Justin Miller's 103-yard kickoff
return was the quick score the New York Jets needed. Only problem:
It left Peyton Manning with one last chance and plenty of time.
After Miller's dash gave New York the lead with 2:20 left,
Manning led Indianapolis on the type of efficient drive that has
defined his career _ capping it with a one-yard run that gave the
Colts a wild 31-28 victory Sunday.
Manning was 6-of-8 for 60 yards on the drive, including a 19-yard
pass to Marvin Harrison and a 15-yarder to Reggie Wayne that put the
ball at the 1. Running the no-huddle offence, Manning then took the
ball and pushed himself into the end zone.
With eight seconds left, the Jets got off one last, desperate
circus play, a never-ending lateral-fest that almost worked. Chad
Pennington threw a short pass to Leon Washington, who ran for a
33-yard gain and lateraled the ball to Brad Smith.
That was just the beginning.
A series of at least five laterals followed _ including one back
to Pennington, who then threw a crosswise pass to keep the chaos
rolling _ all over the field, with centre Nick Mangold finally
fumbling the ball at the Colts 35 and Indianapolis (4-0) recovering
to end the game.
Miller's kickoff return from the end zone came moments after he
was called for a costly pass interference penalty that helped set up
the Colts' go-ahead touchdown by Bryan Fletcher with 2:34 left.
Kicker Martin Gramatica had a chance to tackle him at about the
Colts 40, but Miller shook off the attempt and sped into the end
zone for the longest kickoff return in Jets history. Miller's second
return for a touchdown had the Giants Stadium crowd in a frenzy and
the Jets (2-2) sensing a victory.
But with Manning on the other side, they should've known better.
Manning finished 21-of-30 for 217 yards and a touchdown. With the
scoring pass to Fletcher, he became the second-fastest quarterback
to throw 250 touchdown passes in his career, doing it in 132 games;
only Dan Marino (128) accomplished it faster.
On their first possession of the third quarter, the Jets got the
ball at their 21 and marched down the field on a nearly 8{-minute
drive to the two-yard line. Cedric Houston ran the ball twice, but
failed to gain a yard _ and injured his left knee on the second run.
He was carted off the field and didn't return.
The Jets decided to go for it on fourth-and-goal from the 2
rather than try a field goal, but Pennington threw an interception _
his first in the red zone in his career _ caught by Rocky Boiman in
the back of the right corner of the end zone.
The Colts then went on a 15-play drive to regain the lead, 17-14,
on Martin Gramatica's 20-yard field goal with 6:33 remaining.
New York came right back and regained the lead on Kevan Barlow's
second touchdown run of the game, a five-yard scamper with 7:55 left
to give the Jets a 21-17 lead.
Jets coach Eric Mangini pulled out two trick plays in the first
half, the first a Mike Nugent onside kick that bounced into Kerry
Rhodes' hands. New York caught the Colts off guard again on
fourth-and-1 from the Indianapolis 30, lining Brad Smith at
quarterback and putting Pennington as a wide receiver.
Smith tossed the ball to Leon Washington on a pitchout and the
rookie running back picked up three yards for a first down. It kept
the drive alive, and Barlow barrelled through the right side seven
plays later to give the Jets a 14-7 lead.
Manning and the Colts got right back to work, with an efficient
11-play drive capped by Joseph Addai's two-yard run with 16 seconds
left before halftime to tie it.
