming off their bye week, limited the Chiefs (5-4) to 316 yards while generating three interceptions, a fumble and six sacks. Trent Green was uncharacteristically sloppy, going 23-of-40 for 220 yards and three interceptions -- after throwing three in his previous eight games. His first interception ended Green's streak at 159 attempts without an interception.
Jaguars 30, Ravens 3
At Jacksonville, Florida, Greg Jones ran for a career-high 106 yards and a touchdown, Matt Jones had a career-high 117 yards receiving and a score, and the Jaguars reached 30 points for the first time since 2001.
Jacksonville (6-3) snapped its NFL-record 58-game streak of not scoring at least 30 points. The Jaguars tied Cleveland's mark last week.
Mike Peterson's 26-yard interception return for a score put the Jaguars at the 30-point mark for the first time since December 2001, a 33-3 victory over Minnesota. Baltimore (2-7) lost its fourth consecutive game and eighth in a row on the road. The Ravens also extended their streak of not scoring a touchdown to 11 quarters.
Lions 29, Cardinals 21
At Detroit, Roy Williams caught a career-high three touchdown passes from Joey Harrington as Detroit (4-5) ended a two-game losing streak and Arizona (2-7) lost its third straight.
The Lions led 19-3 at halftime and by 15 with 8:35 left before Arizona came back.
The Cardinals pulled to 29-21 with 2:24 left on Kurt Warner's 8-yard pass to Larry Fitzgerald. After not recovering the onside kick, Arizona got the ball back at its 18 with 1:01 left. The Cardinals' comeback hopes ended at their 39 with a deflected pass on fourth down.
Williams, playing an entire game for the first time since Oct. 2, had seven receptions for 117 yards and caught TD passes of 7, 21 and 29 yards. The last Lion to catch three TDs in a game was Herman Moore in 1995.
Buccaneers 36, Redskins 35
At Tampa, Florida, somehow Mike Alstott found a way into the end zone on a gutsy 2-point conversion call by coach Jon Gruden.
Alstott's run with 58 seconds remaining came after Washington (5-4) blocked a potential game-tying extra point, only to be penalized for being offside on the previous play. Alstott was hit at the line and appeared stopped before twisting and keeping his legs moving to barely get into the end zone. The conversion stood after the replay official's review.
Chris Simms threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns for the Bucs (6-3), including a 30-yarder to Edell Shepherd that set up the exciting finish. Clinton Portis ran for 144 yards and snapped a 28-28 tie with an 8-yard run.
Seahawks 31, Rams 16
At Seattle, Shaun Alexander ran for 165 yards on a season-high 33 carries and three touchdowns, and the Seahawks took a three-game division lead on second-place St. Louis.
Seattle (7-2) turned St. Louis' botched fake field goal attempt in the second quarter into a 24-3 scoring run and has won five straight overall for the first time since 1999. The Seahawks swept St. Louis after losing the previous four to the Rams (4-5).
Marc Bulger finished 28-for-40 with 304 yards, a touchdown and an interception.
Packers 33, Falcons 25
At Atlanta, Nigerian-born Samkon Gado ran for 103 yards and scored three touchdowns as Green Bay (2-7) won for the second time this season.
Brett Favre threw for 252 yards and came up with a great escape on a drive that led to Ryan Longwell's fourth field goal, a 51-yarder with 4:01 remaining that restored Green Bay's nine-point lead.
Less than a minute later, rookie receiver Roddy White finished off Atlanta (6-3) with their sixth fumble of the day. Nick Barnett scooped up the ball and returned it to the Falcons 2, where Gado powered into the end zone for his third TD.
Michael Vick threw for 209 yards and a couple of TDs.
Broncos 31, Raiders 17
At Oakland, California, Jake Plummer passed for 205 yards and a touchdown, had no interceptions and wasn't sacked all day, and Jason Elam kicked three field goals for Denver.
Darrent Williams returned an interception 80 yards for a fourth-quarter score that ended Oakland's chance at a comeback. The Broncos (7-2) took a two-game division lead after Kansas City lost 14-3 to Buffalo.
Kerry Collins had his worst game of the year for Oakland (3-6), completing 26 of 50 passes for 310 yards, doubled his season total with three interceptions, and was sacked four times.
Panthers 30, Jets 3
At Charlotte, North Carolina, Will Witherspoon returned an interception 35 yards for a touchdown and Ken Lucas grabbed two of Carolina's four interceptions.
Carolina (7-2) forced six turnovers to pull away after an uneventful first half. The Panthers scored 20 points off turnovers.
Carolina led 10-3 before the Jets (2-7) and quarterback Brooks Bollinger unraveled. The strong defensive showing helped Carolina win on a day in which star receiver Steve Smith was a non-factor with three catches for 34 yards. Bollinger finished 11-of-21 for 98 yards.
Soccer officials yesterday offered “full support and assistance” to the Iranian team in Australia for the AFC Women’s Asian Cup after the US and Israel launched massive attacks on their homeland. Iran’s 26-strong squad arrived on the Gold Coast days before the strikes on Saturday killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Washington and Tel Aviv seek to topple the Islamic republic. They are due to open their tournament today against South Korea. The AFC in a statement said it “continues to closely monitor the recent developments in the Middle East during this challenging period.” “The AFC’s foremost priority remains the welfare, safety and
EVERY DAY A VICTORY: Players on the women’s team faced pressure from society just getting out onto the field as they prepare for their first Women’s Asian Cup game today Bangladesh’s national soccer team face daunting odds at their first-ever Women’s Asian Cup, but have already scored a major victory by qualifying. In the South Asian nation of 170 million, social stigma, family expectations, poverty and religious hardliners have long relegated women and girls to sports sidelines. The first women’s soccer league matches took place in 2011 and the squad, known to fans as the Red and Green, have kept pressing forward despite deeply embedded prejudices. “Many more girls would have joined us if the community had been even slightly supportive,” captain Afeida Khandaker told AFP ahead of her side’s March 3
ROAD RASH: Marc Marquez retired after a crash, marking the first time after 88 consecutive races stretching back to 2021 that a Ducati bike failed to make the podium Marco Bezzecchi yesterday won the MotoGP season-opening grand prix in Thailand from pole position as defending world champion Marc Marquez retired late with a buckled wheel. Aprilia’s Bezzecchi led from start to finish to top the podium in Buriram, with KTM’s Pedro Acosta second and Trackhouse’s Raul Fernandez third. Ducati’s Marquez is chasing a record-equaling eighth world title this season, but he exited the race in dramatic fashion while in fourth place with five laps to go. The Spaniard, who started from second on the grid, took a corner wide, with the jolt to his bike dislodging the rear tire, badly damaging his
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
RSS