Peyton lifts Colts, 38-14, retains Manning bragging rights

Turns out, the NFL’s biggest sibling rivalry wasn’t much of a rivalry at all.

Peyton Manning and his Indianapolis Colts showed little mercy Sunday in their throttling of the New York Giants, led by his younger brother, Eli.

The Colts, determined to rebound from their Week 1 loss at Houston, built an early lead and gradually pulled away for a 38-14 victory at Lucas Oil Stadium.

It was the second so-called Manning Bowl, and nowhere near as competitive as their first matchup in 2006, when the Colts won by five points in a packed Giants Stadium. Unless they meet in the Super Bowl, the brothers will not play each other again for four years.

Peyton conceded it’s a relief to have the game and all its build-up behind him. He shared a few words with his brother before they headed for their locker rooms.

“I told him good game, I told him I loved him,” Peyton said. “I think they’ll be fine. They play the Titans next week, and we’ll be pulling hard for them. Hopefully they can help us out.”

Colts defensive end Dwight Freeney, who had two of the four sacks of Eli, smiled when asked whether Peyton encouraged him on the sideline to step up his pass rush, as the quarterback might in a typical game.

“I didn’t get that little tap to go after the quarterback,” Freeney said.

This time, with parents Archie and Olivia watching from a luxury suite, Peyton used pinpoint passes to dissect New York’s secondary and complete 20 of 26 passes for 255 yards with three touchdowns.

Eli completed 13 of 24 passes for 161 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He was sacked four times, including a sack-strip by Freeney that resulted in a fumble recovery in the end zone for a Colts touchdown.

“Obviously, he wanted to play extremely well …” Giants Coach Tom Coughlin said of the younger Manning. “He’s going to feel very bad about it, very bad that we didn’t win, very bad that we didn’t play better. I wish I could shut that part of it down too.”

Instead, the enduring memories of the game are familiar visuals, the league’s only four-time most valuable player zipping throws through tiny windows, a sight so routine the home crowd seldom bothered to stand.

What was different about this game was the Colts showed:

A) They can run the ball; and B) they can stop the run.

Indianapolis sure couldn’t stop the run in their opening loss at Houston, when the Texans rushed for a franchise-record 257 yards, including 231 yards and three touchdowns by overnight sensation Arian Foster.

The Giants had hoped the Colts would buckle under the weight of running backs Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw.

Instead, the Giants gained a fairly modest 120 yards in 25 carries and could never establish a rhythm.

So frustrated was the combustible Jacobs (eight yards in four carries) that he heaved his helmet in a sideline tantrum.

Meanwhile, the Colts used their running game to set up the pass, relying on their no-huddle attack to catch the Giants with the wrong personnel groups on the field.

Peyton said he can’t remember the last time the Colts ran the ball more than they threw it, as they did Sunday when they had 43 rushing plays compared to 26 passes.

The Giants frequently used two deep safeties to play the pass, at which point the Colts would run, hammering away with Joseph Addai (92 yards in 20 carries) and Donald Brown (69 in 16).

In the fourth quarter, when the Giants loaded up to stop the run, Manning spotted a one-on-one match-up with his favorite receiver and threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne.

“We felt that they were going to throw the ball certainly more than they were going to run it, and that’s how we prepared,” Coughlin said. “That’s how most people prepare for this team.”

It was the 132nd career victory for Manning, tying him with late Hall of Fame member Johnny Unitas — one of his football heroes — for the most victories in franchise history.

sam.farmer@latimes.com