Turnaround Record Is Set in Come-From-Behind Win

Peyton Manning ended Cleveland’s comeback season with yet another comeback of his own.

Manning rallied Indianapolis in the fourth quarter, setting up Mike Vanderjagt’s 21-yard field goal with four seconds left that gave the Colts a 29-28 victory over the Browns.

Edgerrin James scored three touchdowns and rushed for 103 yards for the Colts (13-2), who trailed by nine points at the start of the fourth before Manning brought them back to their 11th consecutive victory.

Indianapolis, which went 3-13 in 1998, made NFL history by winning 10 more games than they did the previous season.

“We’ll take that,” Coach Jim Mora said of the Colts’ worst-to-first turnaround. “We talked to the team yesterday and they were aware that they could make some history. It’s a nice thing to get.”

And Manning made it possible by bringing the AFC East champion Colts from behind in the fourth quarter for the sixth time this season and keeping them in contention for home-field advantage through the playoffs.

Although Manning didn’t throw a touchdown pass for the first time in 28 games, he completed 28 of 44 passes for 283 yards--including 10 for 11 in two fourth-quarter scoring drives in which he also picked up two key first downs on scrambles.

“I was just confident in the fourth,” he said. “I’m not going to give you any of that ‘You could see the fire in his eyes nonsense,’ but I did go in the huddle and say, ‘We’ve got to make some plays, now.’ ”

Meanwhile, the expansion Browns (2-14) finished their first season back in NFL since 1995 with the worst record in Cleveland history. About the only consolation was that by losing Sunday, they locked up the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s college draft.

But in losses to playoff-bound Jacksonville and Indianapolis the past two weeks, Cleveland looked light years from the team that opened the season with a 43-0loss to Pittsburgh.

Ty Detmer, replacing injured quarterback Tim Couch and operating behind a patchwork line missing four starters, ran for one touchdown and threw for another.

Terry Kirby had two short touchdown runs--the second giving the Browns a 28-19 lead with 11 seconds left in the third quarter.