Leaf Wins First Matchup With Manning

INDIANAPOLIS -- Round one went to Ryan Leaf and the San Diego Chargers. The rematch with the Indianapolis Colts and Peyton Manning will be in October, when it counts.

Leaf, picked second behind Manning in this year's NFL draft, set up one touchdown and ran for one as the Chargers beat the Colts 33-3 Saturday night. It was only the second time in NFL history that quarterbacks picked 1-2 in the draft had faced each other as rookies.

It was a made-to-order script for hype and comparisons, but Leaf tried to put things in perspective. "This is preseason. It's only the third game," Leaf said. "We've got to see the same Indianapolis team in Game 5 (of the regular season). It was a 3-3 tie at halftime. That's telling you something. There's no way we're going to look past them, ever, because of how they can play football. It's going to be a battle the next time as well."

Leaf was 15-for-24 for 172 yards. Manning, playing into the third quarter for the first time in the preseason, was 11-for-21 for 123 yards but twice had passes intercepted by Mike Dumas as the Colts dropped to 1-2.

"The whole Ryan-Peyton thing, we don't get into that," Manning said. "That just slows me down from what I'm trying to do. All it does is take time away from that.

"I hope he does well. There's no controversy between he and I. All I want to do is play well for my team."

Leaf was equally gracious.

"Peyton looks great, the way he handles himself, his poise in the pocket. Peyton's the real deal, everybody knows that," Leaf said.

"These first three games, the reason we've won and played well is because how well the defense has played, how well the offensive line has blocked for me. I haven't been sharp, and I haven't done the things I know I'm capable of doing. But what it comes down to is a 'W.' That's what's important to us. It doesn't matter how I play as long as we win the football game."

San Diego, helped by Indianapolis turnovers, scored on its first five possessions of the second half, turning a close game into a rout.

"Peyton's getting better every day," Colts coach Jim Mora said. "He has as good a work ethic as anybody around. He's the kind of guy that will be very critical of himself and work very hard to correct his mistakes. So I'm not at all disappointed in Peyton Manning.

"What happened, it was a pretty good indication we have an awful lot of work to do to be a good football team. Offensively, we couldn't get anything going all night. In the second half, it really came down hard on us. We didn't execute. We just got clobbered." On the first play of the third quarter, Leaf passed 36 yards to Freddie Jones, starting a 10-play drive that produced a 6-yard go-ahead touchdown run by Natrone Means.

Dumas returned his second interception 39 yards on the next series, giving San Diego the ball at the Indianapolis 18. Leaf, who was sacked three times, was thrown for a 4-yard loss by Bert Berry, but an interference penalty on Rico Clark gave the Chargers a first down at the Colts 1.

Leaf ran in on the next play, his second rushing TD of the preseason, for a 17-3 lead.

"It wasn't one of his better games," San Diego coach Kevin Gilbride said of Leaf. "As I remind myself and remind him, he's still very much a work in progress and has a lot of flaws we've got to smooth out. But he still does some great things, makes some plays for you.

"Once he understands the rhythm that's necessary, I think we'll have a passing game that we're potentially capable of having."

The Chargers got the ball back less than two minutes after Leaf's touchdown when Latario Rachal returned a punt 40 yards to the Colts 22. Casey Weldon replaced Leaf at quarterback and took the Chargers to the 3 before John Carney kicked a 21-yard field goal for a 20-3 lead two seconds into the final quarter.

After the next Indianapolis punt, Weldon passed 44 yards to Brian Roche at the 14, and three plays later, Weldon passed 13 yards to Rachal for another touchdown and a 27-3 lead. Lloyd Lee intercepted a pass off backup Indianapolis quarterback Kelly Holcomb on the next series, and the Chargers moved 71 yards in 12 plays, scoring the final touchdown on a 2-yard pass from Weldon to Michael Haynes with 3:25 to go.

The Colts defense appeared to get the best of Leaf early, holding the Chargers inside their 25 on the first two possessions. A 7-yard loss by Leaf on a sack by Al Fontenot forced a punt, setting up the only Indianapolis scoring drive from near midfield late in the first quarter.

Manning completed passes to Jerome Pathon and Marcus Pollard, and Cary Blanchard kicked a 41-yard field goal to put the Colts up 3-0.

In the second quarter, Leaf began finding his receivers and hit Jones for 13 and 14 yards to help the Chargers to the Indianapolis 42. Means ran twice for 24 yards and Terrell Fletcher ran 11 yards to the Indianapolis 7. San Diego reached the 5, but Leaf was sacked by Kendell Shello for a loss of 2, and Carney tied the game 3-3 with a 25-yard field goal. The standoff continued on each team's final series of the half.

Manning was 4-for-7 for 47 yards to the San Diego 31 before the first interception by Dumas. Leaf then passed three times for 29 yards to Webster Slaughter before his pass was intercepted by Jeff Burris at the Colts 11 with seven seconds to go, keeping the 3-3 tie at halftime.