Broncos vs. Colts

Denver beats Indianapolis if ... it can some how limit the damage Peyton Manning does. When you play the Colts, it's not only can you stop Manning, it's can you stop an offensive coordinator's mind in that quarterback's body? Denver has to try and take the big play away as best it can. Manning just knows where everybody is and he puts his offense in the right situation on a consistent basis. What you have to try to do on defense is just take away the Colts' best situation. Decide what you can live with when you're facing them, and figure out if you can win with that. But know what you can't afford to live with, and what you're probably going to lose with, and try to address that and take that away. There's no shut down way to control all of it, so you try to take the most dangerous threat away. With the Colts that would be the big play.

It's really important that Denver's cornerbacks and nickel defenders disrupt the Colts receivers' releases at the line. You've only got five yards to work with these days, but within those five yards you can do a lot of damage to not only the timing of the pattern, but the mentality of the receiver. I think probably what you'll see early is much more jamming and much more contact, regardless of the coverage, just trying to disrupt the flow of the play. I'd be surprised if Denver doesn't play it that way.

On offense, the Broncos' best option is to hold the ball and try to control the clock with Reuben Droughns, Tatum Bell and the running game. Sometimes your best defense really is your offense. A lot of that will come down to third downs. Third downs will be big in the outcome of this game. If you're converting them, you're keeping drives going and that's going to keep the Colts offense off the field.

Jake Plummer can't make the big mistake against the Colts. He has to take what the Colts give him, given that Denver needs to be thinking ball control. He has to be a disciplined quarterback and not try to do more than the offense is asking him to do. If he's asked to make a big throw, hit it. But if it's not there, then dump it down.

Indianapolis beats Denver if ... it doesn't change a thing about its attack mentality on offense. The Colts will attack you, and I can't imagine they would do anything differently at this point. They've had success with that style, and they're going to live with it and trust it. They're going to let Peyton Manning put them in the right situation on downs, run that fast-tempo style, and just play their efficient type of offense. It's not an offense that's going to get frustrated. They're going to do the frustrating. It's the defense that gets frustrated.

With those three receivers, Marvin Harrison , Reggie Wayne , and Brandon Stokely , plus Edgerrin James and the two tight ends, Dallas Clark and Marcus Pollard , the Colts' offense seems to have an answer for everything you can do to them. They just find a way to get the ball to one of those guys when they need to, and they've all been the star of a game or two at one time or another. It just seems to unfold that way because the quarterback puts them in that situation. And it's all based on what the defense gives. Who's that defense trying to take away? Peyton may take some time to figure that out, but as soon as he does, that's when he becomes dangerous.

On defense, the Colts have the pass rushers in Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis , and the rest of the unit is made up of solid, but unspectacular guys. They're mentality is going to be a lot like Denver's on defense. Just don't give up the big play. Don't let people get behind you. Discipline is going to be a big theme, because Denver runs a very misdirection type offense. They're trying one way or another, with the run game and the cutback lanes, or the bootleg calls, to get you out of your lanes.

If you're a gap defense, you better be in your gap and you better trust that your teammate is, too. Don't blow any assignments, because Denver is trying to deceive you, showing you the same things a lot of different ways. You've got to trust that you're doing your job and make sure you stay disciplined. Your teammates might be making all the plays, but at some point, that ball is going to come your way and you've got to be ready when it does.