Colts build 21-17 halftime lead over Jags behind a perfect performance by Peyton Manning

Manning perfect as Colts lead Jags 21-17

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Peyton Manning was perfect, Chad Simpson returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown and the undefeated Indianapolis Colts built a 21-17 lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars at halftime Thursday night.

In a performance similar to his last trip to Jacksonville Municipal Stadium, Manning was 12 of 12 for 116 yards and two touchdowns as the Colts tried to reach 14-0 for the first time in franchise history.

A year ago, Manning completed his first 17 passes in an Indianapolis victory.

The Jaguars answered with the solid running and quick thinking of Maurice Jones-Drew, who smartly broke away from a pack to catch a 9-yard TD pass from David Garrard and later scored on a short run to set the team record with his 15th rushing touchdown of the year.

Indianapolis, which has won 22 consecutive regular-season games, already has clinched homefield advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. Coach Jim Caldwell had said only healthy players would start, and Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis — both on the injury report as questionable — played sparingly until the end of the half.

The Jaguars (7-6), who have lost seven of their last nine games against the Colts, still control the final wild-card spot in the AFC, although a loss would severely damage their postseason hopes.

After an opening quarter that featured 25 plays, no turnovers, no penalties and a 3-0 lead for Jacksonville on Josh Scobee’s 50-yard field goal, both teams put up points quickly on a cool night along the St. Johns River.

The Colts capped off their long, methodical opening drive of the game when Manning found a sliding Dallas Clark in the back of the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter. Manning threw the ball behind Clark, who bobbled it off his right hip and his shoulder pad before hanging on for a 7-3 Colts lead.

Garrard brought the Jaguars right back down the field behind Jones, who had 73 yards on 14 carries. On 2nd-and-goal from the 9, Garrard rolled left, took off running to the right and appeared to have no one open until Jones-Drew broke free from a pack and got behind linebacker Clint Session to pull in Garrard’s touchdown pass.

Jones-Drew later scored on a 3-yard run, breaking the team record held by Fred Taylor, who had 14 rushing TDs in 1998.

But the Jaguars couldn’t keep Indianapolis from scoring quickly.

With the Colts trailing 10-7, Simpson took the kickoff in the middle of the field at the 7, made one move through a huge seam on the left side and ran untouched down the left side into the end zone and through the tunnel.

After the Jaguars regained the lead on Jones-Drew’s short TD run, Manning needed just over two minutes to take the Colts 68 yards, completing a 22-yard pass to Reggie Wayne and capping off the scoring drive with a 23-yard TD pass to Austin Collie over the middle.

Scobee didn’t come close on a 57-yard field goal attempt to end the half.

The first half was so cleanly played that it took just over an hour, and there were no punts. The only drive that didn’t end in a touchdown was the Jaguars’ first series, when Eric Foster stripped Garrard from his blind side on 3rd-and-1 from the 22. The Jaguars recovered, setting up Scobee’s long field goal.

Jacksonville is playing its final home game of the year, and it was the first time all year the game wasn’t blacked out locally.

There was a moment of silence before the game to honor Chris Henry, the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver who died Thursday from injuries after he fell out of the back of a moving pickup truck driven by his fiancee.