INDIANAPOLIS -- Someone dropped the f-bomb on Bob Sanders late Monday night and the Indianapolis free safety's reaction was predictable.
Especially after a thorough 26-7 drilling of the Pittsburgh Steelers, which lifted the Colts to 11-0. After 48 minutes of continually outslugging a heavyweight foe whose hallmark has always been an unflagging intensity, no one in the home locker room at the RCA Dome wanted to revisit the longtime suggestions that the Colts are still a finesse team.
Sanders, who finished with a game-high nine tackles, certainly didn't want to confront that ill-fitting moniker again. And so the hard-hitting safety, who played down in "the box" most of the night as Indianapolis closely crowded the line of scrimmage to cut off the Steelers' inside running attack, responded accordingly.
"I hope by now people realize that we're going to play as tough as anybody," insisted Sanders, whose size (5 feet 8, 206 pounds) belies a torpedo-like style. "I really don't know what it's going to take for us to shake that [label] but, if you play us, you find out that we're not trying to finesse anyone, man."
Thumping the Steelers, who lost for a second straight week and now enter a Week 13 showdown against Cincinnati at Heinz Field trailing the Bengals by one game in the AFC North, should go a long way toward expunging the characterizations of the Colts as a team that lacks toughness.
Play the Steelers and the first priority is always to match their intensity. The Steelers found themselves overmatched and overrun by an Indianapolis franchise that has become the NFL's ultimate chameleon team. The resourceful Colts, as complete a club as coach Tony Dungy has ever had, will change colors to match the occasion. Against the trademark black and gold of the Steelers, in front of a legion of Terrible Towel-toting fans who had made the six-hour drive from Pittsburgh, the Colts hammered black and blue welts on the visitors.
Perhaps those who didn't see the entire game, and are familiar with what transpired here only via television highlight packages, will surmise that Indianapolis' offense set the tone for the game when Peyton Manning connected with Marvin Harrison for an 80-yard touchdown pass on the Colts' first snap of the evening. In truth, though, it was the Colts' defense that delivered the early message that the Steelers' evening would be a long one.
On the first offensive play, left defensive end Raheem Brock fought off a block, got into the Pittsburgh backfield and dropped tailback Willie Parker for a 1-yard loss. On the next play, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, returning from a three-game absence due to arthroscopic knee surgery, threw high for an open Hines Ward. And then he completed a 6-yard dump-off to tight end Heath Miller, which led to a punt.
The three-and-out series, authored by an Indianapolis defense that hasn't played nearly as well over the past month as it did early in the season, was just what Dungy had ordered. It would be, as things turned out, the first of six three-and-out series that the Colts forced in a performance that became increasingly impressive as the contest wore on.
"I think Raheem making that play on their first snap, that was huge, and we couldn't have gotten off to a better start [defensively]," Dungy said.
Dungy acknowledged that because his scheme is so reliant on speed over size, and that the Colts' defense is intended to out-quick rather than out-muscle opponents, it may always be regarded as a finesse unit. The Colts, after all, have just one down lineman who checks in at more than 285 pounds. Their linebackers are viewed as pursuit players rather than defenders adept at filling the hole at the line of scrimmage. And the safety tandem of Sanders and Mike Doss is absolutely munchkin-sized.
But Colts players bristle when their physical shortcomings are raised. Even Dungy, who actually prefers that the media and opponents question his team's toughness, noted: "We don't think we are [a finesse team]. We never thought that we were."
Down the hall from Dungy's press conference, in the confines of the Colts' locker room, Indianapolis defenders allowed they are weary of the label, but conceded they hope their opponents continue to view them as a unit that can be collectively pushed around. As the Steelers quickly discovered, the latest victim of an Indianapolis team that is now just five victories shy of an undefeated regular season and which has now won 19 of its last 20 outings, the Colts will push back.
"We tried to come out and punch them in the mouth early," said Hines Ward. "And they punched right back. They played an excellent game. They can win a lot of ways."
And therein lies the chameleon quality of this Colts team.
As has been the case before with opposition coaches, Pittsburgh's Bill Cowher fell head-first into the mindset that has trapped many of his league counterparts, feeling that he had to match scores. That philosophy backfired, and badly, notably in two situations.
Near the end of the first half, the Steelers could have run out the clock and gone to the intermission trailing just 13-7, but Pittsburgh chose to throw. When Roethlisberger threw an interception, Indianapolis turned the miscue into the third of Mike Vanderjagt's four field goals and the Colts' lead was 16-7.
Then, in a similar brain spasm, Cowher opted to start the second half with a gamble, calling for an onside kick, a trick that surprised none of the Colts. The Colts recovered at the Pittsburgh 37-yard line to open the third quarter and, when Manning rifled a 12-yard pass to tight end Brian Fletcher to finish off a short-field, seven-play drive with his 22nd touchdown pass, the rout was on.
For the most part, Manning simply managed the game, as he does so brilliantly. After a sizzling start, in which he completed his first five passes for 124 yards, he hit a cold spell, brought on by terrific and well-camouflaged Pittsburgh coverages, and connected on just two of his next nine attempts. But if he isn't beating you with his arm, Manning can still better you with his brain, and he knew that the combination of his defense and tailback Edgerrin James was more than enough to dictate the tempo.
James finished with 29 carries for 124 yards. He snapped a Steelers streak of 22 games without permitting an individual 100-yard rusher and, by late in the third quarter, he was summarily running through arm tackles as the Pittsburgh defense eroded. It was the 48th game of more than 100 yards for James and he and Marvin Harrison went over the 100-yard mark together in a game for the 22nd time.
Said Manning: "That's the thing about this team. We can spread it out and throw it all over the place, like we did last week [at Cincinnati]. Or if you back off and try to cover, we can tighten up and run the thing. That makes a huge difference."
The biggest difference for the Colts this season, however, is a defense that Manning joked allows him "to sleep a lot better on Saturday nights now." Translation: Manning and the Colts don't feel they have to score 40 points every time out to win. Even though the defense has stumbled some in the middle part of the season, Monday night demonstrated that the unit can be formidable when it has to be.
Monday marked the fifth time this season the Indianapolis defense held an opponent to seven points or less, but was the first time since a 28-3 victory over San Francisco on Oct. 9. Even with Roethlisberger back in the lineup, the Steelers managed just a paltry 197 yards and 10 first downs, and the star quarterback had just one completion of more than 12 yards. The vaunted Pittsburgh running game, even with all three of its tailbacks active for the first time all season, had only 86 yards on 25 carries. Pittsburgh had just two series on which it mustered more than 30 yards.
"They shut us down," said Roethlisberger, who was sacked three times. "So give them some credit."
It's credit the Colts' defense, which still feels a bit underappreciated, will take.
"You get a little [tired] of hearing about 'Oh, they're this, or 'Well, they're that,' really," said defensive tackle Montae Reagor. "What we are, we think, is pretty good. Whatever labels people want to put on us, well, that's on them. We feel like we can play any style we have to play. But what people ought to realize is, we're always going to play hard and with intensity, and there isn't anything 'finesse-ful' about us."
Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com. To check out Len's chat archive, click here
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