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KANSAS CITY, Missouri (Ticker) -- Dominic Rhodes' long runs made it a long night for the Kansas City Chiefs. Rhodes returned a kickoff 88 yards for a touchdown and raced 77 yards for the clinching score as the Indianapolis Colts held off the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-28, in a battle of struggling teams. Rhodes, a rookie running back from Midwest Texas State, came in with just six carries and one reception totaling 64 yards in the first six games. He plays primarily on special teams and backs up workhorse Edgerrin James. After the Chiefs closed to 10-6 on a 22-yard field goal by Todd Peterson early in the third quarter, Rhodes fielded the ensuing kickoff at the 12, made a couple of quick moves -- including one on the kicker -- as he burst up the middle and raced untouched to the end zone. "No way. I wasn't worrying about that (being tackled by the kicker)," Rhodes said. The Colts opened a 28-14 lead midway through the fourth quarter before the Chiefs came storming back. Trent Green's 11-yard TD pass to Larry Parker halved the deficit with 4:45 remaining and Kansas City forced a punt and got back the ball on its 47 with 3:59 to go. Green completed a long pass to tight end Tony Gonzalez that gave the Chiefs a first down at the 11. But he made three awful throws into the end zone, with the last one into double coverage and picked off by rookie cornerback Idrees Bashir. "I just tried putting it up there," Green said. "Obviously, I wish I had it back. If you notice the first play we had down there, the jump ball was to Mikhael (Ricks), where the corner was 5-foot-9." "I just don't think he got it up high enough," Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said. "From my vantage point that is what it appeared to me. It was good defense on their part." James had 102 yards on 27 carries but left with a hyperextended left knee on the previous possession. That brought on Rhodes, who broke through a stacked defensive front and rumbled down the right sideline to make it 35-21 with 1:02 to play. "I was thinking, 'Fall down Dominic, fall down and the game would have been over,'" Colts coach Jim Mora said. "But that's tough for a young kid to do." "I was just thinking, 'End zone, end zone,'" Rhodes said. "After I saw it open up, I knew I was gone and I just thought, 'Don't fall down.'" Green threw a five-yard TD pass to Parker with four seconds to go, but Indianapolis recovered the ensuing onside kick, sending Kansas City (1-6) to its fourth straight loss. "This game is about scoring more points than the other," Mora said. "I'm glad we did. I knew it would be a good game, a close game. The Chiefs are a good team and will win some games. I know their record doesn't show it but they are a good team." Peyton Manning completed 19-of-30 passes for 201 yards and two TDs for the Colts (3-3), who rediscovered their offense and snapped a three-game losing streak. The Colts scored 87 points in winning their first two games but just 48 during their slide. James, who notched his 22nd career 100-yard game, said he was OK but would undergo an MRI on Friday. "I'll have the extra time before the next game," James said. "I just felt the pain but after sitting there a while the pain just went away and I was able to walk off the field." Green was 22-of-43 for 324 yards and three TDs but also threw three interceptions. Parker caught six passes for 76 yards and rookie Marvin "Snoop" Minnis added four for 74 for the Chiefs, who are off to their worst start since going 1-8-1 under Frank Gansz in 1988. Kansas City has lost six straight meetings with Indianapolis. The game was moved from Sunday night by the NFL so as not to coincide with Game Two of the World Series and both teams began as if they were not ready to play. There were several dropped passes on both sides and neither team scored until Manning hit tight end Marcus Pollard with a six-yard TD pass with 2:22 left in the first half. Peterson kicked a 48-yarder at the gun, but Mike Vanderjagt had a 50-yarder on the opening drive of the second half, making it 10-3. "In the first half, we had just enough dropped balls to keep us from keeping drives going," Vermeil said. "We picked up better in the second half." After Rhodes' return, Green threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Gonzalez, who caught three passes for 75 yards. James had runs of nine and 20 yards to position Vanderjagt's 42-yard field goal two minutes into the fourth quarter, giving Indianapolis a 20-14 lead. Colts linebacker Mike Peterson negated an interception by cornerback Jeff Burris. But on the next play, Peterson made an interception of his own, returning it 13 yards to the Colts 36. Manning threw a 21-yard pass to rookie Reggie Wayne, who caught five passes for 63 yards. Two plays later, he found Marvin Harrison streaking alone down the right sideline for a 47-yard TD strike and a 28-14 advantage with 8:21 to go. Harrison caught eight passes for 58 yards for the Colts, who won despite allowing 415 yards and committing eight penalties.
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