Colts defense halts Chiefs' run, prepares for Baltimore

INDIANAPOLIS -- Peyton Manning knows all about falling apart in the playoffs. Though he struggled early Saturday, the Indianapolis Colts' stingy defense came to the rescue.\nManning and the Colts beat the inept Kansas City Chiefs 23-8 Saturday, and while the star quarterback's numbers were good -- 30-of-38 for 268 yards -- his performance \nwas mediocre. \nHe threw three interceptions, didn't complete a deep pass and, ultimately, was bailed out by his defense.\n"You have to keep playing," said Manning, who improved to 4-6 in the playoffs. "Every time you drop back to throw, your goal is to possess the ball on the next play. Three times, I was very poor on that. As soon as it gets you second-guessing, as soon as it gets you gun-shy, that's when you have problems."\nThe beleaguered Indianapolis defense was so good -- or perhaps more accurately, Kansas City's offense was so bad -- that Manning's miscues didn't stop the AFC South champions from advancing to the next round at Baltimore on Saturday.\n"Our defense was awesome today," Manning said. "We made some mistakes and the defense made sure we didn't pay for it."\nA defense that yielded 173 yards rushing per game this season allowed only 44 to Pro Bowl running back Larry Johnson and the Chiefs.\nKansas City's initial first down came with 3:34 remaining in the third quarter. Indianapolis had four sacks, two by Dwight Freeney, and two interceptions. The Chiefs managed 126 total yards.\n"We heard it all about having the worst defense," Freeney said. "Now we can here this: We have the best run defense in the playoffs."\nMeanwhile, Adam Vinatieri made three field goals and rookie running back Joseph Addai rushed for 122 yards and a TD for the Colts (13-4). With Manning unable to throw deep, Indianapolis gave Kansas City (9-8) a steady dose of short passes.\nWhen Bob Sanders intercepted Green's desperate lob with just more than six minutes remaining, the Colts could start making travel plans for Baltimore -- the city they left 23 years ago.\n"It's a big challenge," Manning said. "Playing Baltimore is tough enough, but to go there, I think it's one of the tougher places to play. And they've been off a week and are fresh."\nJohnson, who rushed for 1,789 yards and 17 TDs this season, was never a factor. He had only 32 yards on 13 carries.\n"If we can't do what we do best, it amps them up," Johnson said. "And they certainly \ngot amped up."\nThis game took a far different shape than the previous meeting between these clubs.\nWhen Dustin Colquitt punted less than 1 1/2 minutes into the game, it was one more punt than in a 38-31 Indianapolis win three years ago at Kansas City. His 37-yard effort gave the Colts good field position, and they wound up with Vinatieri's 48-yard field goal.\nVinatieri added a 19-yarder to make it 6-0 following a 42-yard hookup on third down between Manning and Harrison on another short pass.\nManning nearly handed Kansas City points when his throw behind Harrison from the Colts 49 went to Chiefs cornerback Ty Law. He ran to the Indianapolis 9-yard line, but again the Chiefs couldn't capitalize. Even worse for them, kicker Lawrence Tynes missed the chip-shot field goal, clanging it off the left upright.\n"We didn't get any rhythm offensively," Chiefs coach Herman Edwards said. "I thought our defense hung in there for the most part, but I think they got a little fatigued"