Defense Carries Colts Again

Peyton Manning is still setting records, but the Indianapolis Colts’ ground game and defense are producing the wins.

Edgerrin James topped 100 yards and scored his first touchdown of the season Sunday, and the Colts used another strong defensive effort and two time-consuming drives in the second half to hold off the Cleveland Browns, 13-6.

“There’s been times where we’ve been 2-1 and scoring a lot of points and everybody says, ‘What’s wrong with the defense?’ ” Colt Coach Tony Dungy said. “I think when our offense gets into situations when we have to score and play up-tempo, I’m pretty confident we’ll be able to score.”

Indianapolis (3-0) followed this season’s standard formula to win a record seventh straight game at the RCA Dome.

With the Browns (1-2) defending the deep pass, Manning let James ground it out. He carried 27 times for 108 yards, and the Colts’ suddenly impressive defense took care of the rest by pressuring Trent Dilfer and shutting down the run.

Indianapolis has given up 16 points in its first three games, the best start in franchise history. The previous best was in 1971, when they gave up 17 points before posting a shutout in Week 4. The Colts are the sixth team since World War II to hold the first three opponents to single digits, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Only the 1962 Green Bay Packers did it in the first four games.

“They’re making you throw the ball in front of them and using their speed to make the plays,” Brown Coach Romeo Crennel said. “They’re fast.”

For the third straight week, an opposing defense kept Manning and the Colts’ high-scoring offense from getting in sync.

Manning completed 19 of 23 passes for 228 yards with one interception against Crennel, who had won six straight against Manning since 2001 as New England’s defensive coordinator.

“What our offense is doing is making clutch drives,” Dungy said. “We are doing a lot of things we need to. I think we’re going to be fine.”