INDIANAPOLIS (Ticker) -- Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts settled a major score against the New York Jets.
Manning passed for 401 yards and a touchdown - his fourth career 400-yard game - and holder Hunter Smith scored the go-ahead touchdown on a fake field goal as the Colts avenged an embarrassing playoff loss with a 38-31 win over the Jets.
With Marvin Harrison sidelined with a hamstring injury, the Colts (8-2) also relied on Edgerrin James, who rushed for 127 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries to pass Lydell Mitchell and become the team's all-time leading rusher with 5,540 yards.
"Sometimes, it takes 38 points to win a game," said Manning, whose team avenged a 41-0 wild-card loss to the Jets last season at Giants Stadium. "With Marvin down, we had to make some adjustments."
James had asked for more work, and he got it, helping Indianapolis rebound from last week's loss to Jacksonville and remain tied with Tennessee atop the AFC South Division.
"I felt good out there," James said. "The one thing I know how to do is pace myself. I think tomorrow I will feel pretty good."
After the Jets rallied from a 24-10 halftime deficit to tie it, 31-31, on Chad Pennington's on 48-yard TD pass to Santana Moss, the Colts surprised the Jets (3-7) with a trick play as Smith ran 21 yards for the game's final score with 3:12 left in the third period.
"They (Jets) have this deal where they put nine guys on one side of the guard and only two guys outside," Smith said. "It was kind of a no-brainer if you look at it. We had a five-on-two on that side."
The rematch of last year's playoff game turned into a shootout as Pennington and Manning combined for more than 600 yards through the air. Pennington passed for 219 yards and three TDs.
"We had our shots in the fourth quarter," Pennington said. "We had a couple drives we could have sustained, then their defense stepped up to the plate. It boiled down to the team made the most plays on offense."
Colts tight end Dallas Clark dropped a pass inside the Jets 20 on 4th-and-2, giving New York possession at its 40 with four minutes to go. But the Jets went three-and-out and Clark redeemed himself with a 19-yard reception on third down that allowed the Colts to run out the clock.
Indianapolis remained aggressive as Manning converted another third down with a 35-yard completion to Reggie Wayne that pushed him over 400 yards. The clock expired after Manning took a knee.
"I told him (Wayne) after he dropped that pass it was over and I would come back to him for the biggest third-down conversion of the game," Manning said.
With no timeouts remaining and the clocking winding down, Manning surprised the Jets at the end of the first half. Instead of spiking the ball, he handed off to James, who scored on a two-yard run with seven seconds left to make it 24-10.
But in the third quarter, Pennington threw two TD passes and Jonathan Carter returned a kickoff 90 yards for a score to ignite the Jets.
