Manning In Record Books Again, Colts Top Texans

NFL News - November 8th, 2009 - Written by John

Death, taxes, and Peyton Manning.

Count on them.

Manning threw for 318 yards, Houston Texans kicker Kris Brown missed a game-tying field goal as time expired and the Indianapolis Colts held on to a 20-17 win on Sunday.

For the seventh time in eight weeks, Manning threw for over 300 yards, becoming the first quarterback ever to throw for 40,000 yards in a single decade and the Indianapolis Colts took a commanding, nearly insurmountable lead in the AFC South. Dallas Clark caught a game-high 14 passes for 119 yards, part of four Colts receivers with at least five catches and 50 yards. Joseph Addai delivered the knockout blows, scoring twice from inside the ten-yard line.

Houston's Matt Schaub had a good day, too, statistically speaking. He threw for 311 yards on 32 completions and found star receiver Andre Johnson 10 times for 103 yards. But most of that real estate came in the second half after the Colts had already built a big lead.

The disparities between the two teams were visible from the outset. At halftime, Schaub had only 29 yards passing and an interception put his passer rating at 29.7. The NFL's leading receiver heading into the game, Johnson, only had 17 yards on three receptions.

Meanwhile, Manning hit five different receivers for 199 yards and a touchdown, and tight end Dallas Clark had 10 catches before the break. His touchdown pass went to Addai, who had the team's only scoring pass last week in a win against the San Francisco 49ers. Their connection went for seven yards and capped off a 12-play march on their first drive.

They got more points on their next drive when Matt Stover punched through a 22-yard field goal to make it 10-0. Stover then knocked in another field goal from 37-yards to send the Colts into halftime with a 13-3 lead.

Houston opted to bench Steve Slaton for the game because of his fumble troubles, instead starting Ryan Moats, who had a career day last week with 151 yards and three touchdowns. Moats was measurably worse this Sunday, taking only 26 yards into halftime and finished with only 38. He also fumbled. But each were able to score a touchdown late in the game. Moats had a one-yard scoring catch from Schaub midway through the third quarter and two drives later, Slaton capped off a drive with a one-yard plunge.

Their second half rallied continued into the final seconds of the game, when Schaub inherited the ball at his own 15-yard line with 1:46 remaining. He completed 8-of-10 passes, the only two incompletions being spiked balls, to get the Texans down to the 24. But Brown's kick sailed left as time ran out, and Houston is back to .500.

The Texans were hammered by mental errors, turning the ball over three times and being penalized 13 times.

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