JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- Peyton Manning threw for three touchdowns to help make Tony Dungy a winner in his first game as coach of the Indianapolis Colts Sunday in a 28-25 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Dungy spent the last six seasons as coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. But with the Bucs repeatedly coming up short in the playoffs due to their offensive struggles, Dungy was fired.
Dungy landed with the Colts and his main job is to turn around one of the NFL's worst defenses. He has little to worry about on offense with the trio of Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison leading the way.
"I'm glad to get it (first win)," Dungy said. "It took about eight weeks in Tampa to get that first one, so it's nice to have it under your belt. But it was a game that we showed a lot of things. We still don't have that killer instinct on defense that I'd like to see, but everybody came through."
Manning wasted little time showing his new coach that he is one of the premier players in the league at his position, throwing for 211 yards.
"We're excited about this," Manning said. "We're 1-0 and that's all we are. So, we're keeping things in perspective. We're getting to know Dungy in all phases. There's still a process there, but everyone is playing real hard for him and we feel prepared."
Two of Manning's touchdown passes came to offseason acquisition Qadry Ismail, who is supposed to complement Harrison in the passing game.
Dungy was impressed with his offense.
"He (Manning) is fabulous," Dungy said. "He and Marvin Harrison, Qadry (Ismail) and Reggie (Wayne), they have great chemistry. They work at it. They (Jaguars) were determined to crowd the line of scrimmage a little bit on us, and we had to throw the ball in those first couple of drives. We took it right down the field, really three times. That was real impressive."
Mark Brunell passed for two touchdowns and Fred Taylor ran for a score for Jacksonville, which was hit hard in the offseason by the salary cap.
Dungy's debut got off to an offensive start in the first quarter when the Colts moved 96 yards in 15 plays, going four for four on third-down conversions.
Manning completed the march with a six-yard pass to Ismail, who also had a 26-yard reception earlier in the drive. Ismail finished with six catches for 84 yards.
"I got off to a good start," Ismail said. "This offense, as I said all along, is so explosive."
"Qadry (Ismail) made some huge plays and did what we expected him to do," Manning said. "The Jaguars were very, very concerned and focused on Marvin (Harrison)."
Coming off a year in which they yielded a league-high 486 points, the Colts held the Jaguars off the board in the first quarter.
But the Jaguars finally got moving early in the second, going 81 yards in seven plays. Brunell connected with tight end Pete Mitchell on and eight-yard touchdown to cap the march.
However, the Colts' defense came up with a big play on the Jaguars' next possession when linebacker Marcus Washington intercepted Brunell and raced 40 yards for a touchdown to give Indianapolis a 14-7 lead with 33 seconds left in the half.
"I dropped back and I don't think he (Brunell) saw me," Washington said. "He tried to throw it to the back and I just ran in front of the receiver and then ran into the end zone. They always say a couple plays can decide a football game, so you have to go hard and give a good effort and good things will happen."
Returning after going down in Week 7 last season with a torn ACL in his left knee, James fumbled in the third quarter and cornerback Fernando Bryant recovered at the Indianapolis 22.
James carried 26 times for 99 yards.
The Jaguars could not move the ball and settled for a 27-yard field goal by Hayden Epstein, pulling them within 14-10.
On their next possession, the Colts committed another miscue when tight end Marcus Pollard fumbled and defensive end Tony Brackens recovered for the Jaguars at the Indianapolis 26.
This time, the Jaguars were able to reach the end zone as Brunell found offseason-acquisition Patrick Johnson for an 18-yard touchdown, making it 17-14 with 5:26 left in the third.
After going three-and-out on their next possession, the Colts received a gift on special teams that changed the momentum and allowed them to take the lead for good.
Damon Gibson fumbled a punt deep in his own territory and Clifton Crosby recovered at the Jacksonville 19.
"Had we been able to handle that muffed punt and mustered a drive there, I thought that was huge momentum-turning point in the game right there," Jaguars coach Tom Coughlin said. "They're down and we fumbled and they end up scoring a touchdown."
Three plays later, Manning hooked up with Ismail from 18 yards, giving the Colts a 21-17 lead with 2:57 left in the the quarter.
Early in the four, the Colts stretched the lead with an 11-play, 48-yard drive. Manning capped the drive with a three-yard toss to Harrison that made it 28-17 with 11:26 left.
The Jaguars were able to make things interesting, moving 75 yards in 15 plays. Taylor scored on a six-yard run with 4:11 left and Brunell found Jimmy Smith with the conversion, pulling the Jaguars within three.
Limited to two games last season due to a torn groin, the oft-injured Taylor carried 24 times for 83 yards. Brunell was 22 of 36 for 228 yards.
Jacksonville got the ball back with 62 seconds remaining. But without a timeout, the Jaguars only were able to move to the Colts 46 before Brunell's "Hail Mary" pass fell incomplete.
"We never wanted to give up the big plays and we wanted to keep them in bounds and keep the clock running," Colts defensive end Chad Bratzke said. "We did that. We are fortunate to come out on top."
