Colts top Chiefs in playoffs

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) Peyton Manning knows all about falling apart in the playoffs. Though he struggled early Saturday, the Indianapolis Colts' stunningly stingy defense came to the rescue.

Manning and the Colts beat the inept Kansas City Chiefs 23-8 Saturday, and while the star quarterback's numbers were good -- 30-of-38 for 268 yards -- his performance was mediocre. At least it was for the most prolific passer of his generation.

He threw three interceptions, didn't complete a deep pass and, ultimately, was bailed out by his defense.

"You have to keep playing," said Manning, who improved to 4-6 in the playoffs. "Every time you drop back to throw, your goal is to possess the ball on the next play. Three times, I was very poor on that. As soon as it gets you second-guessing, as soon as it gets you gun-shy, that's when you have problems."

The beleaguered Indianapolis defense was so good -- or perhaps more accurately, Kansas City's offense was so bad -- that Manning's miscues didn't stop the AFC South champions from advancing to the next round at Baltimore on Saturday.

"Our defense was awesome today," Manning said. "We made some mistakes and the defense made sure we didn't pay for it."

A defense that yielded 173 yards rushing per game this season allowed only 44 to Pro Bowl back Larry Johnson and the Chiefs.

Kansas City's initial first down came with 3:34 remaining in the third quarter. Indianapolis had four sacks, two by Dwight Freeney, and two interceptions. The Chiefs managed 126 total yards.

"We heard it all about having the worst defense," Freeney said. "Now we can here this: We have the best run defense in the playoffs."