American Football: Magnificent Manning passes into NFL history

Dan Marino's 20-year-old benchmark of 48 touchdown passes in a single season has finally been broken. Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts is the new record-holder, having reached 49 following a pair of scoring passes in his team's gripping 34-31 overtime victory over the San Diego Chargers on Sunday.

The record-breaking score came with less than a minute left and the Colts trailing by eight points. Manning then connected with the receiver Brandon Stokley over 21 yards to send the faithful at the RCA Dome into raptures. But there was no celebration from Manning. He still had to make sure the two-point conversion was successful in order to level the scores.

It was fairy-tale stuff. The two-point conversion was achieved, Manning then took control in overtime, and the comeback was complete when the kicker Mike Vanderjagt converted a 30-yard field goal.

"At the time I threw it, there wasn't a lot of emotion for me, because if we don't get the two-point conversion, this is a down locker-room right now," Manning said. "The fact that it happened, we won the game, it sure made for an exciting day."

Marino, now a television analyst, watched his exploits surpassed from a studio in New York. "I never thought the single-season touchdown record would ever be broken," said the former Miami Dolphin quarterback. "But if somebody had to do it, I'm glad it's someone like Peyton. He's what's good about the NFL."

Both the Colts and Chargers have qualified for next month's play-offs, and the Seattle Seahawks joined them following their 24-21 triumph over the Arizona Cardinals. It was another unconvincing performance from the Seahawks, who owed much to the efforts of their running back, Shaun Alexander, who rushed for 154 yards and three touchdowns.

The Jacksonville Jaguars blew their post-season chances with a 21-0 humiliation at home against the Houston Texans. The Baltimore Ravens are also effectively out of contention after losing 20-7 to a Pittsburgh Steelers side who have now won 13 matches in a row.

That leaves the door open for the Buffalo Bills, who continue to mount a strong late challenge. After losing their first four games, the Bills looked to be out of it. However, their 41-7 demolition of the clueless San Francisco 49ers marked their ninth victory in their last 11 games. If Buffalo beat Pittsburgh in next week's regular-season finale, and the Denver Broncos lose to the Colts, Buffalo will join the play-off qualifiers.

The Carolina Panthers may come from ever further back. Crippled by early-season injuries to key players the Panthers, last season's beaten Super Bowl finalists, lost seven of their first eight games.

Since then they have embarked on an extraordinary run, and their 37-20 win in Tampa leaves them tantalisingly poised for a post-season place.

Their showdown next week at home to the enigmatic New Orleans Saints will almost certainly decide the last available play-off position.