Denver ? With stopping Peyton Manning again beyond their reach, the Denver Broncos did the next best thing – they simply outscored him.

Manning and the Colts shook their preseason struggles against the team they beat up on best, but Jake Plummer, Mike Anderson and the Broncos more than matched Indy score for score in a 37-24 victory Saturday night.

“He’s Peyton Manning, for God’s sake,” Broncos defensive lineman Trevor Pryce said. “You’re not going to make him look like a high school quarterback in one game.”

Manning threw for 206 yards and two touchdowns over his 21â2 quarters of action, helping the Colts’ first-team offense to its first significant success of the preseason.

“I don’t care if it’s preseason or whatever, you want to at least play well,” Manning said. “Offensively, we were much improved.”

Plummer almost was as good. He went 10-for-16 for 150 yards and one score in his two-plus quarters, his second straight solid preseason performance.

Anderson was Denver’s star, scoring a 93-yard touchdown as part of his 159-yard, two-score night. It came one year to the day since he was lost for the 2004 season because of a groin injury suffered in a preseason game against Houston.

“My biggest concern was being caught from behind,” Anderson said. “When you have a run like that you don’t want to be caught.”

After a couple of shaky drives to start the game, Manning and the Colts appeared in postseason form – or at least the kind of postseason form they’d shown the last two years against Denver.

Denver's Mike Anderson, center, rumbles to a 93-yard touchdown run past Indianapolis defenders Waine Bacon, left, and Joseph Jefferson. The Broncos won, 37-24, Saturday in Denver.

Manning hit Reggie Wayne for a 27-yard score on a play in which Lenny Walls and John Lynch appeared confused about the coverage. Manning and Wayne connected earlier on a 44-yard play in which Wayne got behind Walls, but Walls caught up to the receiver and punched the ball out of his hands and out of the end zone for a touchback.

Anderson was the biggest story. In addition to his 93-yard score, he had a 25-yard run and a 20-yard catch from Plummer.

“We really feel like Mike is in great shape,” coach Mike Shanahan said. “He’s had a great camp. There are no questions in our minds that he’s totally healthy.”

Dolphins 17, Bucs 14

Miami – While two rookie running backs from Auburn showed promise, Ricky Williams showed his old form.

Williams rushed for 59 yards, all in the opening half, and scored the first touchdown of the exhibition season for Miami’s first-team offense, helping the Dolphins beat Tampa Bay.

Cadillac Williams and Ronnie Brown, first-round picks who shared time in the backfield last season for unbeaten Auburn, each found room to run in limited duty. Williams gained 28 yards in five carries for Tampa Bay, while Brown rushed for 20 yards in six attempts, but lost a fumble in his first preseason game with Miami.

Cowboys 21, Texans 9

Irving, Texas – Dallas (2-1) used quarterback Drew Bledsoe and most of the first-team offense until midway through the third quarter, while Houston (1-2) pulled quarterback David Carr and his unit after halftime – exactly the opposite of what the coaches said to expect.

Bledsoe was 11-of-18 for 113 yards with no turnovers; Carr was 7-of-19 for 52 yards and two interceptions.