What's Ahead

	New Orleans cornerback Mike McKenzie can't catch up to Eagles running back Brian Westbrook. The Saints' lack of defensive speed was exposed in their win over Philly. AP
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Give Grossman time and he will have that New Orleans secondary in tears. The corners, McKenzie and Thomas, are 30 and 33. The strong safety, Jay Bellamy, is 34. These are proud warriors, teeth gritters, tough guys, but they just can't run. The trick is to generate enough of a rush to keep long throws to a minimum.

The Saints aren't a big blitzing team. They have an active, stunting, looping front four that can apply pressure. But they might have to bring extra people on Sunday. Front fours can be controlled with maximum protection, six or seven blockers controlling four rushers, but that leaves you with fewer receivers running into more defenders. The Seahawks max-protected against the Bears at times and got away with it. It's not a bad idea if you want to keep your QB clean at all costs.

I like the Saints because I think that right now Brees is the soundest QB in the tournament, and their offense has all the parts in place, including a Mister Inside, Mister Outside twosome of Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush that is a terrific springboard for anything.

But if Grossman has too much time -- watch out.

Saints 31, Bears 27

Colts-Ravens

I'm going to tell you about a team that plays tough defense and can dominate with its running game. The quarterback can be real good, but recently he's been flighty at times. The team is the Indianapolis Colts, which has done a complete volte face in the last month or so.

So how did the defense get so good? Well, first of all, the teams it was playing brought a bunch of big guys into the argument and decided to make a shoving match out of it. So the Colts -- given extra muscle when former MLB Rob Morris added his 243 pounds to the lineup as an outside backer, and Bob Sanders, a guided missile of a free safety, finally got healthy -- crammed eight into the box and turned the thing into a traffic jam.

Generally being quick by nature, they added stunts on the front line, and at least in their two playoff games they managed to bring serious running games to a halt. The Ravens attacked them on the first series with a lineup of three tight ends and one wideout. The Colts stuffed it. Next series they tried two tights, a fullback, and again one wide. Stufferoo again.

When Baltimore went to short underneath routes, the Colt secondary closed fast and didn't miss tackles. Perhaps that's the key. They seem dedicated. They don't miss. Their running? Well, they closed out the game by dominating the most feared defense in the NFL with a 12-play drive that took 7:16. Eleven of those plays were runs.

Now we come to the strange part. Peyton Manning looks different. He's not smooth anymore. There's a herky-jerk quality to the passing game. When he's under a rush and has to move around in the pocket, weird things happen. The Ravens treated him very kindly by dropping at least three interceptions, probably because they were so startled that the ball went where it did. Maybe everything will straighten out by the time Bill Belichick's defense arrives. Maybe the focus will turn more to the extremely tough running of Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes.