Both teams exchanged field goals to round out the scoring in the first quarter; both teams suffered offensively during the second quarter as well as the lone score was courtesy of a 25-yard FG by Phil Dawson which gave the Browns a 6-3 lead which they would take into halftime. The third quarter was fifteen minutes of attrition as neither team scored. But alas, there was finally a score to account for in the fourth quarter.

With Cleveland holding onto their 6-3 lead, Anderson was setting up to throw on third down at his own 45 when he was hit from behind by the Colts’ Dwight Freeney; the ball squirted into the hands of Mathis, who ran 37 yards for the game’s only touchdown, giving Indianapolis a 10-6 lead. The Browns had one last shot at paydirt as Anderson was dropping back to pass when offensive tackle Kevin Shaffer was knocked back into Anderson. Anderson tried to leave the field under his own power but was unable to; it was discovered that Anderson suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament. Ken Dorsey replaced Anderson for the final last three plays - the last play being an interception by the Colts’ Antoine Bethea.

As previously mentioned, offense was in short supply and that was indicative of the final stats as Peyton Manning had easily his worst game of the season, going 15-for-21 for 125 yards and 2 INT’s while Anderson was 16-of-26 for 110 yards. Joseph Addai led all Colts rushers with 57 yards on 15 carries while Dominic Rhodes added 35 rushing yards; Jamal Lewis led the Browns rushing attack with 77 yards on 24 carries. Reggie Wayne led all Colts receivers with 4 receptions for 46 yards while Braylon Edwards led the Browns receivers with 36 yards on 2 receptions. Indianapolis (8-4) plays again next Sunday when they host the Cincinnati Bengals while Cleveland (4-8) travels to Nashville to take on the Tennessee Titans - also next Sunday.

The first quarter only had one score, a 23-yard FG by Vintieri giving the Colts a 3-0 lead going into the second quarter; the chargers would take a lead on a touchdown pass from Philip Rivers to Vicnent Jackson, giving San Diego a 10-3 lead. But Manning would strike back with a TD pass of his own, a 13-yarder to Anthony Gonzalez, tying things up at 10; Manning would turn a Rivers turnover into paydirt as he threw a 1-yard TD pass to Dominic Rhodes, giving Indianapolis a 17-10 lead with 38 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Colts would pad their lead to 20-10 on another FG by Vinatieri with 11:48 remaining in the game; but the Chargers would score the next 10 points - a FG by Nate Kaeding and a Rivers to Jacob Hester TD pass, knotting the game up at 20 with 1:30 left. Manning would drive the Colts down the field which was kept alive by a 14-yard reception by Marvin Harrison, which followed a lengthy review by the officials that took a first down away from Indianapolis.

The Colts called their last timeout with 15 ticks left on the clock; Joseph Addai would rush for a yard then Manning would spike the ball, setting up the game-winning FG by Vinatieri. Manning had a decent effort, going 32-of-44 for 255 yards with 2 TD’s and an interception while Rivers went 24-of-31 for 288 yards with 2 TD’s. Addai led the Colts rushers with 70 yards on 16 carries while catching 7 passes for 31 yards; LaDanian Tomlinson led the Chargers rushing attack with 84 yards on 21 carries while catching 3 passes for 30 yards.

Gonzalez led all Colts receivers with 6 receptions for 95 yards and a TD while Harrison added 6 catches for 44 yards; Chris Chambers led all Chargers receivers with 6 recptions for 61 yards while Jackson caught 2 pases for 57 yards and a score. Indianapolis (7-4) plays again on Sunday when they travel to Cleveland to take on the Browns while San Diego (4-7) remains home to host the Atlanta Falcons - also on Sunday.

Forget about the division, that’s already going to go to the Titans. But for the Colts, they may be playing their best football in some time. Peyton Manning is playing well, and the defense is holding teams down enough for the offense to be able to take advantage of it. “We’ve just been a little sharper,” coach Tony Dungy said Monday. “We’ve turned the ball over less and less, we’ve cut down the sacks and gotten rid of the ball a little quicker, so we’ve just played a little better.”

The team put up five straight scoring drives vs the Texans on Sunday at home, and the running game finally got in motion with Joseph Addai going for over 100 yards, the first time he’s done in that in 19 games. The team finished with 154 yards and overall had 474 yards. Not bad.

“Everybody knows this is the time when good football teams step up, and that’s when good football teams step out,” running back Dominic Rhodes said. “Usually, in November and December, we play pretty well. We’re doing that again, we just have to keep pushing on.” And if they keep up this pace, they very well may be the most dangerous team making the playoffs out of the AFC come January.

The first quarter was non-descript as Kris Brown kicked two field goals for Houston, sandwiching a 40-yard FG by the Colts’ Adam Vinatieri as Houston took a 6-3 lead into the second quarter. 2 FG’s by Vinatieri which sandwiched a 1-yard touchdown run by Houston’s Ahman Green gave the Texans a slim 13-9 edge going into halftime. That’s when Manning and company took over the second half.

