~STORY OF THE WEEK~COLTS CLINCH
UNDEFEATED INDIANAPOLIS HEADED TO
PLAYOFFS WITH DIVISION CHAMPIONSHIP

The unbeaten Indianapolis Colts are the AFC South champions, the first team to clinch a playoff berth. Peyton Manning threw for three touchdowns and the Colts rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit yesterday to beat the Houston Texans, 35-27, for their 20th straight regular-season victory. Indianapolis (11-0) is one win shy of the Patriots’ NFL-record 21-game run from 2006-08. The Colts can tie the record next weekend at home against Tennessee. The Colts improved to 15-1 all time against Houston (5-6) in their fifth straight come-from-behind win. “We don’t get overexcited certainly when things aren’t going the way we want them to,’’ Manning said. “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. There was a lot of that [yesterday].’’ Manning threw two first-half interceptions, but had a pair of second-half TD passes, including a 6-yarder to Dallas Clark that gave the Colts a 21-20 lead with about nine minutes left. Clint Session stretched the lead to 8 points when he returned an interception by Matt Schaub 27 yards just seconds later. “That’s a good team over there, but we’re the Colts,’’ Session said.