INDIANAPOLIS -- Peyton Manning shredded Denver's defense for 457 yards passing and four touchdowns, leading the Indianapolis Colts to a 49-24 pummeling of the Broncos in an AFC Wild Card matchup at the RCA Dome.

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Other Playoff Headlines:
Manning, Colts Pummel Broncos
Rams Down Seahawks 27-20
Jets Beat Chargers In OT

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Manning, who has been superb all year, also ran for a score and completed 27 of his 33 attempts with one interception. He scorched defenses in the regular season for a record 49 touchdown passes and eclipsed the 4,000-yard passing mark for the sixth straight season.

His 457 yards passing was the second most in playoff history behind Bernie Kosar's 489 yards set in 1987 with the Cleveland Browns.

Reggie Wayne was Manning's favorite target of the day and caught 10 passes for a career-high 221 yards and two touchdowns. The Colts (1-0) will travel to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA next Sunday for a divisional-round battle against defending champion New England. That contest will be a rematch of last year's AFC title game.

Denver, which suffered a 41-10 loss at Indy in the opening round of the playoffs last season, fared no better this time around. Jake Plummer completed 24-of-34 passes for 284 yards and two touchdowns for the Broncos (0-1), whose last win in the postseason was during their 1999 championship run.

The Colts opened the scoring on their second drive of the game thanks to Manning's two-yard touchdown pass to James Mungro with 7:23 left in the first quarter. Indianapolis started from its own 24-yard line and moved into Denver territory on Manning's 27-yard pass to Wayne.

Pollard later caught a 25-yard strike before Mungro grabbed Manning's two-yard TD pass on a play fake. Manning finished 4-of-5 for 68 yards in the nine-play, 76-yard drive.

After the Broncos went three and out on their next possession, Indianapolis marched 87 yards and took a 14-0 lead on Edgerrin James' one-yard TD run with 38 seconds left in the quarter. Dallas Clark had two big catches in the drive, including a great one-handed reception on first down. Clark ended with 112 yards and a touchdown on six catches.

Plummer was then picked off by Mike Doss on Denver's next possession, but Kelly Herndon later intercepted Manning in the end zone.

The Broncos were then forced to punt and Indianapolis made it 21-0 a few minutes later when Manning threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to Clark at the 8:11 mark of the second quarter. Brandon Stokley's 21-yard reception highlighted the drive.

Denver cracked the scoring column with 5:19 remaining before halftime when Jason Elam kicked a 33-yard field goal, ending a seven-play, 51-yard march.

It was Wayne's world in the first half and the speedy wideout extended the Indianapolis lead to 28-3 with a 35-yard TD catch less than a minute later.

With six seconds to go in the first half, Manning plowed his way into the end zone from a yard out and the rout was on at 35-3. Harrison had two catches for 41 yards and Wayne added a reception for 20 more in the drive.

Wayne had 167 yards on eight receptions, while Manning torched Denver's defense for 360 yards and three TDs on 21-of-27 passing in the first half. Plummer completed 6-of-14 passes for 80 yards by halftime. The Colts also had 395 total yards to Denver's 103 after 30 minutes of action.

Denver scored on the first drive of the second half and pulled within 35-10 thanks to Plummer's nine-yard touchdown pass to Rod Smith at 9:01. The TD ended a 10-play, 71-yard march in 5:59.

Plummer and the Broncos shook off the embarrassing first half and reached the end zone again on Jeb Putzier's 35-yard touchdown reception with 1:10 to go in the third quarter. Elam's PAT kick was perfect and made it 35-17. Plummer completed all seven of his passes for 78 yards in the drive.

Wayne then took the wind out of Denver's sails with a 43-yard touchdown reception -- his second of the afternoon. Wayne zig-zagged his way through the defense and picked up some key blocks for a 42-17 advantage at 12:48 of the fourth quarter.

Tatum Bell's one-yard touchdown run with 7:45 remaining in the game made it 42-24. The score capped a 10-play march that covered 57 yards. With 2:02 on the clock, Dominic Rhodes worked for a two-yard run and a 49-24 cushion.

Game Notes:

Both QB's were picked off once...Wayne's 221 yards receiving were third most in NFL playoff history...Denver is 16-14 in post-season play, while the Colts are 13-14...The Colts are in the playoffs for the fifth time in six years...Manning's rushing touchdown was his first TD on the ground since the 2002 season. His 360 yards passing in the first half was the highest total for a half in any playoff game since 1970. The previous record belonged to Kerry Collins, who threw for 338 yards in the first half of the Giants' 2000 NFC Championship win over Minnesota...James ended with 63 yards and a score on 18 carries...Harrison had 50 yards on four receptions, while Stokley added 33 yards on a pair of catches...Putzier had 67 yards on three catches.