INDIANAPOLIS—The limping, aching Indianapolis Colts still had enough to take out the Denver Broncos.
Injuries sidelined four Colts starters Sunday, two on offense, two on defense, but the defending Super Bowl champions got their usual production from Peyton Manning and some big plays from the backups in a 38-20 win. It was an NFL-leading ninth straight victory for the Colts (4-0), including last season’s playoffs, and their 11th straight at home.
“You just hope and pray these guys are going to be OK, but certainly today it seemed like a lot, and there were a lot of new faces in there,” said Manning, who passed for 193 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for his first score of the season. “You don’t like seeing guys leave the game due to injuries,” Manning said.
Pro Bowl receiver Marvin Harrison and linebacker Rob Morris went out in the second quarter with knee injuries. Safety Bob Sanders hurt his ribs and missed most of the second half, and Joseph Addai, who rushed for a season-high 136 yards and his team-high fifth touchdown, went out early in the fourth quarter with a sore shoulder and back.
“I really don’t know what the status is yet,” coach Tony Dungy said. “I haven’t really talked to anyone. I hesitate to even think. … It was a physical game.”
Backup Kenton Keith replaced Addai and finished with 80 yards on 10 carries, and Luke Lawton came in late in the game for his first four carries of the season and rushed for 13 yards. The Colts’ 226 yards rushing was a season high, and the first time this year they gained more yards on the ground than through the air.
“It’s a little sore; it was more my back,” Addai said. “It happens. I took a blow. … I’m going to do what’s best and treat it right and get ready for next week. (But) backup players have to be ready. They have to know they’re one play away. You saw that from Kenton, even Luke.
“You’ve just got to be ready, and when your turn comes you have to be ready to play.”
Harrison, fourth in NFL career receptions and yardage—first among active players—had only one catch before leaving. Manning had one touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne, though, and two TD throws to tight end Dallas Clark.
“I really didn’t pay attention who was out there most of the time; I was just trying to focus on my route,” Clark said.
Denver (2-2) took a 10-0 lead after the first quarter before the Colts scored on six of their final eight possessions.
The Broncos rushed for 223 yards, including 131 by Travis Henry, but they managed only 63 yards in the second half as the Colts finally figured out how to stop them.
“At the beginning of the game, they really had us on our toes,” said cornerback Marlin Jackson, whose interception of Jay Cutler early in the third quarter set up Manning’s second TD pass to Clark. “They did a good job with their play calling and they were mixing their runs and mixing their routes. We didn’t help too much in the beginning. We didn’t tackle as well as we usually do.”
Jackson also recovered one of Denver’s two fumbles. The Colts did not have a turnover.
“They don’t make many mistakes,” Cutler said. “You have to play close to perfect against this team. We have to go back and see what our problem is. The way we’re going now doesn’t get it.”
Cutler, who was 13-of-21 for 131 yards, scored on a 2-yard sneak late in the third quarter, cutting the lead to 28-20. Addai then ran three times for 25 yards on the next series, and Manning passed 27 yards to Clark and Keith ran three times for 31 yards to set up the clinching TD catch by Wayne.
Adam Vinatieri made a 22-yard field goal with just over two minutes to go.
“We knew going into the game we had to limit Indy’s possessions,” Denver coach Mike Shanahan said.
“You either get it done or you don’t, and we didn’t,” Shanahan said. “You’ve got to play error-free football against this team. We had opportunities to score touchdowns on our first two drives and just didn’t.”
Notes:@ Denver DT Marcus Thomas also left the game with a bruised right knee. … Denver K Jason Elam had two field goals and had eight points to pass Jan Stenerud for eighth on the NFL career scoring list. Stenerud finished with 1,699. Elam now has 1,702. … The last time Cutler played in the RCA Dome, he caught the winning touchdown pass in Indiana’s Class 3A state championship on a flea flicker.
