OAKLAND, Calif. — Peyton Manning threw a 20-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Gonzalez with 4:49 remaining for the Colts’ first offensive touchdown of the game, and Indianapolis rallied to beat the Oakland Raiders 21-14 on Sunday and clinch a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs.
The Colts (12-2) trailed 14-13 after Justin Fargas’ 2-yard run early in the fourth quarter. But Manning completed all seven passes on the ensuing drive, including a key third-down conversion to Reggie Wayne, to drive Indianapolis 91 yards for the go-ahead score. Joseph Addai ran in the two-point conversion to make it a seven-point game.
Kelvin Hayden broke up a fourth-down pass to Jerry Porter from the Indianapolis 16 with 1:50 remaining and the Colts ran out the clock to assure the Raiders (4-10) of their fifth straight double-digit loss season.
The win clinched Indianapolis’ fifth straight AFC South title, made the Colts the first team to post five straight 12-win seasons and gave them the No. 2 seed in the playoffs because Pittsburgh lost 29-22 to Jacksonville earlier in the day.
