This week's destination for the Outback Steakhouse Madden Cruiser is Pittsburgh and Heinz Field, where the Steelers will host the Indianapolis Colts on Monday night (ABC, 9 p.m. ET).
Matchups to Watch:
Indianapolis has the threesome of Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison and a big thing in this game, obviously, is how Pittsburgh handles those three guys when the Steelers are on defense. Will the Colts spread 'em out and will Pittsburgh tackle well? That will be something to watch.
Having said that, you also have to look at the Indianapolis defense. Have they improved enough this season? The NFL has seen a lot of scoring the first six weeks of the season, but the Colts have allowed just 90 points in putting together a 4-1 record. Last season, they gave up 486 points in going 6-10. They had a tough season and some of that was James getting injured in late October, but a big part of it was because of the defense; they just couldn't stop anybody. They have looked better this season under head coach Tony Dungy, who's a defensive guy. In this game, though, will they be able to put pressure on Tommy Maddox and can they stop Jerome Bettis and the Steelers' running game?
Indianapolis has those triplets in quarterback Peyton Manning, running back Edgerrin James and wide receiver Marvin Harrison. That's about as good a threesome at those three positions as you can get, and I'm looking forward to watching them play.
The Colts have had that the last three or four years, yet they haven't been able to do enough with them because of their defense. How far Indianapolis goes -- and those three players go -- in getting into the playoffs and as a playoff team is going to be determined by how well the defense plays.
Tony Dungy is the Colts' new head coach and his background is defense, and when you're a head coach with a defensive background, you're going to look after the defense and you're going to try to improve that area. He came to Indianapolis after being Tampa Bay's head coach and, in coming from Tampa Bay, he knows what it takes to build a good defense and that's going to be his biggest job with the Colts.
Jerome Bettis has rushed for 193 yards the last two weeks.
Pittsburgh got off to a terrible start this season after going to the AFC championship game last January. Our first Monday night game of the regular season was the Steelers at New England, and the Patriots spread Pittsburgh out and threw 25 straight passes at one point. The Steelers' defense didn't tackle well, either, in that loss. Because New England had spread 'em out, they couldn't be aggressive on defense, and then they got behind in the score and they didn't run the ball on offense.
They looked kind of confused against the Patriots, and it has taken them awhile after that season-opening game to gather themselves and get their stuff back together and get the running game going and all.
They've made a change at quarterback with Tommy Maddox replacing Kordell Stewart, and as a team, maybe they're back on that road to doing some things. A big part of being back on that road has to be a tough defense, tackling well and a good running game. Those are things that they didn't do at the beginning of the season.
from ABC.com
