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Pieces in place for Colts defense

INDIANAPOLIS — Look closely, and somewhere amid the snowflakes occasionally floating through the winter air outside the Indianapolis Colts' training facility, you can also sense another element: uncertainty. Normally, a couple of days before an AFC Championship Game, uncertainty is the last thing a team lets in the door.

Not these guys.

Cornerback Nick Harper said that when the Patriots step into the RCA Dome on Sunday for another of their seemingly inevitable playoff meetings, he has no idea whether the New Englanders will attack by land or air.

And what a breath of crisp air that is.

"Until these past two weeks, we knew teams were going to run," Harper said. "Everybody was having so much success running the ball on us, why wouldn't you try?"

In one of the stunning developments of these NFL playoffs, the Colts suddenly have become downright respectable on defense.

Check that. Crazy as this sounds, they're staunch.

Remember when the playoffs began? The Kansas City Chiefs were the trendy upset pick. Larry Johnson was going to run all over them. Last weekend, Baltimore's Jamal Lewis was going to.

Today? The Colts have the NFL's No. 1 defense in the playoffs, yielding about as many yards per game — total — as they conceded on just the ground during the regular season.

Until the playoffs began, the fastest thing in Indy couldn't be found at the Brickyard speedway, but rather in opposition backfields. The Colts gave up 173 rushing yards per game and were within shouting distance of the all-time-worst 201.7 by Buffalo in 1978.

Countless graphics hammered home the point that no team had even sniffed a Super Bowl with a run defense so porous. At this pace, the Indy 500 soon would be the over/under on opponents' rushing yardage.

So what happened? Sanders happened. Bob Sanders, the Colts' hard-hitting, sure-tackling safety, returned after missing a dozen games with a knee injury. Teammates don't think the timing is coincidental, even if Sanders is reluctant to take the credit.

"People have got a lot of things on how they think the defense turned it around," he said. "The main thing is we continue to do the things we need to do to get the job done. Regardless of what our record was, what our rush defense was in the regular season, it's a new season."

Not so fast, said Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Sanders, Brady said, is "one of the best players in the league. You put him into a defense, and they play extremely well."

The Colts like to think so.

"Whether any guy in here wants to admit it or not, we all want 21 to be on the field with us. I think anybody would want 21 on their team," defensive tackle Darrell Reid said, referring to Sanders' uniform number. "Just having him out there allows us to be ourselves, be more aggressive, play fast. And we don't have to worry about too many long runs because Bob's going to stop it at the door."

The Colts haven't given up a run of more than 20 yards in the playoffs, thanks in part to Sanders' 4.4 speed. Was this the team that gave up more yards rushing than passing in the regular season?

"Whether it be in the air or whether he sees the ball carrier, he's going to attack it full-speed, downhill, right now," linebacker Cato June said. "And he's not going to stop until he gets there in a head-on collision."

Which isn't pretty.

"He is going to try to knock himself out or you out," defensive end Dwight Freeney said. "That's what it comes down to."

Lately, the Colts have been knocking offenses out of games and putting the ball back in the hands of quarterback Peyton Manning. Where once stood a defense that couldn't get off the field, chalking up an NFL-worst 47.1 third-down percentage, now stands a defense that has allowed a 13.6 percent conversion rate, by far the best in the playoffs.

"There really isn't a big difference," said coach Tony Dungy, adding that "one play here, one play there" needed to be corrected, and was.

Actually, in a 44-17 loss to Jacksonville just over a month ago, there were about 37 plays the Colts could have done without. On those plays, Maurice Jones-Drew ran for 166 yards, Fred Taylor for 131 and Alvin Pearman 71. They combined for four TDs.

"That was the lowest point that could possibly be, as far as during this season or any season," Harper said. "They bring in their No. 3 back and he almost got 100 yards. You can't get any lower than that."

The Colts tried. Two weeks later, Indy lost to Houston 27-24 as Ron Dayne (Ron Dayne?) ran for 153 yards and two TDs. It was so bad, the Colts can't keep a straight face today and pretend they knew things would be solved.

"It gets kind of hard to get confidence when you're not making plays," said defensive tackle Anthony "Booger" McFarland, acquired from Tampa Bay in a mid-season trade to shore up the line. Reid says that too is a factor, because on each line of defense (line, linebackers, secondary), someone was acclimating himself.

"You've got Booger McFarland, who just came to us, on the line, you have Robert Morris on the linebacker corps, who was moved there halfway through the season to be a starter, and then you've got Bob coming back in the safety spot," Reid said. "Those are three big changes, and all of us being able to play with each other, makes a big difference."

New England arrives with the two-pronged running attack of Corey Dillon and rookie Laurence Maroney. So maybe coach Bill Belichick will try to ram it down the Colts' throats. Maybe he'll put it in Brady's hands.

Harper won't know until Sunday. What a good feeling that is.

Hal Habib writes for The Palm Beach Post.