Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning signals his offense during a the Colts' 29-7 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Monday Night Football in Jacksonville, Fla.

Jacksonville, Fla. ? All that talk about defending Super Bowl champion Indianapolis being better this season just might be true.

The Colts dominated every aspect of Monday night’s showdown against the Jacksonville Jaguars, easily winning 29-7 and once again taking charge in the AFC South. They also moved a step close to setting up an undefeated matchup with New England (7-0). The teams meet Nov. 4.

The Patriots should provide more of a challenge than the Jaguars did.

Joseph Addai and Kenton Keith combined for 141 yards rushing, Peyton Manning and Reggie Wayne torched Jacksonville’s secondary, and the Colts avenged their most embarrassing loss of last season.

Indianapolis (6-0) improved to 3-0 in the division and left Jacksonville (4-2), Tennessee and Houston in the all-too-familiar chase mode.

The Colts, who have won the last four division titles, also joined Green Bay (1929-31) and St. Louis (1999-2001) as the only teams in history to start 6-0 for three straight years.

They made this one look easy, backing up assertions by coaches Tony Dungy and Jack Del Rio that the Colts are stronger, faster, more disciplined and simply better than they were during last year’s championship run.

The Colts knocked David Garrard out of the game, bottled up Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew and extended their winning streak to 11 games.

Taylor and Jones-Drew spearheaded last year’s 44-17 rout in Jacksonville.

The Jaguars ran for a franchise-record 375 yards – a defensive meltdown that proved to be a turning point for Indy. The team fixed its run defense down the stretch and then won it all.

Jacksonville tried to catch the Colts off guard from the start Monday night, calling on Garrard to throw early and often.

It backfired.

Garrard was knocked out of the game in the second quarter and Jacksonville’s lackluster receivers dropped several balls.

Meanwhile, Manning was Manning.

He had plenty of time to throw, and with Marvin Harrison still nursing a sore knee, hooked up with Wayne all over the field. Manning finished 23-of-37 for 259 yards, with a touchdown and an interception. He also ran for a score. Wayne caught nine passes for 131 yards.

Manning’s 35-yard TD pass to Dallas Clark made it 29-7 with 3:58 to play. By then, the stands at Jacksonville Municipal Stadium were mostly empty and the Jaguars had pretty much conceded the game.

Indianapolis built a 17-0 halftime lead with three long drives.

Manning exposed Jacksonville’s secondary, and Addai and Keith picked up yards between the tackles.

The Colts mixed it up better than they have in any recent meetings against the Jaguars, who had played them tough despite losing seven of the previous 10 meetings.

Indy also got help from big plays on both touchdown drives.

Manning hit Addai with a short pass on third-and-14, then Addai broke a tackle and picked up a first down. Four plays later, Addai broke a 23-yard run on fourth-and-1.

Rookie safety Reggie Nelson made a touchdown-saving tackle, but Keith scored two plays later to make it 7-0.