Washington - eyton Manning threw a 72-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne in the third quarter to give the Indianapolis Colts a 17-14 lead over the San Diego Chargers in their wild-card playoff game Saturday night. The Colts went without a huddle and snapped the ball before the Chargers appeared ready on the play. Wayne had no trouble getting behind cornerback Antonio Cromartie and outraced the rest of the defense to the end zone. It came on a third-and-9 play.

The Chargers had a chance to go ahead on their next possession, but Darren Sproles was hit by Indianapolis CB Tim Jennings as he neared the goal line after catching a swing pass from Philip Rivers. Sproles fumbled into the end zone, where Raheem Brock recovered.

Manning, the league's Most Valuable Player for the third time, passed for 266 yards in the first three quarters, while Rivers threw for 150 yards.

LaDainian Tomlinson and Sproles ran for second-quarter touchdowns, giving San Diego a 14-10 halftime lead.

Tomlinson scored on a 3-yard run to cap a 44-yard drive, and Sproles ran over from 9 yards to finish a 45-yard march. Tomlinson did not play again after scoring his touchdown with 10:15 remaining before halftime. He started despite a groin injury, and gained 14 yards on the game's first play. But Robert Mathis sacked Philip Rivers three plays later, forcing a punt.

Manning threw passes of 36 and 17 yards to Anthony Gonzalez on successive plays, putting the ball at the San Diego 2. Joseph Addai scored on a 1-yard run two plays later.

San Diego went three-and-out before the Colts got the ball for a second time, and Manning marched them downfield. With the help of a 30-yard pass interference penalty against Quentin Jammer, the Colts moved from their 10 to the San Diego 42 before Reggie Wayne dropped a third-down pass from Manning.

Manning completed eight of 11 passes for 102 yards in the opening period.

San Diego's Mike Scifres pinned Indianapolis deep in its territory four times in the first half with punts of 51, 58, 50 and 67 yards. The Chargers forced the Colts to punt after Scifres' third and fourth efforts, and started their second-period scoring drives in Indy territory both times.

The Chargers tied the game early in the second quarter when Tomlinson went over from 3 yards. Rivers hit Antonio Gates on a 30-yard pass play before Tomlinson's TD.

Adam Vinatieri kicked a 43-yard field goal with 6:46 left before halftime to give the Colts a 10-7 lead. But Sproles' scoring run came one play after Rivers completed an 11-yard pass to Chris Chambers on a third-and-9 play.

The game was the fourth between the teams in the last two seasons and their second straight playoff matchup. San Diego won a 28-24 decision last January at Indianapolis after Rivers and Tomlinson went out with knee injuries before losing at New England 21-12 in the AFC championship game.

The Colts entered as the NFL's hottest team, winning their last nine games to overcome a 3-4 start. Manning overcame two knee surgeries to win his record-tying third Associated Press NFL MVP award after leading his team to its sixth straight 12-win season.

The Chargers were written off after a 4-8 start, but became the first team to reach the playoffs after losing eight of their first 12 by winning their last four. They also became the first team to overcome a three-game deficit with three games to play thanks in great part to an epic collapse by the Denver Broncos that cost coach Mike Shanahan his job.

In addition, the Chargers were the ninth team to qualify for the playoffs with an 8-8 record. Only two of the previous eight advanced past the first round. San Diego was also the second team to win a division title without winning more than half of its games, joining the 1985 Cleveland Browns.



Written By JOHN NADEL

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