By Dave Goldberg
The Associated Press

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - On the Indianapolis Colts' second play from scrimmage Saturday, Peyton Manning changed the play at the line, nothing unusual for a quarterback whose trademark is the intelligence with which he runs a game.

Just as he audibled, the New York Jets' defensive line shifted en masse one gap to the right. Manning handed off to Edgerrin James and James ran right into a pile where the Jets had shifted for no gain.

It was to go that way all day for the Colts in a 41-0 loss that sent them home for the rest of the playoffs.

"They gave us these goofy looks that we hadn't seen before," Colts right tackle Adam Meadows said. "Then when we ran the play, it turned out to be just their regular defense."

That was the Jets' plan against Manning, who had never been shut out in his five NFL seasons. Make him see one thing, then shift into the same defense against the quarterback for whom calling audibles or fake audibles on almost every play has become a trademark.

This time, the audibles didn't work - all day.

On one series, he was forced to call a timeout as the play clock ran down. When the game resumed, he whispered a new play to his linemen, then turned to James as the play clock ticked: 7-6-5-4-3...

He got off the play just as 1 turned into 0.

And that was after a timeout.

"We were changing our looks, but we weren't getting out of what we had called," Jets defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell said.

Safety Damien Robinson, who had one of two Jets interceptions, added: "A couple of times, he ran an audible right into what we wanted."

Manning is now 0-3 in playoff games, creating a burden that he'll carry until he wins one. Or, preferably, more than one.

His stats Saturday were awful: 14-of-31 for 137 yards with two interceptions, and his longest completion was 17 yards. Granted, he didn't get much help from his receivers, who dropped at least six balls. And all of them did it, even Marvin Harrison, who set an NFL record with 143 receptions this season.

Certainly Manning couldn't be blamed for it all.

The Indy defense never really stopped the Jets, who rolled up 180 yards on the ground, and if there was any question of Indianapolis getting back into the game, Chad Morton ended that by returning the second-half kickoff 70 yards to set up a field goal that gave New York a 27-0 lead.

But Manning is the man at whom the fingers point, the team's star and a member of a family of high-profile quarterbacks. He expects more of himself than even his harshest critics.

So while coach Tony Dungy made a point of saying "we all played badly," and blamed the coaches as much as the players, Manning seemed to anticipate after the game where most of the blame would go.

"I'm a pretty wide-open target," he said, standing before his locker dressed neatly in a tweed jacket, a tie and slacks. "I'm sure the articles are already written and the shots are ready to be fired."

He didn't say it with malice. He rarely, if ever, does that.

After a 41-0 whipping, you would think he should.

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