Colts Barrel Out of Chute

CINCINNATI —  Their performance wasn’t perfect, but the Indianapolis Colts still are.

Relying more on Peyton Manning and less on a sporadically vulnerable defense, the Colts kept their record unblemished with a 45-37 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday in Paul Brown Stadium.

It was a masterful showing by Manning, who directed five touchdown drives on the Colts’ first five possessions, rekindling memories of his record-setting passing torrent of 2004. He threw for 365 yards and three touchdowns and converted five third downs of 11 yards or longer.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been in a shootout,” Manning said.

And in this one, the Colt defense dodged the biggest bullet. The same unit that had limited opponents to an average of 271.3 yards a game, fourth-best in the league, gave up 278 yards in the first two quarters. The halftime score looked more NBA than NFL -- the Colts led, 35-27.

“As a defense, you never want to be giving up points like that,” Indianapolis cornerback Marlin Jackson said. “We had to come out in the second half and play better than that.”

They did, and it was Jackson who made one of the key plays. With his team holding on to a 42-34 lead early in the fourth quarter, his interception of a Carson Palmer pass ended a Bengal (7-3) threat. The Colts scored a touchdown on the ensuing drive to widen their lead to 11 points.

The Bengals would score again, however, and the game wasn’t effectively over until they failed to recover an on-side kick in the last two minutes.

“When you’re going toe to toe with the best team in the league and you have a chance to win, it’s fun,” said Palmer, who threw for 335 yards and two touchdowns. “But ... you can’t beat a perfect team that’s 10-0 [by] making little mistakes here and there. We made too many mistakes, and I made mistakes.”

The Colts have very little margin for error if they hope to match the feat of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only NFL team to finish with a perfect record. Four of their last six opponents have winning records: Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, San Diego and Seattle.

Predictably, the Colts don’t stray from the party line that they wouldn’t dare look past the next game. As the victories mount, though, so does the pressure to keep winning.

“We’ve got enough leaders on this team to keep the team focused,” tackle Tarik Glenn said. “We’ve been through a whole lot as an organization. We’ve fallen into those pitfalls before where you look too far ahead and a team surprises you.”

It’s worth noting that in each of the last five seasons, the last undefeated team standing did not go on to win the Super Bowl. The Minnesota Vikings started the 2000 season 7-0, yet didn’t go on to win it all. Nor did the 6-0 St. Louis Rams in 2001, the 4-0 Oakland Raiders in 2002, the 9-0 Kansas City Chiefs in 2003 or the 7-0 Philadelphia Eagles last season.

The Colts overwhelmed the Bengals with the guile of Manning. Flapping his arms, stomping his foot and wildly gesticulating before just about every snap, the Colt quarterback dialed his offense into the right play on just about every down. He threw a lot in the first half, when the Bengals geared up to stop Edgerrin James, then repeatedly handed off to James in the second half, when the Bengals were determined to stop the pass. Tight end Dallas Clark caught six passes for 125 yards, both career highs. Cincinnati’s defense always seemed a step behind.

Palmer, the former USC star, marveled at the performance from the sideline.

“It’s unbelievable to watch what they do,” he said. “The amount of plays they run is very small, but they run them so well. They don’t make mistakes, and Peyton doesn’t make mistakes.... I hope one day that we’re in the same boat.”

A year ago, Palmer and receiver Chad Johnson made the two-hour drive to Indianapolis to watch the Colts play the Vikings in a Monday night game. The two studied the interaction between Manning and receiver Marvin Harrison in hopes of picking up some tips from the best tandem in the business.

On Sunday, Palmer and Johnson connected a game-high eight times for 189 yards and a touchdown. After the 68-yard score, which came in the first quarter, Johnson unveiled his latest celebration. He dropped to one knee in front of a Bengal cheerleader and pretended to ask her hand in marriage. Moments later, he grabbed a grease board and scribbled “T.O. I get you baby!” -- holding up for the TV cameras a message to suspended Philadelphia receiver Terrell Owens.

Just as Owens is irrelevant these days, so is one of the Colts: punter Hunter Smith. He punted only twice against the Bengals, both in the fourth quarter, bringing his season total to an AFC-low 28. Such is the life of a guy called into action only when an incredibly efficient offense fails to get the job done.

“Personally, from a professional standpoint, whenever you play more, you play better,” Smith said. “But you can’t hope for your team to punt.”