Peyton Manning threw for four touchdowns and the Indianapolis Colts edged Jacksonville 28-25 on Sunday to deny the Jaguars a share of the National Football League AFC South division lead.
Manning completed 20-of-29 passes for 288 yards, giving him 23 touchdown passes for the season -- his 10th consecutive year with at least 20 touchdown throws -- as the Colts improved to 10-2 with their third triumph in a row.
The Jaguars fell to 8-4 and saw their three-game win streak snapped. The Colts also own a tie-break edge on Jacksonville, aiding their title hopes.
"It was a big game and we knew that, we knew what the division standings looked like and we knew it was going to be tough," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "It was a complete team effort and that's what it takes this time of the year."
Dungy challenged two early calls to instant replay and was successful in overturning both, setting up a pair of first-quarter touchdowns for the Colts and setting the tone for the day.
The Colts opened a 14-0 lead after 13-and-a-half minutes and have won 69 of 70 games under Dungy when ahead by 14 at any stage.
Jaguar quarterback David Garrard completed 24-of-29 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns but suffered his first pickoff in 231 throws this season and could not rally Jacksonville into the lead late.
The Colts moved within 1-and-a-half games of unbeaten New England, which will visit Baltimore on Monday night, in the chase for an AFC home-field playoff edge.
"We're excited heading into the fourth quarter of the season and we have a lead in the division so we have to finish off December right," Dungy said. "We just did things right and moved the ball when we had to."
Division leaders Seattle, San Diego and Tampa Bay improved their playoff chances with victories on Sunday, the Seahawks defeating Philadelphia 28-24, San Diego outlasting 24-10 and Tampa Bay edging New Orleans 27-23.
AJ Feeley, starting in place of Donovan McNabb for the second week in a row, threw four interceptions -- three to Lofa Tatupu and two of them to set up Seattle touchdowns. Tatupu also made a game-high 11 tackles.
"The Eagles clearly won the field position battle during the day, but Lofa Tatupu had one of the great games I've ever seen a linebacker have," Seattle coach Mike Holmgren said. "Unbelievable."
LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 177 yards and two second-half touchdowns to spark the Chargers to their sixth victory in eight games. San Diego avenged a September loss to the Chiefs after losing nine-of-10 prior games at Kansas City.
"My mindset is that we have to run the ball effectively no matter what and this team is good at doing that," Tomlinson said. "We want to run the ball so everything will open up on offense."
Luke McCown threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Jerramy Stevens with 14 seconds remaining to give Tampa Bay a 27-23 victory over the Saints, who could have moved within a game of the Bucs atop the division with a victory.
Buffalo's Rian Lindell kicked a 31-yard field goal with four seconds to play to give the Bills a 17-16 victory at Washington.
In other games, it was:
* Carolina 31, San Francisco 14
* Minnesota 42, Detroit 10
* New York Jets 40, Miami 13
* St. Louis 28, Atlanta 16
* Tennessee 28, Houston 20
* Oakland 34, Denver 20
* Arizona 27, Cleveland 21
* New York Giants 21, Chicago 16
* Pittsburgh 24, Cincinnati 10
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Taiwanese badminton superstar Lee Yang broke down in tears after publicly retiring from the sport on Sunday. The two-time Olympic gold medalist held a retirement ceremony at the Taipei Arena after the final matches of the Taipei Open. Accompanied by friends, family and former badminton partners, Lee burst into tears while watching a video celebrating key moments in his professional sporting career that also featured messages from international players such as Malaysia’s Teo Ee Yi, Hong Kong’s Tang Chun-man, and Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. “I hope that in the future when the world thinks about me, they will
Former Formosa Dreamers player Ilkan Karaman was killed in a traffic accident in Datca, Turkey, Turkish media reported yesterday. He was 34. The former Turkish national team player was reportedly hit by a car, the driver of which was allegedly drunk, while he was standing on a sidewalk, Turkish newspaper Sozcu reported. Karaman and his friends were on their way to the beach town of Dalaman to go scuba diving when they stopped at a gas station to buy gasoline, it reported. Karaman was hit by the car while waiting on a sidewalk as his friends were buying gasoline, it
ANKLE PROBLEM: Taiwan’s Ye Hong-wei and Lee Chia-hsin had a disappointing end to their tournament after an injury forced them out of their mixed doubles semi-final Taiwanese badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying on Friday was knocked out in the women’s singles quarter-finals at her last Taipei Open. The world No. 3 lost 21-18, 16-21, 22-24 to Putri Kusuma Wardani of Indonesia in a match that stretched 68 minutes at the Taipei Arena. Despite her higher ranking, Tai said she was not too sad about the loss, given her struggle with a lingering knee injury. “Wins and losses are just part of the game. Actually, I think I’m going to lose every single match considering my condition now,” said the five-time champion of the Super 300 event, who has announced plans
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