Dungy’s Debut a Success

The Jacksonville Jaguars saw what their future will be like in the new AFC South--lots of Peyton Manning, and lots of frustration trying to stop him.

Manning threw three touchdown passes Sunday to lift the Indianapolis Colts to a 28-25 victory over their new division rival.

“Peyton is Peyton, and there’s not much else to say,” Jaguar cornerback Fernando Bryant said.

Colt running back Edgerrin James made his first appearance since his devastating knee injury last October and rushed for 99 yards in 26 carries.

New Colt Coach Tony Dungy got off to a successful start, even though the defense he was hired to revamp wasn’t the greatest. The Colts surrendered 343 yards, including 104 receiving to Jimmy Smith.

But the star of the show was Manning, who completed 19 of 31 passes for 211 yards with two touchdowns to Qadry Ismail and one to Marvin Harrison.

Just as important, Manning avoided interceptions. He threw 23 last year to offset his 26 touchdown passes over a 6-10 season.

“He’s fabulous,” Dungy said. “He and Marvin and Qadry, they have great chemistry. They work at it. We took it right down the field, really, three times. That was real impressive.”

The Jaguars also went 6-10 last season, although expectations for Tom Coughlin’s team are much lower than for the Colts in 2002.

Fred Taylor, returning from a groin injury, ran for 83 yards and a touchdown. Smith showed he didn’t need training camp, after all. The 10th-year receiver, who got a big raise after a 38-day holdout, caught eight passes.

“I felt ... a little shaky, a little rusty,” Smith said. “I didn’t make my cuts as well as I usually do, but that will come.”

The Jaguars, forced to rebuild after an off-season salary cap purge, showed they can still move the ball. Like so many times in the last two seasons, they played hard but came up short, and their streak of winning season openers ended at six.