Quarterback Peyton Manning threw for three touchdowns and Indianapolis erased a 13-point halftime deficit Sunday to beat Houston 35-27 and improve to 11-0 for the NFL season.
The Colts notched their 20th straight regular-season victory, one shy of New England's NFL-record 21-game regular-season winning streak that stretched from 2006-2008.
Indianapolis can match that record with a victory when they host Tennessee next weekend.
Manning threw two first-half interceptions, but they were offset by a brace of touchdown passes in the second half.
That included a four-yard pass to Dallas Clark that put the Colts up 21-20 with less than 10 minutes to play.
Moments later, Clint Session stretched the lead to 28-20 when he returned an interception of Houston quarterback Matt Schaub 26 yards for a touchdown.
Schaub then fumbled on Houston's next possession and Chad Simpson capped the Colts's possession with a touchdown run to put the game out of reach.
"We don't get overexcited certainly when things aren't going the way we want them to," Manning said of the Colts' uncanny ability to come back. "We don't panic, we don't yell, we don't throw helmets. We just try to put the series behind us and move on to the next one."
The Colts became the first team to secure a playoff berth, clinching the AFC South title later Sunday when San Francisco beat Jacksonville 20-3.
"That's our goal coming into training camp," safety Antoine Bethea said. "We wanted to win our division."
The New Orleans Saints, also unbeaten at 10-0, are to host New England on Monday night.
In other games Sunday, Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre passed for a season-high 392 yards and three touchdowns, and the Vikings intercepted Jay Cutler twice in a 36-10 victory over Chicago.
Tennessee quarterback Vince Young connected with Kenny Britt for a 10-yard touchdown pass as time expired to lift the Titans to their fifth straight victory, 20-17 over Arizona.
"Wow, what a great finish!" said Titans coach Jeff Fisher. "We've had some finishes around here, but I can't remember one like that. Just a tremendous finish."
Arizona coach Ken Whisenhunt compared the disappointment to losing the Super Bowl in February.
"It's as close to that as possible because we knew today that it would be difficult against this team, and our team rallied and pulled together," Whisenhunt said. "When you're six seconds away from winning it, it makes it even tougher."
Atlanta edged Tampa Bay 20-17 as Chris Redman threw a five-yard touchdown pass to Roddy White with 23 seconds left.
San Diego converted four turnovers into touchdowns in a 43-14 rout of Kansas City.
Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson scored two touchdowns and moved into 10th on the NFL's career rushing list.
Tomlinson went into the game 12th on the all-time list with 12,218 yards. He passed Marcus Allen (12,243) on a five-yard carry in the first quarter and Edgerrin James (12,246) on an eight-yard run in the second.
Cincinnati completed a sweep of division foes with a 16-7 victory over Cleveland.
Philadelphia's David Akers booted a 32-yard field goal with 1:48 to play as the Eagles rallied for a 27-24 victory over Washington.
Buffalo scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to seize a 31-14 victory over Miami.
The New York Jets survived an injury scare to quarterback Mark Sanchez en route to a 17-6 win over Carolina.
Seattle ended their 0-5 road skid with a 27-17 victory at St. Louis
Super Bowl champions Pittsburgh, without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and his backup Charlie Batch, kept it close with inexperienced Dennis Dixon at the helm before falling to Baltimore 20-17 in overtime.
An interception by rookie Paul Kruger set up a 29-yard field goal by Billy Cundiff with 6:42 left in overtime to give the Ravens the win.
Copyright 2009  AFP American Edition
