Manning, Colts romp past Falcons

~ Indianapolis struck for three scores in the second quarter.

ATLANTA -- Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts looked more like themselves Thursday night.

All it took was a trip to Atlanta.

Manning threw three touchdown passes, Anthony Gonzalez had 105 yards receiving and the defending Super Bowl champions, after getting stunned with 10 quick points by the Falcons, rebounded for a 31-13 victory.

Indianapolis (9-2) had struggled the past three weeks, losing twice and pulling out a lackluster win over Kansas City at home. The Colts' malaise carried over to the first quarter at the Georgia Dome, with the Falcons striking for Morten Andersen's 34-yard field goal and Joey Harrington's 48-yard touchdown pass to Roddy White.

But any thoughts the Falcons (3-8) had of pulling off a huge upset quickly were wiped out by Manning. He threw all three of his TD passes in the second quarter, going 23 yards to Reggie Wayne, 8 yards to Dallas Clark and 5 yards to Ben Utecht.

Manning was 22-for-32 for 272 yards.

This was supposed to be a Manning vs. Michael Vick prime-time matchup. But Vick was sitting in a jail cell, having turned himself in Monday to begin serving his expected prison sentence for dogfighting.