ESPN NFL

HOUSTON (AP) -- The Indianapolis Colts lost all three AFC South road games last season.

Houston Has A Problem
Peyton Manning does some of his best work against the Texans. A look at his career numbers vs. Houston:
W-L	10-1
Comp. Pct.	71.2
Pass YPG	271
TD-INT	26-4

So winning two straight this year is encouraging, even if they didn't play as well as they'd like on Sunday.

Joseph Addai ran for two touchdowns and Adam Vinatieri added three field goals to lead the Colts (3-0) to a 30-24 win over the injury-ravaged and mistake-prone Texans to remain undefeated after beating Tennessee last week.

"As long as we're getting the wins, we can still correct that kind of stuff," receiver Dallas Clark said. "We'll take advantage of it down the road. That shows you what kind of team we have here. We haven't played great -- it's always been something here and there -- but we're still finding ways to win."

Houston (2-1) entered the game without star receiver Andre Johnson, who sprained his knee last week, and lost running back Ahman Green to a knee injury on the first series of the second quarter. Backup Ron Dayne was inactive because of bruised ribs, so the Texans had to rely on third-stringer Samkon Gado for the rest of the game.

Rookie Jacoby Jones, who started for Johnson, left in the third quarter with a separated shoulder, and center Steve McKinney left with a knee sprain in the fourth quarter.

And defensive tackle Cedric Killings was taken off the field on a stretcher after a headfirst collision with Indianapolis receiver Roy Hall. The 310-pound Killings, playing special teams, hit Hall on a block as Jerome Mathis was returning a kickoff in the second quarter. The Texans said Killings suffered a neck injury and coach Gary Kubiak said he was moving his arms and legs and talking on the field. Killings was taken to a hospital.

"It was a tremendous effort on everybody's part and we paid the price for it," Kubiak said. "We're pretty beat up."

Still, Houston got within 30-24 when Vonta Leach caught a 1-yard pass from Matt Schaub with 2:49 remaining in the game. The Texans got the ball back with 19 seconds left, but Schaub was sacked and time ran out.

"They played most of the game without their two best backs and then their best receiver, and they continued to fight back," said Colts coach Tony Dungy. "We just couldn't get that right play to knock them out of things. But we made enough plays when we needed them."

Houston cut the lead to 27-17 on a 1-yard run by Gado early in the fourth quarter. That score was set up by a 41-yard catch by Andre' Davis. Vinatieri's third field goal of the day had pushed the Colts' lead to 30-17 in the third period.

"We marched down there and we got some scores," Dungy said. "In the end, that was the difference. We want to come away with points. We prefer to come away with touchdowns. We did score every time we got down there. We had chances for touchdowns. We'll get sharper and we'll be fine."

Schaub was 27-of-33 for 236 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Houston finished with just 40 yards rushing and Gado had 12 yards rushing and a fumble.

Scouts Buzz

The Indianapolis offense was just too versatile for the Texans to handle. Offensive coordinator Tom Moore did an excellent job of slowing down the tempo of the game by using running back Joseph Addai on draw plays and inside zone runs to establish the ground game and keep Houston guessing on defense. When Houston tried to account for Addai, Peyton Manning chipped away with intermediate routes to TE Dallas Clark and receivers Reggie Wayne and Marvin Harrison. The Texans did a good job of slowing down the deep passes by using Cover 2 and Quarters coverage, but that left the underneath throws open and Manning took advantage of it. -- Marwan Maalouf, Scouts Inc. • Complete Week 3 Scouts Buzz

Cornerback Dunta Robinson said he was proud of how the team didn't give up after getting down by 13 points in the fourth quarter.

"It's a new team. There's no quit in us," he said. "In the past the game might have got out of hand. But now we expect to win football games, no matter who we are playing, no matter who is injured."

The Texans had a chance to cut the lead to seven with about 5 minutes left in the third quarter when a 74-yard punt return by Jones got Houston to the Indianapolis 29. But on the next play, Schaub threw into triple coverage and was intercepted by Gary Brackett.

Peyton Manning found Reggie Wayne for a 64-yard pass, but was sacked on third down and the Colts settled for a field goal that made it 27-10.

In the third quarter, a pass from Schaub bounced off the hands of Jones and Rocky Boiman made a diving interception. Four plays later, Addai bolted past DeMarcus Faggins and into the corner of the end zone for an 8-yard score to make it 24-10.

The Colts took their first lead when Addai jumped over a diving Faggins for a 4-yard touchdown run in the second quarter to make it 14-10. It capped an 11-play, 65-yard drive.

Houston used a 33-yard field goal by Kris Brown to go ahead 10-7 early in the second quarter. Green caught a short pass and was tackled after a 9-yard gain by Colts safety Bob Sanders on the play before the field goal. Green hopped up, but limped off the field.

The Colts were forced to redo the opening kickoff after an offside penalty on the first try. Mathis, only got to the 20 on the first one, but returned the second 84 yards for a touchdown. Mathis, who returned two kickoffs for touchdowns in 2005, broke away from the pack and then cut to the outside to outrun the last two defenders and stroll in for the score.

Clark got in front of Michael Boulware for a 2-yard reception in the back of the end zone to tie it at 7 midway through the first quarter.

Game notes

Colts receiver Marvin Harrison had 53 yards on Sunday to move into fourth place all-time in yards receiving with 13,920. ... Manning was 20-of-29 for 273 yards and a touchdown. Addai finished with 22 carries for 72 yards.