Colts’ win full of milestones

Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts played a near- perfect game Sunday in Indianapolis. The Houston Texans and David Carr looked like, well, their old selves.

Manning threw for 400 yards and three touchdown passes, broke one of John Unitas’ franchise records, and the Colts scored on six of their first seven possessions to again dominate Houston 43-24.

For Indy, which is 9-0 all-time against the Texans, it was another milestone day.

Manning broke Unitas’ franchise record for completions in the first quarter, Marvin Harrison moved into fifth place on the NFL’s receptions list in the third quarter and Tony Dungy earned his 50th regular-season win as Colts coach.

Bears 34, Lions 7: At Chicago, John Kitna went 23 for 30 for 230 yards, even though he was pressured so much he took six sacks. But his one-yard run in the third quarter was the Lions’ only touchdown – and is their only TD of the season.

After harassing Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck last week, the Lions put no pressure on Chicago’s Rex Grossman – no sacks – and watched Grossman go 20 for 27 for 289 yards and four touchdowns.

Chargers 40, Titans 7: At San Diego, LaDainian Tomlinson ran for two first-half touchdowns and Shawne Merriman led a defense that came within 3:09 of consecutive shutouts. Titans’ No. 1 draft pick Vince Young threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Drew Bennett to end the bid.

Patriots 24, Jets 17: At East Rutherford, N.J., New England took a 24-0 lead on touchdown runs by Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney, and a TD catch by Chad Jackson. But the Jets stormed back in the second half with touchdown passes to Jerricho Cotchery and Laveranues Coles and a 42-yard field goal. The Jets comeback was foiled by a Tedy Bruschi interception to end the game.

Broncos 9, Chiefs 6 (OT): At Denver, Jake Plummer struggled early, got an earful from Broncos fans and played mostly mediocre. He waited until overtime to quiet the calls for his benching.

Plummer led Denver to a win over Kansas City on Jason Elam’s 39-yard field goal 5:10 into overtime. Denver’s defense hasn’t allowed a touchdown in the first two weeks, but the Broncos once again struggled on offense until overtime.

49ers 20, Rams 13: At San Francisco, Antonio Bryant caught a 72-yard touchdown pass from Alex Smith, and San Francisco’s defense stood strong in the final minutes of its second straight home-opening win over its oldest rival.

Smith passed for 233 yards and Frank Gore rushed for 127 – including a 32-yard score – as the 49ers followed up a narrow loss at Arizona last week with a cohesive victory over the Rams.

Bills 16, Dolphins 6: At Miami, The Bills sacked Daunte Culpepper seven times – five in the first 15 snaps – plus blocked a punt and survived a paltry passing effort in beating Miami, Culpepper completed 23 of 32 passes for 250 yards and a touchdown, but his regular-season home opener with the Dolphins was far from memorable.

Vikings 16, Panthers 13 (OT): At Minneapolis, Ryan Longwell caught the pitch, rolled right, let the ball go and connected with Vikings tight end Richard Owens for the game-tying score.

With Longwell’s three field goals and a clutch touchdown pass on a fake field goal – plus a defense that forced nine punts – the Vikings showed again that they don’t need a flashy, high-flying offense to win.

Falcons 14, Buccaneers 3: At Atlanta, Warrick Dunn ran for 134 yards against his former team, Michael Vick had 127 yards rushing and the Falcons set a franchise record with 306 yards on the ground while beating offensively challenged Tampa Bay, who is still searching for their first touchdown of the season.

Saints 34, Packers 27: At Green Bay, Wis., Drew Brees completed 26 of 41 passes for 353 yards, throwing for two touchdowns and an interception for the Saints. The Packers contained rookie running back Reggie Bush, but veteran Deuce McAllister scored twice.

Bengals 34, Browns 17: At Cincinnati, Chad Johnson made a toe-tapping catch in the corner of the end zone and popped up and flapped his elbows in a “Chicken Dance” celebration.

Carson Palmer threw for 352 yards and his first two touchdowns of the season.

Ravens 28, Raiders 6: At Baltimore, Baltimore forced six turnovers, got a safety from Adalius Thomas and kept Oakland out of the end zone.

Randy Moss caught only two passes for 32 yards and LaMont Jordan ran 19 times for 35 yards for the Raiders.