Manning is almost perfect

Peyton Manning asked his coaches at halftime if they had any suggestions for him. All he got was, “You haven’t thrown any incompletions. Just try to keep doing what you’re doing.”

Great tip.

Manning was nearly perfect Thursday night, exactly what the Indianapolis Colts needed to overcome the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Manning completed his first 17 passes, picked apart Jacksonville’s secondary and led the Colts to their eighth consecutive win and seventh straight playoff berth. He finished 29 for 34 for 364 yards and three touchdowns in a 31-24 victory over the Jaguars.

“Peyton Manning is unbelievable,” Coach Tony Dungy said. “He put a lot of it on his shoulders and kept us in it. He played unbelievably under the circumstances. . . . It was an MVP performance for sure.”

Manning led the Colts back from deficits of 14-0 and 24-14, and Adam Vinatieri’s 45-yard field goal tied the game at 24-all late in the fourth.

Indianapolis (11-4) took the lead for good when Keiwan Ratliff intercepted a pass from David Garrard and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown with 4:48 remaining.

The Jaguars had two chances to tie it, but both drives ended with sacks. Garrard drove Jacksonville to the seven-yard line with 29 seconds remaining, but Maurice Jones-Drew sprained his knee on a reception, and because the Jaguars had no timeouts, there was a 10-second runoff.

Garrard misfired on first down, then got sacked by Dwight Freeney to end the game.

The Jaguars (5-10) lost for the seventh time in the last nine games and fell to 2-6 at home this season.

Manning completed his final six passes last week against Detroit and his first 17 against Jacksonville, giving him 23 in a row -- the second-longest streak in NFL history. Donovan McNabb set the record of 24 straight in 2004.