Colts make history with 9th win

INDIANAPOLIS -- Just call him Patient Peyton.\nWith Buffalo content to slow down the Indianapolis Colts' up-tempo offense, a restrained Peyton Manning relied on short throws, an effective ground game and a time-consuming final drive to lead the Indianapolis Colts past Buffalo 17-16 on Sunday -- and into the NFL record book.\nIndianapolis is the first team ever to have consecutive 9-0 records.\n"They just stayed real deep and double-covered the outside receivers," Manning said. "When a team does that, taking away the deep patterns, you've got to be able to run the ball and you've got to be able to throw underneath and get yards after the catch. We were doing that."\nA few years ago, an impatient Manning might have been tempted to force balls deep. Not now.\nOn Sunday, he played with his customary accuracy — completing 27 of 39 passes for 236 yards with one touchdown -- and was determined to make the Bills pay for their tactics.\nBut the Colts still needed some help from Rian Lindell, who pushed a 41-yard field goal attempt wide right -- a play that would have given Buffalo the lead with 6:22 left.\nThe miss ruined a near perfectly executed game plan for the Bills (3-6).\n"We tried to reduce the time they had the ball and when they had the ball. We tried to bleed them for everything we could," coach Dick Jauron said. "We just didn't do it well enough."\nAs Manning looked like himself making reads and picking apart the Bills, his teammates adjusted.\nBuffalo forced Manning to throw more frequently to his tight ends and running backs. The dangerous receiving tandem of Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne combined for only six catches and 63 yards, while Dominic Rhodes and Joseph Addai had 27 total carries for 150 yards, and the little-known Ben Utecht caught seven passes for 66 yards.\nBuffalo quarterback J.P. Losman was even more patient.\nHe completed 8 of 12 passes for 83 yards, losing another completion on a scoring change after the game. Anthony Thomas, starting in place of the injured Willis McGahee, carried 28 times for 109 yards, and Terrence McGee scored the Bills' only touchdown on a 68-yard fumble return.\nIt wasn't quite enough to derail the Colts, who have now won 31 of their last 34 regular-season games.\n"I thought we would be a little sharper today, but what happened is they had a very good game plan," coach Tony Dungy said. "It wasn't anything we didn't anticipate. ... I wish we could have put it together a little better."\nThe Colts did get flustered.\nThey lost two fumbles, a rarity for a team that entered the game with the second-best turnover differential in the league (plus-10), and the second put Indianapolis on the brink of defeat.\nClinging to a 17-16 lead midway through the fourth quarter, Aaron Schobel stripped the ball from Rhodes near midfield and Nate Clements recovered at the Indianapolis 41.\nThe Bills quickly moved into position for Lindell, driving to the Colts 17 before allowing three-time Pro Bowler Dwight Freeney to race in from Losman's back side on third-and-5. The result: A 7-yard loss that forced Lindell to try a longer field goal. He missed.\n"He was crushed by it, and he's been so good all year, you're almost startled when he misses," Jauron said.\nManning responded by cleverly running out the clock.\nA 1-yard TD pass from Manning to Reggie Wayne early in the second quarter gave the Colts a 7-3 lead, and after Adam Vinatieri's field goal made it 10-3, Manning had his team in position to take control.\nBut Angelo Crowell forced Utecht to fumble after a 9-yard completion, and McGee scooped it up and outran the Colts for a touchdown to tie the score at 10 with 31 seconds left in the half.\nManning needed only nine plays to make up for the mistake, using a mix of runs and short passes on the first second-half drive. Addai finished it by scoring on a 5-yard run to make it 17-10.\nThe Bills stayed close, using McGee's 88-yard kickoff return to set up Lindell's second field goal and closed to 17-16 when Lindell hit a 43-yarder.\n"When we scored points, we executed; when we had turnovers, we didn't execute," Manning said. "So when you do that, it can be tough against a defense like that. When we had to move the ball and run the clock at the end there, we did a good job with it"