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INDIANAPOLIS (Sept. 14, 1998) -- The Indianapolis Colts insisted from the day they made Peyton Manning the No. 1 draft pick that he was destined to have trouble as a rookie. His first two NFL games have proven coach Jim Mora and club president Bill Polian knew what they were talking about. In losses to Miami and New England, the former Tennessee star has been intercepted six times. A seventh interception was wiped out when offensive lineman Tarik Glenn was called for a false start. In addition, Manning has lost one fumble while being sacked six times. Manning may not be the entire problem on an offense that includes three rookies and two second-year players. However, his quarterback rating of 55.1 is the second-lowest in the league among starters and he's completed as many (two) touchdowns to opponents as he has to teammates. "You watch the film and it's no fun to watch, you try to learn from it and it is kind of hard to stomach," Manning said Monday. Defensively, the Colts have held their opponents to an average of 120 yards per game rushing and 176.5 against the passing of Dan Marino and Drew Bledsoe. "The defense is really playing well for us. That's really the frustrating thing, we're putting them in some bad situations," Manning said. "We're really moving the ball well. We get down in touchdown and field goal range and turn the ball over." Manning, whose father also struggled as a rookie after being the No. 2 overall pick in the 1971 draft by New Orleans, has managed to complete 60 percent of his passes (42 of 70) for 490 yards. But, Mora calls the turnovers "a case of us self-destructing. ... We're minus seven in the takeaway, giveaway ratio. It's very difficult to beat anybody ... when you turn the ball over four times." Manning has only a 17.4 rating on third-down passing, going 7 of 17 for 84 yards with three interceptions on third-down plays. "We ran the ball the best we've run it, and that's encouraging," said Mora, who saw Marshall Faulk gain 127 yards on 29 carries and another 60 yards on seven receptions. "I thought we did a pretty good job of picking up the blitz. "They blitzed about half the time. ... For the most part mentally, getting somebody on them, we did a good job of picking it up." Mora didn't hesitate to point out what the problem was Sunday night at New England. "The three (interceptions) he threw last night were mostly his fault," Mora said. "A week ago (the opener) there were other factors, but last night Peyton could have eliminated those had he made good decisions." The bad decisions concern Mora, but he said he anticipates more. "He's going through some growing pains, but still you don't want him to make those mistakes," Mora said. "We've just got to continue to work to minimize them." "You sometimes watch it on film and say, 'That don't look like me out there,' " said Manning, who had only 33 interceptions in 1,381 passes with Tennessee. "Every interception has its own story, you say 'Gosh, I wish I hadn't thrown that,' but you did. All you can do is learn from it." The education continues this week when Manning faces the New York Jets, who have also started with two losses. "We've got 14 games left. It's a long season," he said. "This game is important to both teams, trying to get the first win." |