Recent turnaround has Colts geared up

During the regular season, the Indianapolis defense was swiss cheese against the run. Full of holes. The Colts saw 10 rushers gain more than 100 yards, including five in their last six games, and opponents averaged 5.3 yards a carry, the highest given up by a team since 1966.

But in their 23-8 wild-card playoff victory over Kansas City, the Colts limited Larry Johnson to 32 yards in 13 carries and the Chiefs to 40 yards on the ground.

As a reward, Indianapolis gets to travel to Baltimore to face the Ravens and their 1,000-yard rusher, Jamal Lewis. But it’s a matchup that could play in the Colts’ favor if they play run defense against Lewis the way they did against Johnson, who rushed for 1,789 yards and 17 touchdowns during the regular season.

Indianapolis did not make any wholesale changes to shut down Kansas City. The Colts took advantage of their speed and showed great confidence with a healthy Bob Sanders back in the lineup at strong safety.

Sanders, a hard-hitting 5 feet 8 and 206 pounds, was playing in only his fifth game because of a knee injury. But despite playing only twice over the last two months, Sanders was a force with three tackles and an interception against the Chiefs.

Expect him to be a difference-maker again Saturday with his speed and tackling skills. He allows the Colts to disguise their defensive schemes while still offering strong run support.

That was easy to see against overmatched Kansas City, which did not try to change things up and played right into the hands of Indianapolis’ “ready-to-shut-down-the-run” defense.

Indianapolis probably will use similar strategy against the Ravens, who like to run the ball but ranked 25th in the league in rushing this season. Lewis, a former 2,000-yard rusher, still has his moments but he has lost his breakaway skills. Lewis averaged only 3.6 yards a carry and Baltimore had only six rushing plays longer than 20 yards.

If the Colts use Sanders to crowd the line of scrimmage as they did against Kansas City, Lewis and the Ravens will have a tough time finding room to run.

That would leave the fate of Baltimore’s offense in the hands of veteran quarterback Steve McNair, who faced the Colts twice a season for years when he played for the Tennessee Titans.

McNair has provided the leadership the Ravens lacked since Trent Dilfer led the team to a victory in Super Bowl XXXV. Whenever Baltimore needs a big offensive play, McNair seems to get the job done, which is exactly what the Ravens wanted when they picked him up before the start of this season.

McNair and the Ravens’ offense hit stride after Coach Brian Billick took control of the play-calling. After struggling early, the Ravens performed better with a more diverse, less-predictable attack.

With a strong emphasis on play-action on first down, McNair has been sacked only 14 times and has been able to throw to a variety of targets -- his top three are tight end Todd Heap (68 catches), and wide receivers Mark Clayton (65) and Derrick Mason (63).

It will be important for the Colts to take away the threat of run early. If they are able to grab an early lead, McNair will lose some of his effectiveness.

Summary: If Indianapolis can get Baltimore into predictable passing downs, speedy ends Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis will be major factors and the Colts will be primed for an upset.

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