INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- The only place Edgerrin James couldn't run was into the stands.

With his mother and a couple dozen other friends and relatives from Immokalee, Fla., watching, the Indianapolis rookie rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown Sunday, then made sure the ball was safely tucked away as a souvenir of the Colts' 31-14 victory over the Buffalo Bills.

	The Colts' Peyton Manning, right, and Edgerrin James were too much for Buffalo's defense Sunday.

"I wanted to run up there and give it to her," he said, "but they wouldn't let me."

Instead, he made sure the ball was wrapped in a towel and placed in a team locker for safekeeping.

"There really weren't too many surprises. I just went out and played football," he said of his NFL debut. "The thing I liked most was I knew what I was doing. I wasn't confused at any time."

James, picked fourth in this year's draft, ahead of Heisman Trophy winner Ricky Williams, also caught four passes for 14 yards.

"You're just trying to look for a seam, to hit it big," he said. "They pursue pretty hard. That's when you have to slow it down and get a feel for things."

Peyton Manning passed for 284 yards and two touchdowns to Marvin Harrison, and Tony Blevins iced the season-opening victory when he intercepted a pass by Doug Flutie and returned it 74 yards for a touchdown with 3:20 to go.

Flutie, named the Bills' starter earlier in the week, passed for 300 yards and a third-quarter TD to Andre Reed but was sacked a career-high five times.

GAME NOTES

Marvin Harrison extended his streak of having at least one reception in each of his NFL games. The streak of 45 games is the best career start by a wide receiver in franchise history. Jason Belser made his 71st consecutive start for Indianapolis. Andre Reed had four receptions, leaving the Buffalo veteran seven short of becoming the third player in NFL history with 900 catches. Reed has had 123 receptions for 1,695 yards against Indianapolis, both the most by any player against the Colts. In reaching the Pro Bowl last year, Doug Flutie, was sacked only 12 times. The only previous time Flutie was sacked more than twice in an NFL game was Oct. 15, 1989, when was sacked three times by Atlanta. Peyton Manning has not been sacked in three games against Buffalo.

"I'm exhausted. We had to throw the ball too much," said Flutie, who was 22-for-42. "You can't make a living in this league throwing the ball on every down. We moved the ball well at times, but penalties and a couple of sacks get you out of distance and then you have to start heaving the ball. It's not good football."

Harrison, who missed the final four games with a shoulder injury last year, finished with 121 yards in receptions, and E.G. Green, who had only 177 yards in 11 games as a rookie, totaled 124. It was only the third time in Colts history that two players had at least 100 yards receiving and one had 100-plus yards rushing.

"Last year, I was kind of like Edgerrin, feeling my way," said Manning, who was 21-for-33, with no sacks. "Certainly it's a better feeling as a quarterback when you have that confidence. The protection was solid. ... When you have protection and have time to see downfield you can get the ball downfield."

Long passes to Green set up both of the Colts' touchdowns in the first half.

The first covered 50 yards before he was stopped at the 1 by Thomas Smith. After two carries for no gain, James ran in for his first career touchdown. He ran to the sideline cradling the ball and pointing to his mother.

"He's a good football player and he's going to get yards if we give him the ball enough," Colts coach Jim Mora said. "It's hard to run on Buffalo. I knew there would be some tough downs. But he's also the kind of player, if we can be in the game, he's going to make plays for us."

James rushed 26 times, including 12 for 88 yards in the second half.

Buffalo, which got a 36-yard field goal by Steve Christie early in the second quarter, threatened again midway through the period before Jeff Burris intercepted a pass at the Indianapolis 7 and returned it 28 yards to start the second Colts scoring drive.

James ran 11 yards, Manning completed passes of 19 and 27 yards to Green, and three plays later Manning passed 5 yards to Harrison for a touchdown and a 14-3 Indianapolis lead. It was Manning's 14th straight game with at least one TD pass, the second-longest streak in franchise history behind Johnny Unitas' NFL-record 47 in a row.

"It wasn't any fun, certainly," said Buffalo coach Wade Phillips, who lost Thurman Thomas with a rib injury on the first play of the game. "They gave us a lot of trouble with their blitz. It caused some problems early. We started moving the football but didn't come through with the big plays."

X-rays of Thomas were negative.

The 6-yard TD pass to Reed pulled Buffalo to 21-14 before a 35-yard field goal by the Colts' Mike Vanderjagt and the long interception return by Blevins. The final Buffalo drive ended on downs at the Indianapolis 20 when Flutie was sacked by Bertrand Berry with 1:51 to go, and the Colts ran out the clock.