Manning's late run seals win over Raiders, who are eliminated from playoffs

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Peyton Manning put Indianapolis in the lead with his arm and sealed the game with his legs. No matter what happened against the Oakland Raiders, Manning knew he'd need one more big game to get the Colts back into the postseason.

Manning threw three touchdown passes and iced the game with a 27-yard keeper to help the Colts beat the Oakland Raiders 31-26 Sunday in a game that turned out to have little playoff meaning.

"All we did was win today," Manning said. "We have to find a way to win again next week."

The Colts (9-6) allowed Jacoby Ford to return the opening kick for a touchdown, overcame a pair of interceptions by Manning in the second half and survived four field goals from Sebastian Janikowski, including two from more than 50 yards, to move within a win of clinching the AFC South title for their ninth straight playoff berth.

But when Jacksonville lost 20-17 in overtime to Washington in the early game Sunday, the Colts knew that no matter what happened in this game they could clinch the division with a win at home next week against the Titans or a Jaguars loss at Houston.

"I don't know what the coaches do or what everybody else does, but I didn't know who won the morning games," Manning said. "All we knew was the time of our kickoff and the defenses and offensive plays that Oakland was going to run. That's really was where our focus was."

The results in the early games also robbed this game of any real meaning for the Raiders (7-8), who were eliminated from playoff contention when Kansas City wrapped up a 34-14 win against Tennessee early in the first quarter of this game.

The Chiefs had long been in control of that game so any Oakland player who had caught wind of the score in pregame warmups knew there was only pride on the line.

"The guys were trying not to pay attention to it," quarterback Jason Campbell said. "We were just really trying to focus on our game. That's the situation you're in when you have to count on other teams. It's a tough situation to be in."

The Raiders hung close with the Colts for much of this game but were unable to score an offensive touchdown until Campbell's 6-yard pass to Zach Miller with 1:51 to play.

Manning took advantage of a 31-yard pass interference call against Stanford Routt to throw a 4-yard TD pass to Blair White to give the Colts a 24-16 lead late in the third quarter. But little came easy for Manning against Oakland's defense. He threw a pair of interceptions in the second half, giving him 17 for the season, which is his most since 2002.

He responded from the second interception by leading the Colts on a 68-yard drive that was capped by a 7-yard TD pass to Pierre Garcon on third down to give Indianapolis a 31-19 lead.

After the Colts recovered a late onside kick, Manning ran out the clock with a 27-yard keeper on third-and-2. He faked the ball to Dominic Rhodes and then ran around the left side before sliding down at the 4, instead of scoring, to allow the Colts to run out the clock.

"That was just a great call by him," Rhodes said. "They had been biting, they were trying to stop me from running the football. Even I thought I had the football, along with everybody else. The whole defense converged on me. It was just a great play all around, he made it happen and we pulled out a great victory."

Manning completed 16 of 30 passes for 179 yards as he struggled at times against Oakland's aggressive cornerbacks. But the Colts managed to gain 191 yards on the ground, including 98 from Rhodes, who returned to Indianapolis earlier this month.

Joseph Addai added a 6-yard touchdown run in the first quarter in his first game since hurting a nerve in his left shoulder Oct. 17.

"We went out and out-physicaled a physical team," Rhodes said. "For the last few weeks, we've done that. We're gearing up for playoff football. And this is what you have to do in the playoffs."

Indianapolis' much-maligned run defense once again stepped up to the challenge a week after holding Maurice Jones-Drew and Jacksonville to 67 yards in last week's key win. Oakland's second-ranked rushing attach was held to 80 yards.

"There's no magic to it," coach Jim Caldwell said. "We're running the same plays, running the same defense. We were just playing what we do, and doing it a little better."

Ford's team-record third kickoff return for a TD got the Raiders started. Oakland went ahead 13-10 after Janikowski made field goals of 59 and 38 yards. The 59-yarder was the second longest in team history.

But Manning led a late touchdown drive helped by a personal foul on Lamarr Houston for poking Kyle DeVan in the eye and a 25-yard pass interference call on Chris Johnson. Manning found Jacob Tamme on a 14-yard pass on the next play to make it 17-13 at the break.

"There's not a quarterback that I've played against that controls the game the way that he does, and handles every situation and is basically the coordinator on the fly," Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha said.

Notes: Manning tied former Raiders OL Gene Upshaw for the most consecutive starts to begin a career with 207. ... Raiders DT Richard Seymour missed the game with a hamstring injury.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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Falcons focused on bigger goals after Bryant's FG seals win over Packers

ATLANTA -- Don't even mention a third straight winning season to the Atlanta Falcons.

Their goals are so much bigger than that.

