NFL: Indianapolis 31, Jacksonville 24

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Dec. 18 (UPI) -- Keiwan Ratliff's 35-yard interception return for a score with 4:48 to play Thursday gave Indianapolis a 31-24 win over Jacksonville and a spot in the playoffs.

The Colts will enter the post-season chase as the No. 5 seed in the AFC and will likely face either Denver or the winner of the AFC East in the opening round.

Indianapolis came back from an early 14-point deficit and still trailed by 10 going into the fourth quarter. But Peyton Manning threw his third touchdown pass of the game, a 1-yarder to Dallas Clark, and Adam Vinatieri kicked a 45-yard field goal to tie it with 6:28 remaining.

On the third play after the Colts deadlocked the game, Jacksonville's David Garrard tried to hit Reggie Williams along the left sideline and Ratliff picked it off for the game-winning touchdown.

The Jaguars took over at their own 10-yard line with 2:34 to go and ran out of time after getting to the Indianapolis 7. Garrard was sacked on the final play of the game and time expired before he could snap the ball again.

It was the Colts' eighth straight victory, boosting them to 11-4. They are going to the playoffs for the seventh straight year, but have had their streak of consecutive division titles snapped at six by this year's AFC South titleholder Tennessee.

Jacksonville (5-10) has lost four out of five.

Manning threw for 364 yards and had only five incompletions in 34 attempts. He threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne in the second period for the Colts' only score of the first half and hit Dominic Rhodes with a 10-yarder early in the third quarter.