Giants can't stop run or Peyton in rout by Colts

INDIANAPOLIS - All week long, the Giants were asked about their defensive priority when it came to facing the Colts. Stop the run is their typical mantra, but against the pass-happy Colts, did that still apply?

Yes, they said, almost without exception. Stopping the run is the priority no matter the opponent. And then they didn't.

Dressing only two defensive tackles for the game, and playing most of it with two safeties back guarding against deep passes, the Giants proved incapable of stopping the Colts on the ground. Peyton Manning did not necessarily beat the Giants, 38-14, last night. The specter of Peyton Manning might have played a much bigger role than the quarterback himself.

Just look at the drive the Colts had to take a 17-0 lead in the second quarter. It started at their own 38 after Eli Manning was intercepted on a deep pass to Steve Smith. The Colts ran the ball seven straight times - every snap of the drive - to the Giants' 20 before scoring on an Adam Vinatieri field goal.

A week after they had 10 rushes for 44 yards in the game against the Texans, the Colts rushed seven times for 42 yards in one drive against the Giants. So ominous was the idea of Peyton Manning picking them apart that the Giants hardly changed from their two-deep coverage in that drive or for the first half.

"I think we were all surprised that they were able to run and run with some consistency," Tom Coughlin said. "That allowed them to pretty much do what they wanted to do."

The Colts gained 160 yards on 43 carries and controlled the ball for 35:06.

Peyton didn't just let his running backs have all the fun, though. He helped give a wet willy to his little brother's team with patient performance, using his running backs to augment his surgical strikes. The Colts superstar completed 20 of 26 for 255 yards and three TDs.

On a first-and-10 in the second quarter, Manning used a play-action fake to lure safety Michael Johnson - on the field in place of a dinged-up Kenny Phillips for the series - up toward the line and then hit Dallas Clark for a 50-yard touchdown pass over Aaron Ross' coverage.

The Giants' offense spent the first half as if it were slipping around on Lucas Oil. Eli Manning's halftime passer rating was 6.2. The Giants, who thought they could build on their own momentum and take advantage of a Colts defense that was gashed for 251 yards by the Texans, managed only 58 yards. Twelve of those came on the meaningless final run of the second quarter by Ahmad Bradshaw . . . and even that glimmer ended with a fumble.

So frustrating was the Giants' offensive performance that early in the third - after taking a handoff and trying to cut it back but being stopped for no gain - Brandon Jacobs attemped to slam his helmet onto the bench but he said it stuck to his finger and went flying into the stands behind the Giants' bench. Jacobs didn't play after the incident and said it was because the Giants were in a hurry-up mode, a look he does not play in. He also apologized profusely. Coughlin said he was unaware of the helmet incident until after the game.

The Giants regrouped on their first drive of the second half, although even that had its shaky moments, such as when Eli was hit by Dwight Freeney (and tackle David Diehl, who was pushed backward by Freeney) on the first play. Manning converted a third-and-7 pass to Smith before hitting Mario Manningham for a 54-yard TD down the left sideline.

But after stopping the Colts' next possession and raising the possibility of a comeback, Freeney again beat Diehl - this time around the outside - and hit Eli's arm to force a fumble. Fili Moala recovered the ball in the end zone to make it 31-7 with 6:27 left in the third quarter.

Oh, and just to prove that the Colts haven't gone all run, Peyton drove the Colts down for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, highlighted by several precision passes to Reggie Wayne, including a 10-yard TD.

That's the Colts offense the Giants were expecting to see. But they couldn't stop that one, either.

Notes & quotes: Listed as questionable and described as game-time decisions by the Giants, both WR Hakeem Nicks (ankle) and DE Osi Umenyiora (knee) played. Umenyiora started, Nicks did not, but neither had much impact on the game.