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INDIANAPOLIS (Oct 5, 1998) -- OK, do you want the truth or would you prefer the sugar-coated version of Sunday's Colts-Chargers game? Let's start with the public relations-friendly lead paragraph: In an NFL shootout that previewed the league's future, "Pistol" Peyton Manning outgunned Ryan "The Rifle" Leaf and led Indianapolis to a pulsating 17-12 victory that left an RCA Dome crowd of 51,988 riveted to their seats until the closing seconds. Now, what really happened: In a gosh-awful struggle saturated with penalties and bad football, the Colts tried to give away another one, but the Chargers were too inept and lost a game that Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf might forget quicker than the paying customers. The battle between the first two picks in this year's draft was the focal point going into Sunday's game, but $75 million worth of quarterbacks turned out to be small change in the final analysis. Sure, Manning earned his initial NFL win with the tidiest performance of his short career, played with a better sense of awareness than Leaf and is officially 1-0 in what promises to be a continuing comparison. Yet, other than selected moments, these kids spent the afternoon handing off, trying to avoid mistakes and coping with the ever-changing face of NFL defenses. Each attempted 23 passes, completed 12 and had one interception. Certainly not great numbers, but more than acceptable considering the past few weeks. "I don't judge myself, but it was good enough to win," said Manning, whose league-high 12th interception in the second quarter did not lead to any San Diego points. "I critique myself pretty hard on the film, and we had a couple of plays that just missed. "It wasn't real pretty out there, and there's no question we can improve." Leaf, whose four interceptions the week before had dropped his QB rating to a league-low 32.1, threw a costly one into triple coverage that Indianapolis turned into an early lead that finally held up. "Ryan started slowly but began to pick it up," said Charger coach Kevin Gilbride. "He had some opportunities that he didn't take advantage of." Manning's maturation would seem to be further along than Leaf's. He looked more comfortable, did a nice job of avoiding the rush (no sacks) and made more good decisions than bad ones at the line of scrimmage. "He's (Manning) a remarkably mature guy who's handling all the things that's been thrown at him very, very well," said Gilbride, perhaps taking a small shot at his own rookie QB for recently accosting the San Diego media. "He's made some tremendous progress. Not only in the way he handles the media and all the disappointments he's had to deal with, but his reads, his composure on the line of scrimmage, the way he audibled and the way he manages the game. "It shows great strides from what we saw in the preseason. He's going to be a great quarterback." Jim Mora echoed Gilbride's assessment. "We usually give Peyton two plays, and he did a good job with the audibles," said the Colts' first-year coach. "He protected the ball and kept his poise. I think he's making outstanding progress." Unlike in the Chargers' 33-3 romp over the Colts in preseason, which featured a big end-zone spike from Leaf following a score, the ex-Washington State star didn't have much to celebrate until a late 56-yard bomb brought his teammates within a two-point conversion of overtime. "He (Leaf) had a lot going against him today," said veteran Tony McCoy, who led a solid effort from Indy's defensive line as they sacked Leaf four times. "Spiking that ball and some of the comments he made fueled a lot of stuff for us. "We showed him a lot of stuff today and tried to fire on him." In fairness to Leaf, he had a nifty 45-yard scoring strike in the second quarter nullified by one of San Diego's 12 penalties. And Manning's first pass of the day was a perfect strike to Marvin Harrison, who made an uncharacteristic drop on a play that might have gone all the way. Following their first official head-to-head meeting, the two franchise quarterbacks met at midfield, and Leaf whispered something into Manning's ear. I couldn't quite pick it up, but I thought he said, "Now I know why you stayed in college four years." |