Cincinnati offense vs. Indianapolis defense

	BENGALS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	6
	Pass	21
	Tot. Yds.	17
	Scoring	29
	Int's allowed	7
	Sacks allowed	18
	COLTS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	15
	vs. Pass	28
	Total yds. allowed	24
	No. of INTs	5
	No. of Sacks	10
	Turnover differential	-10

Corey Dillon leads the NFL in rushing with 501 yards, but the offensive line is still having major communication problems and teams are now determined to pack it in on the Bengals. With rookie Akili Smith behind center, Cincinnati will be sure to see a lot of eight man fronts with blitzing linebackers and safeties coming from all angles. Smith is just getting the usual rookie treatment until he proves himself capable of handling the pressure by beating the blitz and taking advantage of man-to-man matchups versus his receivers. The individual that will be most effected by this defensive look is Dillon, who is only averaging 17 carries per game because teams have been packing it in against the Bengals.

The Colts had a tough time shutting down the run last week, as Curtis Martin ran for 128 yards on 23 carries. The Jets run a very simple, yet physical and efficient, blocking scheme, similar to the one the Bengals are accustomed to using. This does not bode well for the Colts, considering the way they were manhandled last week. Still, the Colts will get excellent support up front from a linebacking corps that will be walking up all afternoon and occasional help from the safeties in certain blitz packages.

The key to this contest is Akili Smith's ability to handle the pass rush. Indianapolis gets excellent upfield pursuit from its defensive ends, Chad Bratzke and Shawn King, and, with the emergence of WLB Mike Peterson, the Bengals are going to struggle to protect Smith. The brunt of the pressure is going to come from Smith's backside, where Peterson and Bratzke work the left side of the offensive line.

Here's how the Colts will look to attack Smith: First, MLB Mike Barber will walk up to the line of scrimmage and make sure to occupy OC Rick Braham so that the center can't pull backside to help with the blitz. Next, Bratzke and Peterson will line up side-to-side and attack OT Rod Jones -- one wide and the other underneath. Jones will get no help from the inside, because LG Matt O'Dwyer will be held up with DT Ellis Johnson. This means that Jones will be responsible for picking up Bratzke on the inside (closest man to the quarterback) and RB Corey Dillon or FB Cliff Groce will be forced to stay in to pick up a blitzing Mike Peterson off the edge. In this scheme, the Colts have the advantage because the back is going to have a tough time picking up Peterson's outside rush, which means that Akili Smith is going to have to be weary of his backside protection all afternoon

The Bengals face the unenviable task of protecting themselves against the pass while remaining equipped to stop Edgerrin James on the ground. Cincinnati will be forced into many base 3-4 sets, and play man/zone against the outside receivers. WR Marvin Harrison was close to a non-factor last week when double-teamed, so defensive coordinator Dick Lebeau will take a page out of Bill Belichick's (Jets' defensive coordinator) book. Rookie FS Cory hall, who has improved his diagnose-and-react time immensely over the course of the season, will cheat over to Harrison's side to give help to CB Roosevelt Blackmon in the deep-third.

The Bengals are elated with the recent emergence of the 6-1 cover corner, because Blackmon finally puts some stability in the secondary. Across from Blackmon, Artrell Hawkins will matchup man-to-man on No. 2 receiver Jerome Pathon. SS Greg Meyers will then be able to lock on to TE Ken Dilger off the line of scrimmage and their outside linebackers will spy James out of the backfield. At this point, the Bengals are in good shape defensively to stop both the run and the pass, and are free to work within their blitz package.

However, when the Colts bring in No. 3 receiver Terrence Wilkins as a 3rd receiver and move to a 1-back set, the Bengals become exposed. Nickel corner Rodney Heath is a mismatch against Wilkins' speed, but will be forced into single-man coverage. The Bengals are now minus one linebacker in the nickel personnel and are spread horizontally on defense. It is at this point that Edgerrin James will get the ball and pick up his chunks of yardage. The Colts have numbers up front for its blocking scheme and James will make the Bengals pay up front for being undermanned.

The Colts brought in Danny Kight to give the kickoff unit a boost and also to rest the legs of P Hunter Smith and K Mike Vanderjagt. It seems to be paying off, as Smith averaged 42.5-yards per punt with a long of 57 and landed his only real opportunity to do so inside the 20. Vanderjagt was three-for-three on the day and his leg looks strong with good mechanics.