NEW YORK, 21 September 2004 — Peyton Manning threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns to win his showdown with fellow co-MVP Steve McNair as the Indianapolis Colts beat the Tennessee Titans 31-17 in National Football League play at Nashville on Sunday.

Edgerrin James rushed for 124 yards and two touchdowns for the Colts, who were outplayed in the first half but trailed just 10-3 at halftime. If the Colts were nervous about the possibility of starting the season with two losses, they did not show it as they rebounded to dominate the second half.

“We never talked about 0-2,” Manning said. “It never came up. We just said it’s an AFC South game. It’s a double-dipper. We have a chance to get up in the division and give the Titans a loss.”

Nick Harper intercepted a pass from McNair in the end zone during a fourth quarter drive to seal the win for the Colts (1-1), who have not lost consecutive games in the regular season since 2002.

Right after that turnover, the Colts marched 80 yards in 11 plays to take the lead 24-17 on a four-yard run by James to give Indy its first lead of the game.

“We had a chance to really put this game away early,” McNair said. “We didn’t. Any time we have another team like Indianapolis stay in it with Peyton at the helm, you’re asking to get beat.”

Chris Brown was a bright spot for Tennessee (1-1), as he rushed for 152 yards on 26 carries with a TD.

Manning wound up 24-for-33 after managing just 84 yards passing in the first half.

Reggie Wayne finished with seven receptions for 119 yards and one TD, while Marvin Harrison had 10 catches for 98 yards.

McNair was 25-for-39 for 273 yards with an interception. Derrick Mason had eight receptions for 104 yards.

In Tempe, Arizona, the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots made it 17 wins in a row, improving to 2-0 with a 23-12 win over the Arizona Cardinals. Corey Dillion rushed for 158 yards on 32 carries and Tom Brady threw two first-half touchdown passes to Daniel Graham.

In Green Bay, Mike Brown returned a fumble 95 yards for a touchdown as the Chicago Bears stunned the Green Bay Packers 21-10.

Thomas Jones rushed for 152 yards on 23 carries as the Bears beat the Packers for just the third time in their last 21 meetings.

In the night game, Shayne Graham kicked a 39-yard field goal with five seconds remaining to lift the Cincinnati Bengals to a 16-13 win over the Miami Dolphins. Graham had three field goals in the tight defensive game and he kicked the winner just 1:52 after Olindo Mare’s 47-yard field goal tied the game for the Dolphins.

Carson Palmer went 21-for-38 for 148 yards at quarterback for the Bengals.

In other games:

Michael Vick passed for 179 yards and rushed for 109 more as the Atlanta Falcons beat St Louis 34-17; Kurt Warner had 232 yards passing as the New York Giants surprised the Washington Redskins 20-14; Baltimore rolled past Pittsburgh 30-13; the surprising Detroit Lions improved to 2-0 with a 28-16 home win over Houston; Jacksonville edged Denver 7-6; Carolina handed Kansas City its second straight loss with a 28-17 win in K.C. and New Orleans out-lasted San Francisco 30-27 despite an ankle injury to Deuce McAllister.

Vinny Testaverde passed for 322 yards as the Dallas Cowboys beat the Cleveland Browns 19-12; the Raiders handed the Buffalo Bills their second straight loss, dropping the Bills 13-10, as Jerry Rice’s streak of consecutive games with at least one reception ended at 274 games; Seattle improved to 2-0 with a 10-6 win over Tampa Bay and the New York Jets did the same, downing the San Diego Chargers 34-28.