Sports
Colts look to playoffs after loss to Bills
ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Peyton Manning was happy to bid farewell to the wintry elements, the regular season and all the complaints about the Colts' less than perfect finish.
Despite losing their final two games, Indianapolis finally has something meaningful to look forward to: the playoffs.
"The regular season is over and we are looking forward and fortunate to be playing in the postseason," Manning said. "Hopefully, we can get it started off right in a couple of weeks."
Playing in blizzard-like conditions with nothing on the line, the Colts (14-2) continued their better safe-than-sorry philosophy by playing mostly backups to end their season with a second straight dud, a 30-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Manning, who played only three series, expressed hope that Colts fans can forgive and forget this game and last week's 29-15 loss to the New York Jets, which cost Indianapolis its shot at perfection.
"We have to move on," Manning said. "Sorry we did not get the win. But come this week, we are in playoff mode."
As the AFC's top seed, the Colts have two weeks to prepare for their next opponent.
The Bills (6-10), meanwhile, enter an uncertain offseason that begins with a coaching search after Dick Jauron was fired in November.
The Bills began their overhaul by promoting national scout Buddy Nix to general manager on Thursday. Interim coach Perry Fewell closed the season with a 3-4 record and is a candidate for the job. He said after the game he's scheduled to be interviewed this week.
ESPN reported that the Bills met with former Steelers coach Bill Cowher. Bills chief operating officer Russ Brandon declined comment on the report during the game.
Cowher, an NFL analyst on CBS, declined to comment on the speculation during the broadcast earlier in the day, saying, "I am not going to talk about any jobs during the regular season."
Uncertainty aside, Bills players were upbeat to end the season with a win.
"It is what it is. The season was pretty dismal for us," defensive end Chris Kelsay said. "To end on a high note was good for the morale of this team."
Credit Mother Nature with an assist and providing a snow-globe backdrop to a game in which nothing was on the line for either team. About 4 inches of snow fell to blanket the field in the first half, resulting in several amusing moments.
Fans — some of them shirtless despite a frigid wind that dropped temperatures to near zero — had a ball by cheering everything from the stadium employee who shoveled the snow to uncover the goal line to Terrell Owens doing jumping jacks after a 41-yard touchdown catch.
"Yeah, that's the thing. You've got to get caught up in the moment," Owens said about his spontaneous celebration. "But once all that stuff settles down, it's back to freezing."
Owens finished with four catches for 65 yards, giving him 14,951 for his career to move ahead of Tim Brown for third place on the NFL list.
Ryan Fitzpatrick threw three touchdown passes in the first half. Fred Jackson had a career-best 212 yards rushing, the seventh-highest rushing total in team history, to reach 1,000 yards for the first time. Jackson also scored on an 11-yard catch.
Jackson also became the first NFL player to have 1,000 yards rushing (1,062) and 1,000 yards in kickoff returns (1,014) in the same season.
Manning took care of some unfinished business before being replaced by rookie backup Curtis Painter. Manning completed seven passes to Dallas Clark, allowing him to become the NFL's second tight end to have a 100-catch season, joining Tony Gonzalez. Reggie Wayne had five catches to reach 100 for the second time in his career.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool," Clark said of his catch total. "It's just been a good year, and definitely now the fun begins.
Notes: The Colts had a franchise-best 11-game road win streak snapped. ... Fewell became the first of Buffalo's six interim coaches to win more than two games, surpassing the win totals of Hank Bullough (2-10 in 1985) and Marv Levy (2-5, 1986). ... Manning finished with an even 4,500 yards passing this season, 57 short of matching his 2004 career high.
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