Chiefs Pick Off Colts’ Last Shot

On a day dominated by offense, it took a defensive back to settle things.

Indianapolis star Peyton Manning already had thrown five touchdown passes when he lofted the ball into Kansas City’s end zone with just under two minutes left Sunday. This time, the catch in the end zone belonged to Chief safety Greg Wesley, who returned the ball 65 yards to secure Kansas City’s 45-35 victory.

“We didn’t want it to have to happen that way,” Wesley said. “But they’ve got a powerful offense. We knew that coming in. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but the only thing that matters is that ‘W.’ ”

Kansas City’s win broke a seven-game losing streak against the Colts (4-3), who didn’t even have to punt in their 38-31 AFC divisional playoff victory over the Chiefs last season. Before Sunday, Kansas City (3-4) hadn’t beaten Indianapolis since 1985 and had lost five in a row to the Colts at Arrowhead Stadium.

Kansas City won back-to-back games for the first time this year; Indianapolis lost its second in a row.

“It’s disappointing, because I know we can play a lot better and we’re not doing it,” Colt Coach Tony Dungy said.

The interception negated a huge day by Manning, who passed for 472 yards, and kept the Chiefs from wasting spectacular performances by Trent Green and Priest Holmes.

Green threw for 389 yards and three scores, two to tight end Tony Gonzalez, and Holmes overcame an early fumble to finish with 143 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

“It was just demoralizing, having them score all the time,” Colt cornerback Nick Harper said.

The Chiefs finished with 590 yards, the Colts with 505, the third-highest single-game total in NFL history.

“When you get 590 yards of offense, I don’t know what you left out,” Chief Coach Dick Vermeil said.

Green’s 14 consecutive completions in the first half were one short of Len Dawson’s team record. His five-for-five performance on Kansas City’s last scoring drive was just as important.

Holmes ran 21 yards on a draw play for a 21-7 lead, but Manning’s five-yard pass to Marcus Pollard made it 21-14 before the Chiefs closed the half with Holmes’ 11-yard run and Lawrence Tynes’ 32-yard field goal.