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Manning brothers sharp in NFL's week five
2008-10-06
LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Peyton Manning helped spearhead one of several stunning NFL turnarounds, while brother Eli led defending Super Bowl champion New York to a lopsided win over Seattle. Indianapolis Colts star Peyton Manning helped his club rally from a 17 point deficit on Sunday with a five-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne with just under two minutes left in the fourth quarter to put the finishing touches on a 31-27 win over the Houston Texans in week five. "It didn't look good," Manning said. "We came here wanting to take the crowd out of it. Houston did a good job of fighting back. We put ourselves in a hole. We can't afford to be behind right now because teams are doing a good job of running the clock. "We were sitting there, saying we needed three scores and wondering if we would have enough time to score." After trailing 10-0 after the first period, Houston scored 27 straight points and seemed to be in control with a 27-10 lead. But the Texans unraveled as quarterback Sage Rosenfels fumbled on consecutive possessions. After Manning threw a seven-yard touchdown pass to Tom Santi with just over four minutes left, Rosenfels ill-advisedly tried to dive for a first down. He lost the ball as he was jarred in mid-air and linebacker Gary Brackett returned the fumble 68 yards for a touchdown. On Houston's next possession, defensive end Robert Mathis stripped Rosenfels and the Colts (2-2) recovered at the Texans' 20, setting up Manning's go-ahead score. Peyton's brother, Eli, tossed two touchdown passes and Brandon Jacobs romped into the endzone for two others as the Giants spanked Seattle 44-6. The Giants improved to 4-0 despite not having Plaxico Burress, the Giants' top wide receiver and Manning's favourite target for the past three-plus seasons. Burress was serving a one-game suspension for skipping a practice last week and not informing the team. "We just felt, honestly, it would be good to have Plaxico back," Eli Manning said. "But the guys we had out there, we could rotate them in." The absence of Burress was not a problem for Eli, who completed 19-of-25 attempts for 267 yards and hooked up with eight different receivers. In Baltimore, the Titans remained unbeaten on the season with a 5-0 record by coming from behind to beat the Ravens. Kerry Collins tossed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Alge Crumpler with 1:56 left as the Titans won 13-10 over Baltimore. Through 3 1/2 quarters, Tennessee was held to a pair of field goals by Rob Bironas, but Collins overcame two early interceptions to drive the Titans 80 yards in 11 plays for the winning score. After the teams traded field goals in a sluggish first half that ended 3-3, the Ravens (2-2) grabbed a 10-3 lead on Le'Ron McClain's one-yard touchdown run with 9:27 left in the third quarter. Baltimore has dropped two straight after winning its first two games under rookie quarterback Joe Flacco. Terrell Owens caught a 57-yard touchdown pass and helped the Dallas Cowboys survive a late surge by the Cincinnati Bengals in a 31-22 win. Tony Romo threw the scoring strike with 11:56 remaining in the game to give the Cowboys a 24-16 advantage. With the catch, Owens tied Marshall Faulk for fourth on the all-time list for total touchdowns with 136. Bengals running back Chris Perry fumbled at the Cowboys 40-yard line and Anthony Spencer recovered the ball with 12:36 left to set up Owens' score. T.J. Houshmandzadeh recorded seven catches for 85 yards and two touchdowns - including a 10-yarder with 7:45 left to cut Cincinnati's deficit to 24-22. In other games Carolina blanked Kansas City 34-0, Chicago defeated Detroit 34-7, Atlanta edged Green Bay 27-24, Miami beat San Diego 17-10, Washington stopped Philadelphia 23-17, Denver defeated Tampa Bay 16-13, Arizona trounced Buffalo 41-17, New England beat San Francicsco 30-21 and Pittsburgh beat Jacksonville 26-21
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