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INDIANAPOLIS - The Colts have a new winning combination: patience and defense.
With Peyton Manning's wide-open passing game mostly grounded, the Colts pounded away at Jacksonville, breaking through in the final nine minutes with a 6-yard touchdown from former Florida running back Ran Carthon and letting their suddenly stifling defense preserve victory over the Jaguars.
"We need to be able to win games like this," Colts coach Tony Dungy said.
It wasn't pretty offensively for the Colts, but it was effective.
Manning, the two-time MVP, was off the mark, overthrowing receivers much of the day and looking out of synch as the Jaguars pressured him. He finished 13-of-28 for 122 yards with one interception and a quarterback rating of 44.0, his worst in the regular season since December 2001.
The records some expected to fall this week for most yards passing and touchdowns by a quarterback-receiver tandem never materialized. Manning connected with Marvin Harrison three times for 36 yards, leaving the duo 24 yards and three touchdowns short of their claim to the league's best tandem ever.
Instead, the Colts relied on a persistent running game. Edgerrin James ran 27 times for 128 yards, and Indianapolis used a 17-play drive that consumed nearly nine minutes before Carthon's score gave the Colts the lead with 8:27 left.
Still, Indianapolis took the early edge in the AFC South title chase - defeating the only team to beat it at home last season - and got more help when Carolina beat two-time defending Super Bowl champion New England.
The Jags might have lost more than a game. Byron Leftwich hobbled up the field during the final two minutes but still nearly rallied Jacksonville. He got the Jaguars to the Colts 22 before a pass to Jimmy Smith in the end zone was broken up by Bob Sanders on the final play.
Leftwich was injured on the second-to-last series when Raheem Brock sacked him from behind. Leftwich grabbed his knee and limped off. He didn't miss a play and was X-rayed after the game.
"I don't want to say what it is right now, but it wasn't the knee," said Leftwich, who was in obvious pain on the final drive. "I'm happy the knee is okay."
The Jaguars also lost safety Donovin Darius (sprained left knee) in the second quarter.
NOTABLE: Smith had three catches for 49 yards and became the 12th member of the 800-reception club midway through the second quarter. He has 802 catches.