*Colts hold off pesky Titans*
By Chip Cirillo PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer
NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Ticker) -- Peyton Manning was relieved, but not surprised.
Manning threw for 312 yards and a touchdown as the Indianapolis Colts escaped with a 22-20 victory over the AFC South rival Tennessee Titans on Sunday.
"The teams are very familiar with each other and have similar coaches as far as the same systems," Manning said. "There are not a lot of secrets so there aren't going to be any great trick plays that confuse the other team. So, it's going to go down to the wire."
The game has gone down to the wire the last three times these AFC South Division rivals have met.
Indianapolis (2-0) rallied for a 14-13 win over Tennessee at the RCA Dome in 2006, and Rob Bironas kicked a 60-yard field with seven seconds left in the rematch, giving the Titans a 20-17 win.
Bironas almost got another chance to be the hero when Vince Young found Brandon Jones at the Colts 37-yard line with 25 seconds left, but the ball bounced out of his hands and fell incomplete.
Jacob Bell fumbled a lateral from Young on the next play and Indianapolis' Darrell Reid recovered to seal the win.
"Tennessee is a very, very difficult team to play a tough team," Colts coach Tony Dungy said. "And the thing I say about Vince Young, he has given them the thought that they are going to win every time they go on the field, every time, no matter what the circumstance."
Manning completed 28-of-42 passes for 312 yards and one touchdown as four receivers had at least five catches.
Joseph Addai was the workhorse in the Colts backfield, rushing for 81 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries.
Young, the 2006 NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, passed for 184 yards and one touchdown and rushed for 53 yards for the Titans (1-1).
"We just needed to get the first down, that's all we needed to do and I really feel like Rob would have finished it," Young said of the Titans' final drive. "But we didn't get the first down, and we've got to move on and get ready for the next game. From an effort standpoint of the Tennessee Titans, I really loved how we played."
Adam Vinatieri's 39-yard field goal with 9:41 left in the third quarter gave the Colts a 19-6 lead, but the Titans capitalized on Cortland Finnegan's interception of a Manning pass deep in Colts' territory.
LenDale White scored on a 3-yard touchdown run with 4:48 left in the third quarter to narrow the deficit to 19-13.
"I think all during the preseason and last week, the defensive line has played great," said Finnegan, who benefited from a strong pass rush by Kyle Vanden Bosch before making the interception. "You have to have that to put pressure to cause bad routes or bad throws.
Vinatieri's third field goal of the day, from 20 yards out, increased Indianapolis' lead to 22-13 as time expired in the third quarter.
Roydell Williams caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Vince Young, cutting the Colts' lead to 22-20 with 6:02 left.
Titans coach Jeff Fisher expressed mixed feelings about having another close call with the Colts.
"It depends on the perspective in which you look at it,"Fisher said. "That's what we talked about in the locker room. You should win this, and you didn't."