The Falcons stayed atop the NFC when Matt Bryant kicked a 47-yard field goal with 9 seconds remaining Sunday for a 20-17 victory over the Green Bay Packers, one of the teams trying to chase down Atlanta in the conference standings.

Make no mistake. The Falcons (9-2) were very much aware of the possible ramifications this game might have beyond the regular season.

"I have no plans of going to Lambeau Field in January," Atlanta receiver Roddy White said. "I plan on staying right here and sleeping in my own bed in the playoffs."

The Falcons have won five in a row for their longest streak since the 1998 season, when the team reached its only Super Bowl. Also assured is a third consecutive winning record -- not too shabby, considering the franchise had never even had two in a row before this run.

Yet that's just an afterthought for these guys, who have won six straight games decided by a touchdown or less after losing the opener to Pittsburgh in overtime.

"It's great to get a winning season," coach Mike Smith said. "But the expectations and goals we talk about are a lot higher than that."

Bryant had to make his winning kick twice.

The Packers called a timeout just before he knocked his first attempt right down the middle. No problem. The 35-year-old had already made two game-winning kicks this season, and No. 3 had plenty of distance as it hooked slightly but stayed several feet inside the left upright.

"Pressure is what you feel when you're not prepared," Bryant said. "I've been preparing for that since I was 6 years old. Was there a little bit of pressure? Yeah. But I was prepared."

His do-over capped a game between playoff contenders that lived up to all the hype: a bruising defensive struggle filled with huge fourth-down plays and one very important kickoff return by Eric Weems.

After Aaron Rodgers threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jordy Nelson with 56 seconds remaining to tie the game for Green Bay (7-4), Weems broke loose up the middle and was dragged down by Matt Wilhelm with a flagrant facemask tackle. The Falcons took over at the Green Bay 49, Matt Ryan completed four straight short passes and Bryant made the winning kick.

The Falcons weren't concerned after Green Bay scored, especially with Ryan at quarterback. He completed 24 of 28 for 197 yards, including a 4-yarder to Tony Gonzalez for Atlanta's first TD.

"We've got Matty Ice," White said. "Ice cold. He just keeps moving the sticks."

Green Bay thought it had forced overtime when Rodgers directed a 16-play, 90-yard drive for the tying score. He improvised two huge plays on fourth down, beginning with a scrambling, backhanded flip of a pass to James Jones for an 18-yard gain on fourth-and-1 at the 21.

John Abraham sacked Rodgers for a 2-yard loss and a false start on Bryan Bulaga left the Packers with another fourth down from the 10. With Falcons owner Arthur Blank waving the crowd into an uproar on the sideline, the home team rushed only two players and dropped everyone else into coverage.

Rodgers had all the time he wanted, finally sliding to his left and rifling a pass to Nelson in the back corner of the end zone. He managed to get both feet down just before being shoved out of bounds by Thomas DeCoud.

"You go down and score a touchdown, and you're thinking overtime," said Rodgers, who passed for 344 yards but had a huge fumble at the goal line midway through the second quarter. "Tying the game was pretty special."

Weems quickly brought the crowd of more than 68,000 back to its feet. He took the kickoff 4 yards deep in the end zone, found a seam up the middle and looked as if he might break it all the way. Wilhelm stopped that by yanking at Weems' facemask. Of course, the 15-yard personal foul penalty pushed the Falcons onto the Green Bay side of the field.

"The penalties were unacceptable," Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "You can't have them."

Rodgers tied the game at 10 with a 1-yard run in the third quarter, but all he could think about was that fumble trying to score from the same distance in the first half. On fourth-and-goal, he lowered his head in an attempt to sneak it over, but the ball popped loose in the end zone. Mike Peterson fell on it to end Green Bay's streak of 15 quarters without a turnover, its longest since 1963.

"That's what lost the game," Rodgers said. "It's discouraging not to win a game we should have won."

Michael Turner, who rushed for 110 yards, put the Falcons ahead 17-10 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter. On yet another huge fourth-and-goal play, this one from inside the 1, Turner bounced outside and went in standing up.

The Packers gave up more points than they had in the past three weeks combined, having surrendered only 10 in wins over the New York Jets, Dallas and Minnesota. Green Bay had a four-game winning streak overall, good enough for a tie with Chicago for the NFC North lead. The Bears hosted Philadelphia in a late-afternoon game.

Notes: Green Bay lost CB Pat Lee in the first quarter with an ankle problem, and TE Spencer Havner hurt a hamstring in the third. ... Falcons RB Jason Snelling also sustained a hamstring injury and didn't play in the final period. ... LB Stephen Nicholas started for Atlanta ahead of first-round pick Sean Weatherspoon. ... The Falcons improved to 19-1 at home with Ryan starting at quarterback.

Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press

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