Manning's record-setting toss was almost lost

After Peyton Manning regained his record for touchdown passes in a season with a 25-yard scoring pass to Julius Thomas on Sunday, the tight end treated that momentous No. 51 ball the same way he would any other.

He tossed it away and headed for the sideline.

Luckily, wide receiver Eric Decker - who had caught the tying No. 50 pass from Manning earlier - picked it up and tucked it in his jersey.

After the 37-13 win over the Houston Texans, Manning laughed about Thomas not holding onto the ball.

"It wouldn't have surprised me if Julius would have went and handed it to some babe up in the stands, trying to get her phone number in exchange for the ball," the QB said.

Thomas said he didn't realize his reception was the record-setter. "I came back to the sidelines and I'm sitting down on the bench, and somebody said: 'That was the one.' Maybe I shouldn't have dropped it so carelessly - I should have kept it."

Going-away gift. The Jacksonville Jaguars gave retiring center Brad Meester a nice present by calling a screen play for the 14-year veteran in the 20-16 loss to Tennessee.

Meester lined up as a tight end and caught the screen pass in the first quarter. OK, so he ran into blocker Uche Nwaneri - but he gained 9 yards and set up a touchdown. His other lead blocker, Austin Pasztor, was impressed.

"Have you seen his hands?" Pasztor he told ESPN. "His fingers are all bent every which way. It is remarkable that he can hold onto the ball."

Meester said he was concentrating on not flubbing the play. "I knew I would catch a lot of flak if I got open one time in my life and I dropped the ball."

Measure for measure. The Minnesota Vikings went 0 for 9 on third down and 0 for 2 on fourth down and managed only 209 total yards while being thrashed, 42-14, in Cincinnati. Makes you wonder how the Eagles could have looked so bad against this bunch. Maybe it's home-field advantage and that Metrodome brings out a berserker rage.

Paul Brown Stadium sure has been sweet for the Bengals, who are 7-0 at home. They've topped 40 points in each of their last four home games, something they never managed in the Ken Anderson or Boomer Esiason years.