IINDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Kansas City coach Gunther Cunningham makes no secret of this week's offensive game plan: run, run and run against the Indianapolis Colts.

"All the guys that I grew up to respect used to do that. Looking back at Don Shula, who is one of my favorite people, he won the Super Bowl," Cunningham said of his 14-7 victory in the 1973 Super Bowl. "I know they only threw 11 passes, and they had a pretty good football team."

Indianapolis coach Jim Mora knows Cunningham is serious.

"These guys just line up and run it at you. They pound it. They don't care what the down and distance is," Mora said. "They're totally committed to running the football."

The Chiefs are averaging 126.3 yards per game rushing, the fifth highest total in the league, and unlike the Colts they're doing it by committee.

Donnell Bennett leads the team with 234 yards on 63 carries, Bam Morris has 188 yards on 60 carries. Kimble Anders was averaging 5.7 yards per carry before having season-ending Achilles' tendon surgery in September.

The absence of Anders has shifted much of the workload to Rashaan Shehee, who has 175 yards on 50 carries.

"They've got a big offensive line. They rotate about three or four backs in there," Mora said. "That's going to be our No. 1 goal (stopping the run). What they do is kind of lull you to sleep with the running game, and hit you with big plays in the passing game."

By contrast, rookie Edgerrin James is the only running back to have carried the ball for Indianapolis. And he's done it very effectively. He leads the AFC in rushing with 637 yards and also tops the AFC in yards from scrimmage with 842.

James was selected AFC Offensive Player of the Week for his effort against Dallas. But despite accumulating 209 yards from scrimmage, James didn't think he deserved the award after fumbling three times. A teammate recovered each time.

"I hate fumbles," James said. "Sometimes they come because I'm trying to get a few more yards. That's something I've got to remember, that sometimes it is best to just go down."

The game features two of the three quarterbacks in the league who have taken every snap this season. Elvis Grbac has guided the Chiefs to a 5-2 mark, the same record Peyton Manning has helped the Colts produce in their best start since 1996.

"We're running the ball well and we're doing a lot of play-action pass off the run and we make some big plays off that," Grbac said. "The good thing is we're getting positive yardage off of (the run.) We really mix it up."

Both teams come into the RCA Dome after strong offensive performances. Kansas City defeated San Diego 34-0 and the Colts, who lead the league in passing and are third in total offense, outscored Dallas 34-24.

Running the ball will help slow the potent offense of the Colts, Cunningham believes.

"The more you have the ball, the more your opponent can't get it," he said. "We just line up and try to beat them. We're not very fancy.

"I look at our opponents, their offenses against other defenses. They have more razzle-dazzle in their running game. Ours is a downhill running game."

Protecting the quarterback and possession of the football should play a key role. The Chiefs lead the NFL with a plus-13 mark in giveaways-takeaways, while the Colts are minus-4.

Chiefs cornerback James Hasty has as many interceptions as the Colts with four of his team's total of 13.

"It is going to be imperative that we don't turn the ball over against this team," said Manning, who has a streak of 20 consecutive games with a touchdown pass.

KANSAS CITY Season schedule and results

INDIANAPOLIS Season schedule and results

September 12 @Chicago L 17-20 September 19 Denver W 26-10 September 26 Detroit W 31-21 October 3 @San Diego L 14-21 October 10 New England W 16-14 October 21 @Baltimore W 35-8 October 31 San Diego W 34-0 November 7 @Indianapolis 1:00pm ET November 14 @Tampa Bay 1:00pm ET November 21 Seattle 1:00pm ET November 28 @Oakland 4:15pm ET December 5 @Denver 4:15pm ET December 12 Minnesota 8:20pm ET December 18 Pittsburgh 12:40pm ET December 26 @Seattle 4:05pm ET January 2 Oakland 1:00pm ET

September 12 Buffalo W 31-14 September 19 @New England L 28-31 September 26 @San Diego W 27-19 October 10 Miami L 31-34 October 17 @NY Jets W 16-13 October 24 Cincinnati W 31-10 October 31 Dallas W 34-24 November 7 Kansas City 1:00pm ET November 14 @NY Giants 1:00pm ET November 21 @Philadelphia 1:00pm ET November 28 NY Jets 4:15pm ET December 5 @Miami 1:00pm ET December 12 New England 1:00pm ET December 19 Washington 1:00pm ET December 26 @Cleveland 1:00pm ET January 2 @Buffalo 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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