Dome Sweet Dome for the Colts

An improved defense will be key against the powerful Steelers running game.
Knight Ridder Newspapers
INDIANAPOLIS -- Tony Dungy and the Indianapolis Colts insist home-field advantage won't win a playoff game in and of itself.
Listen closer.
When the Colts crowd gets going, there's no place like home.
"It's like a loud train that never stops, and it's just right in your ear," Colts defensive tackle Larry Tripplett said. "The thing with the helmet, the sound kind of gets in there and rattles around. It's like an echo. You're so excited, you don't really feel it, but when you get to the sidelines, it hurts."
Colts wide receiver Brandon Stokley says Colts offensive players almost have to yell on the sideline to discuss strategy while the Colts' defense is on the field.
"The crowd helps you a lot, especially our defense," Stokley said. "It helps them get off the snap a lot quicker, it makes the offense slower coming off the snap count. That just turns into sacks, fumbles, penalties, turnovers -- all kinds of things. So it's really big."
House will rock
This much is sure: The RCA Dome will be rocking when the Colts play the Steelers today in an AFC divisional playoff game, and the chief beneficiaries will be the Colts' defense.
After a month away from a full lineup, the Colts offense might take a series or two to regain its rhythm. Quarterback Peyton Manning, running back Edgerrin James and receivers Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne haven't played a full game since the Dec. 11 loss to San Dieog. But, offensive rhythm will come back. It always does, and the home turf and familiar surroundings speed up the process.
The Colts defense should need no lead time to get moving, however. It is at full health again, with Corey Simon back in the middle, Cato June ready to fly around at linebacker and Robert Mathis and Montae Reagor primed to join Dwight Freeney in the pass rush.
The Colts hierarchy built this defense around speed, energy and aggression. Perfect 72-degree dome temperatures and a rowdy crowd should combine with those assets to spur the Colts defense back to the form it showed the first time Pittsburgh came to town.
"Since we have everybody back, we know exactly what we need to do to go out there and get it done," cornerback Nick Harper said. "Fly around, make plays and use our speed."
This Colts defense feeds off adrenalin. Various sources contribute to that adrenalin, starting with Freeney and friends' pressure up front and finishing with the hard hitting of June and safety Bob Sanders.
Crowd takes cues
Some of that adrenalin comes from the crowd, which has learned when to speak up. Fans give Manning golf-tournament silence for his precision, heavy-on-audible direction. For several years, operators of the dome big screen flashed a message when Manning ran on the field that said "Quiet Please. Offense at Work." The crowd needs no special instruction these days.
As for the decibels when the Colts are on defense, there have been quieter moments during an AC/DC encore.
"Our fans pump up that noise," Tripplett said, "and it does make it tough on the other team."
Let's be honest, though. If the Colts defense didn't have the goods to deliver the hits and stops, crowd noise wouldn't matter. The Colts' defense should be confident after watching film of the first meeting between the teams, when they held the Steelers to 86 yards rushing and sacked quarterback Ben Roethlisberger three times.
The Colts set a tone early by throwing the Steelers for a loss on the first play of scrimmage.
While the Steelers might throw a trick play or two in, they're more likely to rely on what they've ridden to a five-game winning streak since that Colts loss: the power of a ball-control, run-first attack. The speed of Willie Parker works on defenses first, followed by the power of Jerome Bettis. Roethlisberger's play-action passing game keeps defenses off guard, too. Roethlisberger's arm shouldn't be discounted.
The strengths
But, for the most part, it's likely to be the Steelers' smash-mouth offense vs. the Colts quick, aggressive defense.
"The Steelers are who they are," Freeney said. "They like to pound the ball. It's going to be hard for them to change much at this point."
The Colts' defense hasn't played at full strength since the Tennessee game Dec. 4. The entire lineup is expected to be in full health today.
"We have to take our energy, store it up and explode on Sunday," Freeney said.
When rowdy Colts home fans combine with a healthy Colts defense, the result should be an explosion of sound and fury -- a perfect recipe for playoff success.