Colts keep coming back, beat Dolphins
Colts keep coming back, beat Dolphins
MIAMI - While celebrities were making a Hollywood-style grand entrance in Miami, Peyton Manning slipped in a side door.
Manning threw two touchdown passes to take some sheen off the Dolphins' glitzy makeover under new owner Stephen Ross, and the Indianapolis Colts came from behind four times to win 27-23 last night.
The Dolphins rolled out an orange carpet for the pregame arrival of Ross' celebrity partners. The crowd included Serena and Venus Williams, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, Marc Anthony and Jennifer Lopez, Jimmy Buffett and Colts fan Tiger Woods.
But Manning (14-for-23, 303 yards) stole the show with touchdown passes of 80 yards to Dallas Clark and 48 yards to Pierre Garcon. The first came score on the first play from scrimmage, the latter with 3 minutes, 18 seconds left for the game's final points.
"It was about being efficient when it counted, in the fourth quarter," Manning said. "That's really what the game's about."
Indianapolis (2-0) had the ball for only 14:53, the lowest time of possession for a winning team in the NFL since 1977.
"It's really disheartening," Miami coach Tony Sparano said. "That's exactly the formula to beat that team."
The Dolphins (0-2) had 239 yards rushing, including 107 with the Wildcat.
Indy trailed 10-7, 13-10 and 20-13, but each time pulled even. Down 23-20 after Miami scored with 3:50 left, the Colts rallied one more time.
Manning threw completions of 15 and 17 yards, then hit Garcon with a short pass on the right side. Garcon cut to the middle, then broke back toward to the corner of the end zone to score. *
