Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy said the intensity and emotion his team played with in Sunday's 31-27 come-from-behind victory over the Houston Texans could be a season-saver.

Dungy can only hope the Colts will buy in to his philosophy now that they improved to 2-2 and remained second in the AFC South behind the 5-0 Tennessee Titans. It was an ugly game overall for Indianapolis, which went face-to-face with a 27-10 deficit in the waning minutes of the game and managed to come out on top.

Well-rested after their bye week, the Colts grabbed a 10-0 lead early on and seemed to have worked out the kinks from the previous three games that resulted in an uncharacteristic 1-2 start. But then the offense couldn't move the ball and the defense allowed Houston to score at will as the Texans grabbed a 17-point lead.

Then in some mysterious way, the Colts started to catch some breaks and gather momentum en route to a huge division victory.

All-Pro quarterback Peyton Manning, who had three touchdown passes and four interceptions entering the game, fired a pair of TD strikes on Sunday, including the game-winning toss to Reggie Wayne with 1:54 to go. Manning hasn't been his usual self this season but started to show signs of life, although only in the final five minutes of the contest.

He probably would have had to come back on the field if safety Melvin Bullitt, filling in for the injured Bob Sanders, hadn't picked off Texans quarterback Sage Rosenfels to seal the triumph. The defense forced three turnovers in the final four minutes to help the cause.

Manning, who completed 25-of-34 passes for 247 yards with an interception for a 101.0 passer rating, should take some advice from teammate and defensive end Robert Mathis.

"Adrenaline is a fool, nothing short of it," Mathis said about the team's five-minute outburst. "When you have it, you have it. You just have to keep building on it. It was hiding for 55 minutes, and fortunately we found it the last five minutes. We needed it."

Manning has the adrenaline, as evidenced by his Super Bowl ring and numerous passing records. He just needs to dig deep for it in order to again lead the five-time defending AFC South champions back to the top of the conference. A popular preseason pick to reach the Super Bowl in each of the past few years, the Colts already have two come-from-behind wins in 2008, having previously rallied from a 15-0 deficit in the third quarter for an 18-15 victory over Minnesota in Week 2.

Middle linebacker and defensive captain Gary Brackett didn't want to start 1-3 either, and he helped the cause by returning a Rosenfels fumble 68 yards for a touchdown.

A loss would have placed the Colts into a last-place tie with the Texans and put their hopes for a seventh straight playoff appearance on ice for the time being. Indy is back at home Sunday versus the Baltimore Ravens and is still in search of its first-ever victory at Lucas Oil Stadium.

In injury news for the Colts, cornerback Kelvin Hayden (knee) and wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez (concussion) both left Sunday's game and did not return.

TITANS: The Titans celebrating their 10th year of existence in Nashville in style, as they improved to 5-0 this season after a nail-biting 13-10 victory over the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium.

Head coach Jeff Fisher got another solid performance from veteran quarterback Kerry Collins, who passed for 163 yards and erased a 10-6 deficit with an 11- yard touchdown toss to tight end Alge Crumpler with 1:56 remaining in the game. It was Crumpler's first touchdown as a Titan since signing with them in the offseason.

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