Colts kick up heels

It took the Indianapolis Colts one half to shake off their post-Super Bowl hangover.

Then Peyton Manning and friends came alive to beat New Orleans 41-10 Thursday night in the NFL’s opener, running away in the final 30 minutes with a championship-caliber performance at Indianapolis.

Playing against his hometown team, Manning had three touchdown passes, two to Reggie Wayne and another to Marvin Harrison. Joseph Addai ran for 118 yards on 23 carries and a super-quick defense with four new starters shut down Drew Brees, Reggie Bush and the explosive New Orleans offense.

The game was tied at 10 after a sloppy first half.

But Manning, who finished 18 of 30 for 288 yards, led two quick TD drives in the first 8:49 of the second half as the Colts put up 24 points in 20 minutes after intermission. On the first drive, Manning hit Harrison for 42 yards to set up a 2-yard TD run by Addai. Then the Super Bowl MVP came right back to throw a 28-yard TD pass to Wayne.

“NFL games are 60 minutes long. We were a little out of synch in the first half,” Colts coach Tony Dungy said. “They played us defensively a little different than we thought. We knew we had to run the ball a little more.”

Another major player – for both sides – was New Orleans cornerback Jason David, the Washington State University product who started for the Colts in their Super Bowl win over Chicago, then left as a free agent. He was victimized by Harrison on a 27-yard TD pass in the first half and again by Wayne on both his scores, the second a 45-yarder in the fourth quarter.

But David also produced the Saints’ only TD, stripping Wayne after a second-quarter completion, picking up the ball and returning it 55 yards for the score.

“We don’t do that,” Manning said when asked if he deliberately went at David. “We had the right calls at the right time. With Marvin and Reggie, you’re always going to throw it to those guys. If you have a good day, they say you’re picking on one guy. We really don’t do that.”

David said he had to get used to a new scheme in New Orleans but didn’t have any excuses.

“Anytime you come back and play a team you used to play for, you want to play your best game,” he said. “I didn’t play my best game tonight. All the plays you saw tonight … that’s on me. There’s nobody else to blame but me.”

Wayne finished with seven catches for 115 yards.

The game finally put the focus back on football after an off-season dominated by player discipline problems and long suspensions, most notably involving Michael Vick and Adam “Pacman” Jones. Commissioner Roger Goodell, who was at the game, said beforehand, “I think we’re ready now to get the focus back on football.”

It took a little while before Manning got the Colts’ offense focused.

Manning was just 8 of 17 for 101 yards in the first half, 66 of those yards on two completions: the 27-yard TD to Harrison, plus 39 on a throw to Dallas Clark that set up Adam Vinatieri’s 33-yard field goal that tied the game at 10.

But the Saints, who reached the NFC title game last season before losing to Chicago, never could get their potent offense going.

They had just 112 total yards in the first half, and Bush and Deuce McAllister each had just 21 yards rushing before intermission against a made-over Indianapolis defense. That unit included undrafted rookie Ed Johnson at defensive tackle in place of Anthony McFarland, out for the season with a knee injury.

Both finished with just 38 yards, Bush on 12 carries and McAllister on 10. Brees was 27 of 40 for 183 yards and two interceptions.

The only score by the New Orleans offense was a 34-yard field goal by Olindo Mare in the second quarter after a nine-play, 36-yard drive. From the middle of that quarter until the middle of the fourth, the Saints ran just one play in Indianapolis territory and that was for a 2-yard loss.

Indy linebacker Freddy Keiaho, replacing departed free agent Cato June, was outstanding.

In the second quarter, he drove through a blocker, carrying him into Bush and dropping the runner for a 5-yard loss. In the third quarter, he picked off a pass that led to a 33-yard field goal by Vinatieri that made it 27-10 in the first minute of the final quarter.

The Colts took a 7-0 lead on the Manning-to-Harrison TD in the first quarter. David’s play tied the game, and Mare’s field goal put the Saints up 10-7. That lasted until the late drive keyed by the Manning-Clark hookup.

Then the Colts took over completely in the second half.

The Manning-Wayne 45-yarder made it 34-10 five minutes into the fourth quarter and Matt Giordano’s 83-yard interception return closed the scoring.

Bodden will tell his side

Cleveland starting cornerback Leigh Bodden is looking forward to telling his side of the story after being arrested.

The NFL will listen carefully.

Bodden faces possible discipline from the league under commissioner Roger Goodell’s crackdown on player misconduct after being charged with aggravated disorderly conduct and resisting arrest as he tried to pick up his girlfriend and their two children at Cleveland’s major airport.

Bodden, 25, regarded as one of the Browns’ quieter and more easygoing players, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to misdemeanor charges less than 24 hours after police accused him of driving in reverse down a one-way street and becoming verbally abusive.

Bodden will play in Cleveland’s season opener Sunday against Pittsburgh. Before Thursday’s practice, he apologized to his coaches and teammates and met with reporters.

Around the league

Michael Strahan increased his work load in practice and said if he continues to feel good that he expects to play in the New York Giants’ season opener against Dallas. Practicing for only the third time since ending a holdout on Monday, the seven-time Pro Bowl defensive end said he ran every play during the defensive period. But the decision on whether Strahan will play against the Cowboys rests with Tom Coughlin and the coach has said repeatedly that he will wait until Saturday to decide. … Minnesota defensive tackle Pat Williams will sign a three-year contract extension with the team, he said. … Baltimore agreed in principle to a one-year extension with quarterback Kyle Boller, who started 34 games during his first three seasons before settling into a backup role last year. Boller’s contract was to expire after this season.