Peyton Manning helped inspire the Indianapolis Colts to their eighth straight win of the season as they overcame Jacksonville 31-24 on Thursday to reach the play-offs .
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peyton manning help inspire indianapolis colts eighth straight win season overcome jacksonville 31-24 thursday reach play-off
Peyton Manning helped inspire the Indianapolis Colts to their eighth straight win of the season as <m> they </m> overcame Jacksonville 31-24 on Thursday to reach the play-offs .
Manning guides Indianapolis to eighth straight win
Peyton Manning helped inspire the Indianapolis Colts to their eighth straight win of the season as <m> they </m> overcame Jacksonville 31-24 on Thursday to reach the play-offs .
Manning finished with 29-of-34 after completing his first 17 passes and threw for 364 yards , including three touchdowns .
And Manning was full of praise of the side after they fought back from 14-0 and 24-14 down to clinch a place in the play-offs as the fifth seeds in the AFC .
`` It was a funny game , we were completing some passes but we were down 14-0 , '' Manning said .
`` The crowd were into it and Jacksonville is always tough here at home .
`` It 's been a very different season .
For us to win eight in a row , it was what we had to do , we had no choice but to do that and have a chance to get into the play-offs .
`` You never take winning for granted .
It 's hard to win one game and it 's extremely hard to win eight in a row like we did . ''
The Colts had looked like they would suffer their first defeat in eight games as they entered the final quarter 10 points down .
However Manning 's one-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dallas Clark and Adam Vinatieri 's 45-yard field goal tied the scores .
And with just under five minutes remaining , Keiwan Ratliff intercepted quarterback David Garrard 's pass and raced in from 35 yards out for the match-clinching touchdown .
Garrard , who rushed for a score , finished with 28-of-41 for 329 yards with one touchdown and one interception for Jacksonville .
And Colts coach Tony Dungy added : `` It 's been a long fight back from ( starting the year ) 3-4 .
`` I like where we are right now .
Peyton Manning was unbelievable , and our defense made some plays in the fourth quarter when they had to . ''