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SAN FRANCISCO -- Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison are
poised to make history, and the San Francisco 49ers know there's
not much they can do to protect one of their franchise's most
hallowed records in their own stadium. The 49ers are just hoping Dwight Freeney doesn't set some sort
of sacks record of his own while chasing Alex Smith, San
Francisco's own star quarterback of the future. With one touchdown pass against the Niners' patchwork secondary
on Sunday, Manning and Harrison will become the most prolific
passing combination in NFL history. Their 85th touchdown hookup
last week tied the league record set by San Francisco's Steve Young
and Jerry Rice from 1987-99. Manning and Harrison already hold the records for most
completions (726) and yards (9,677) by a tandem, but the scoring
mark is the most prized. Young and Rice led the 49ers to dozens of
victories and a Super Bowl title from their home at wind-swept
Candlestick Park. "I have an appreciation for what Young and Rice did as a
tandem," Manning said. "They threw a lot of touchdowns, but those
touchdowns were helping the team win football games. That's what
Marvin and I are about. He and I have definitely done some things
together, but it's all come along with helping our team win
games." In fact, the Colts' first trip to the Bay Area since Manning's
rookie season seems to be the NFL's biggest mismatch of the week.
Indianapolis (4-0) has looked unbeatable this season, while San
Francisco (1-3) has lost three straight and fallen into turmoil
under rookie coach Mike Nolan, who benched veteran Tim Rattay and
promoted Smith on Tuesday, just in time to face one of the NFL's
top defenses. Manning made all the appropriate comments of concern and
interest leading up to the game, but the Colts have much bigger
games coming up in the next few weeks and months. This contest
might only be memorable for a bit of history. "I think it would be fitting," Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy
said. "If they don't break it at home, that would be the place to
break it. With so many milestones that were set there by the 49ers,
it would be a fitting, ironic touch for them to do it there." Manning and Harrison have clicked since their first season
together in 1998, when Manning started the first of 116 straight
games. When he lines up Sunday, Manning will break a tie with Ron
Jaworski for the second-longest starting streak by a QB in NFL
history. And he couldn't have reached these superlatives without
Harrison, whose cool consistency has been built through thousands
of practices and constant communication. "Everything is not always 100 percent smooth," Manning said.
"I guess the best thing about Marvin and I is that it's nobody
else's business. We've had disagreements, but we've aired them out.
We do it in the huddle amongst ourselves. We don't call a press
conference and tell the rest of the world about it. I think that's
the way you're supposed to do things like that." A smaller milestone will be reached by Smith, who could struggle
behind a patchwork offensive line trying to slow Freeney and the
Colts' fearsome defense. Manning and younger brother Eli, both former No. 1 picks, gave
plenty of advice to Smith during the offseason on the best way to
survive as a member of their small fraternity. Both brothers spoke
to Smith extensively by phone, and Smith learned he'll take plenty
of lumps along the way to success. "We talked about ... the things that you're going to go
through," Smith said. "We talked about the tough times. Both of
their teams struggled their rookie years, and when you look at them
now, it looks like it helped." Nolan changed quarterbacks after San Francisco managed just 168
total yards and no offensive points in a 31-14 loss to Arizona in
Mexico City last weekend. Smith won't have an easy transition
against Freeney, who already has four sacks this season. The Colts will try to get into Smith's head early. "I think you can, because it's new for him," Freeney said.
"Hopefully we can try to rattle him, just like we would any
quarterback. It's nothing against him. He's just the next guy.
Who's the other guy? Tim Rattay? We'd try to do the same thing to
him." Everything is working this season for the Colts, who outscored
their first four opponents 78-26 with a coolly proficient offense
and a defense that's allowed the fewest points in the NFL. The
offensive line hasn't allowed Manning to be sacked, while the
defense is second in the league with 15 sacks. Manning learned all about rookie struggles in 1998, when the
Colts went 3-13. When the bruises healed and the lessons stuck,
Manning led the Colts to the playoffs a year later. "We weren't a super football team my first year, but we grew
during the season," Manning said. "We got better and better ...
and hopefully Alex gets the benefits of his experiences, too."
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