Can Colts Cool Ravens Rage on AFC Playoff Saturday?

It's offense versus defense at the AFC Divisional Playoff game on Saturday in Baltimore.

Yep, the Indianapolis Colts, having survived the futile effort put up by the Kansas City Chiefs last Saturday, will move on to yet another Saturday showdown. THIS TIME, they will be visiting the Baltimore Ravens and no, Baltimore won't try to outrun them at the scoreboard.

They will simply stop Indianapolis. Plain and simple.

Time and time again, we hear about how great the Baltimore Ravens defense is. Heck, I can't even stop writing about it here on OddJack. On Saturday, expect the Baltimore defense to crank it up a level higher.

The Ravens will win this AFC Divisional Playoff game on Saturday if Baltimore's defense gets Peyton Manning moving his feet in the pocket. The Ravens were second in the league in sacks (60) and first in sack yards (418), and the unit featured five players with five or more sacks, led by defensive end Trevor Pryce, with 13.

However, just like Baltimore, Indianapolis will also have their own defense as the key to winning this NFL Football game.

All the talk was about Indianapolis' defense and how it will ultimately cost Peyton Manning yet another post-season. Well, if the Colts defense can have the same effort as they have against the Chiefs last Saturday, holding Kansas City without any first downs for the entire first half of the game, the Colts just might pull this one off.

If it so happens that this becomes a shootout, Peyton Manning will have the edge over Ravens QB, Steve McNair. McNair, as good as he still is, is no longer the playmaker he once was when he was with the Tennessee Titans. McNair doesn't move well outside the pocket and that means Colts defensive monsters like Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis will have one big purple target to unload on.

Peyton Manning continues to be patient throwing the ball to his secondary receivers. The big-play guys in the Colts' No.2-ranked passing game, of course, are wide receivers Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, both of whom went over the 1,000-yard mark again in 2006.

But the Indianapolis passing attack is even more productive when Manning gets tight end Dallas Clark and, in recent weeks, rookie tailback Joseph ''I'll cry if I die'' Addai in the mix.

Can Peyton Manning lead the Indianapolis Colts pass the Baltimore Ravens? Here are the odds on this huge AFC Divisional Playoff game.

Indianapolis Colts +3.5

Baltimore Ravens -3.5

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