ST. LOUIS - Except for the suitcases and plane rides, the Indianapolis Colts felt like it was home sweet home.

Peyton Manning threw three touchdown passes and the defense got its first score of the season in a 42-6 rout of the St. Louis Rams on Sunday - the unbeaten Colts' franchise-record eighth straight road victory. A healthy contingent of Colts fans were on hand as Indy won its 15th straight regular-season game overall, and many lingered to give players a sendoff.

"When we made some plays on third down you did hear the crowd roar a little bit," cornerback Kelvin Hayden said. "It was good that our fans did make the trip."

The Colts (6-0) won so handily, Manning fell short of tying the NFL record of six straight 300-yard passing games shared by Steve Young, Kurt Warner and Rich Gannon. He was 23 for 34 for 235 yards, with only 24 yards coming in the fourth quarter.

Manning wasn't sacked, was rarely touched and did hit one milestone, passing Warren Moon for fourth on the career completions list.

"He's the guy who makes it go," Rams cornerback Ron Bartell said. "He's the best quarterback in the league and one of the best we've seen in a long time."

Indianapolis was in control by halftime, leading 21-3, and pulled away even after Reggie Wayne (groin) was slowed after a big start and Donald Brown (shoulder) was sidelined in the second quarter. The Colts are 6-0 for the fourth time in five seasons.

"Against any team you have to come out and start fast on the road," said tight end Dallas Clark, who had a 27-yard TD catch in the second quarter. "We came out with a purpose and I think that shows you the kind of leadership we have on this team."

The Rams (0-7) lost their 17th straight game, wasting a season-best 134 yards on 23 carries by Steven Jackson. It was all downhill after a 50-yard flea-flicker from Marc Bulger to Donnie Avery to the Colts 14 on the first drive, which fizzled and ended with a field goal.

Somehow, rookie head coach Steve Spagnuolo thought the Rams were in it before giving up 14 points in the fourth quarter.

"I thought we all felt and believed we could possibly pull that thing off," Spagnuolo said. "Things kind of fell apart. We need the fourth quarter out of our system."

Bulger threw two interceptions, one of them on a badly underthrown ball that was returned 35 yards for a touchdown by Jacob Lacey in the third quarter. Dwight Freeney ran his sack streak to seven games when he breezed past rookie offensive tackle Jason Smith, the second overall pick of the draft, in the second quarter.

"We got our butts kicked," Bulger said. "It's as simple as that."

The Colts are doing that to a lot of teams these days, winning their last four by a total score of 138-42. They also eased safety Bob Sanders back without a glitch, giving the 2007 NFL defensive player of the year about 25 plays in his return from knee surgery.

Home field has been no advantage for the Rams, who have been drilled by a combined 116-33 by the Packers, Vikings and Colts, which each team's fans heavily contributing to sellouts. In the next two home games they'll face two more prolific quarterbacks, New Orleans and Drew Brees on Nov. 15 and Arizona and Warner on Nov. 22.

Nothing to lose at this point, except more games.

"There's only 1,500 guys who play this game at this level and that's why you play, to play against the best," defensive tackle Clifton Ryan said. "I wouldn't change the schedule for the world."

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)