Manning led the Colts on TD drives of 81, 80 and 73 yards, eliminating Houston’s 13-9 lead; the Texans closed the gap to 30-27 on a 2-yard TD run by Green with 8:54 left to go, but Manning engineered a 7:02 drive which led to another FG by Vinatieri, giving the Colts a 33-27 cushion. An interception of a Sage Rosenfels pass by Colts cornerback Melvin Bullitt sealed the win for Indianapolis.

Manning had an excellent outing, going 30-for-46 for 320 yards with 2 TD’s while Rosenfels went 13-of-18 for 192 yards with an INT. Joseph Addai rushed for a season-high 105 yards and a rushing TD while also catching 4 passes for 48 yards and a score; Dominic Rhodes added 48 rushing yards on 10 carries. Steve Slaton had another outstanding game, rushing for 156 yards on only 14 carries and a TD while Ahman Green, despite rushing for 17 yards, ran for 2 scores.

Reggie Wayne led all Colts receivers with 7 receptions for 90 yards while Marvin Harrison caught 9 passes for 77 yards and a TD; Dallas Clark caught 5 balls for 44 yards. Kevin Walter led all Texans receivers with 3 receptions for 79 yards while Andre Johnson caught 4 passes for 55 yards. Indianapolis (6-4) plays again next Sunday night when they fly to San Diego to take on the Chargers while Houston (3-7) also plays next Sunday as they visit the Cleveland Browns.

Peyton Manning and the Colts offense didn’t make the key mistakes in Pittsburgh last week, and they scored 14 points on two key Steelers interceptions enroute to the four-point win. They have had the Texans number as well coming in, winning 12 of the last 13 vs Houston, and three straight.

The last time these two teams met was back on October 5th, and Texans were sailing until Rosenfels lost the ball a couple of times and the Colts rallied for a huge 31-27 win. Indy has also won all six home games against the Texans by an average of 19.3 points.

Look for Manning and the Colts to continue to throw the ball on the Texans, and look downfield often. Manning is putting up 249.8 yards per game in the air this year, and while the Texans pass D is allowing just 198.7 yards, the Colts will not go away from throwing just because of that. They will try to get Reggie Wayne and Harrison involved a lot early, and will try to do more play action with the run game as well.

As for the Texans, Rosenfels will be anxious to try and redeem himself after the poor outing against the Ravens a week ago. He simply has to stop turning the ball over, and also needs to get the ball more to the teams biggest playmaker, which of course is Andre Johnson. Last week Johnson did have 7 grabs for 66 yards, and leads the league with 900 overall yards.

The Texans are up against it, and don’t have much fight left after a long season in which they started 0-4, started to turn it around with three wins, and now have lost two straight. It will be three straight after this one, as the Colts will jump on Houston and win by 10.

Fans can vote for one player in each category on NFL.com/FedEx from 9 a.m. EST on Tuesday through 11 a.m. EST on Friday to determine the FedEx Air and Ground NFL Players of the Week. The winners will be announced Friday afternoon on NFL.com.

Fans will be voting for more than their favorite player. As part of the Air and Ground program for the first time, FedEx is teaming up with Safe Kids USA - a national non-profit organization that works to prevent accidental injury among children - to deliver safer kids by making weekly $1,000 donations in
the winning players’ names. The funding directly benefits local Safe Kids coalitions in that team’s city, to fund pedestrian safety improvements throughout the year. This year, FedEx celebrates its fifth year of the program and will surpass the $1 million mark in funding to create safer communities for children.

New this season, fans can tune into the “FedEx Air and Ground Lowdown” posted only on NFL.com/FedEx starting Wednesday mornings. The show examines the nominees in the Air and Ground categories through exclusive video highlights and expert analysis. NFL Network’s MARSHALL FAULK and TERRELL DAVIS host the weekly five-minute show.

A closer look at the FedEx Air NFL Player of the Week finalists:

* Denver’s JAY CUTLER threw for 447 yards and three touchdowns completing 24 of 42 passes in the Broncos’ 34 - 30 win over the Cleveland Browns on NFL Network’s Thursday Night Football.

* Indianapolis’ PEYTON MANNING completed 21 of 40 passes for 240 yards and three touchdowns in the Colts’ 24 - 20 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

* Arizona’s KURT WARNER completed 32 of 42 passes for 328 yards and three touchdowns in the Cardinals’ 29 - 24 win over the San Francisco 49ers on Monday Night Football.

A closer look at the FedEx Ground NFL Player of the Week finalists:

* New York Jets’ THOMAS JONES rushed for 149 yards and three touchdowns on 26 carries in the Jets’ 47 - 3 win over the St. Louis Rams.

* Jacksonville’s MAURICE JONES-DREW posted three touchdowns on three consecutive possessions rushing 11 times for 70 yards in the Jaguars’ 38 -14 win over the Detroit Lions.