Manning Teaches Carr a Lesson or Two

Peyton Manning threw touchdown passes of 42 and 43 yards and helped set up three field goals by Mike Vanderjagt to lead Indianapolis to a 23-3 victory Sunday over Houston.

“It’s an expansion team, but these are good players,” Manning said.

Manning, who threw three interceptions in last week’s loss to Miami, quieted the Texans’ boisterous crowd of 69,204 with a perfectly lofted 42-yard touchdown pass to Qadry Ismail, who slipped behind the secondary in the first quarter.

Houston’s rookie quarterback David Carr was impressed by Manning.

“That’s where I want to be as a quarterback, and that’s where the guys around me want to be,” Carr said. “They’ve been together four or five years. When he checks off, there is no indecision. They all know what he’s going to do.

Manning completed 21 of 28 passes for 272 yards. He didn’t have an interception and was sacked three times.

“It was a difficult game,” Colt Coach Tony Dungy said. “We kind of had things going the right way, but we couldn’t put these guys away. We made some mistakes that kind of caused us to self-destruct. But, when you go on the road and get a win, you take it.”

Carr was sacked four times and completed 12 of 22 passes for 99 yards as the Texans failed to score a touchdown for the second consecutive game.