Colts Bring the Heat

By Steve Springer

Jan. 10, 2005 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

INDIANAPOLIS —

Peyton Manning shook his head in disbelief Sunday afternoon as he stared down from the podium at the reporters and cameras spread out before him.

“Cold water,” said the Indianapolis Colt quarterback. “We have this great win and there is cold water in the shower.”

It could have been worse.

Manning could have been in the Denver Bronco locker room down the hall at the RCA Dome, where the players presumably sought the solace and isolation of the shower -- cold or not -- to drown out the memory of the thorough beating Manning and his teammates gave them Sunday in an AFC wild-card playoff game.

The Colts, putting together one of the greatest performances in NFL playoff history, ran up a 35-3 halftime lead and cruised to a 49-24 victory in front of a deafening sellout crowd of 56,609, advancing to the second round next Sunday against the New England Patriots at Foxboro, Mass.

That postgame shower did what the Broncos were unable to do, cool off Manning, who demonstrated that nothing has changed from a regular season in which he threw a record 49 touchdown passes, had 4,557 yards passing and was named the league’s offensive player of the year.

Sunday was more of the same. Manning completed 27 of 33 passes for 457 yards and four touchdowns, getting three touchdowns and 360 yards in the first half. The 457 yards are the second-most in NFL postseason history; Bernie Kosar had 489 for Cleveland in a 1986 playoff game but required overtime to reach that figure. The 360 first-half yards are the most in a half in an NFL playoff game since the 1970 merger.

Manning’s prime target was not Marvin Harrison, the Colts’ top receiver in the regular season, but Reggie Wayne, who caught 10 passes Sunday for a club postseason-record 221 yards and two touchdowns.

“Just because you played well in Week 2 or Week 10 or what not doesn’t mean anything once you get in the playoffs, except that you are capable of doing it,” Manning said.

The Broncos certainly knew Manning was capable of it. They had lived the same nightmare a year ago, when they were beaten in a wild-card game in the same building by the same team, 41-10, Manning throwing five touchdown passes that day.

The Broncos kept telling themselves it couldn’t happen again. They tried to draw confidence from last week’s 33-14 victory over Indianapolis in a regular-season finale, a meaningless barometer because Manning threw only two passes before sitting down to save himself for Sunday’s game. The Broncos even called the Colt receivers “soft,” providing midweek bulletin-board material.

Then the Colts, 12-4 in the regular season to win the AFC South, lined up against the Broncos, 10-6 to finish second in the AFC West behind the San Diego Chargers, for the opening kickoff and reality kicked in.

Indianapolis scored on its first seven possessions in that playoff meeting a year ago. By that standard, the Colts were subpar this time, scoring on only three of their first five possessions. Nevertheless, touchdown passes to James Mungro (two yards) and Dallas Clark (19) and a one-yard run by Edgerrin James boosted Indianapolis into a 21-0 lead midway through the second period.

Lost in that game-breaking start was Denver’s hope of exploiting what was perceived to be biggest weakness in the Colt defense, its ability to stop the run. Trying instead to match the Colt aerial attack, Denver gained only 32 yards rushing in the first half.

“We were zero for six on third downs in the first half,” said Coach Mike Shanahan, whose Broncos have not won a playoff game since John Elway retired after the 1998 season. “But Peyton really got into a groove and we paid the price for it.”

That groove led straight to Bronco rookie defensive back Roc Alexander, assigned to play Wayne man on man. Manning’s eyes got big when he saw that matchup, his quick, smart receiver, who came into his own this season with 1,210 yards receiving and 12 touchdowns, against the first-year cornerback out of the University of Washington.

Manning’s first two passes were to Wayne. His first four completions were to Wayne. Manning also threw scoring passes of 35 and 43 yards to Wayne.

The 23-year-old Alexander faced the media afterward, speaking in almost a whisper.

“I had looked forward to today,” he said, “but they just took advantage of it.”

Wayne’s 221 yards receiving were the third-most in playoff history and broke the Colt postseason record of 178 set by Raymond Berry against the New York Giants in the 1958 NFL championship game.

Sunday’s game also included a quarterback sneak for a touchdown by Manning, the first he could remember running as a Colt. All in all, with 529 yards in total offense, it was a classic example of the Colt offense operating at peak efficiency.

Now if they could only do something about that darn shower.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Passing Fancy

Most yards passing in a single playoff game:

* 489 -- BERNIE KOSAR, AFC divisional, Cleveland vs. N.Y. Jets, Jan. 3, 1987.

* 457 -- PEYTON MANNING, AFC wild card, Indianapolis vs. Denver, Jan. 9, 2005.

* 433 -- DAN FOUTS, AFC divisional, San Diego at Miami, Jan. 2, 1982.

* 429 -- KELLY HOLCOMB, AFC wild card, Cleveland at Pittsburgh, Jan. 5, 2003.

FIRST LOOK

Divisional Playoffs

N.Y. JETS at PITTSBURGH

1:30 p.m., Saturday, Ch. 2.