Chiefs– 0 0 8 0 8
Colts— 6 3 7 7 23

The talk all week was how easy it would be for the Chiefs to run the football against the Colt porous run defense. After all, Indianapolis was surrendering more than five yards a run, and Larry Johnson did finish second in the NFL in rushing yards. So it all made sense. In the words of Chris Berman, that’s why they play the games.

Johnson was not able to run the ball. He was held to just 32 yards on 13 carries.

“We heard it all about having the worst defense,” Dwight Freeney. “Now we can hear this: We have the best run defense in the playoffs.”

The rest of the Chiefs offense was equally as bad. No starting wide receiver had a catch in the game for Kansas City. Trent Green only completed 14-of-24 passes and threw two interceptions. The Chiefs did not pick up a first down until their eighth possession of the game which came with 3:34 left in the third quarter. At one point in the game, the Colts had 22 first downs, while the Chiefs managed just 21 total yards. Kansas City only gained 126 total yards. Indy’s much talked about defense was a force from the start, and finished with four sacks and two interceptions.

“We didn’t get any rhythm offensively,” Chiefs head coach Herm Edwards said. “I thought our defense hung in there for the most part, but I think they got a little fatigued.”

It was the Colts who unleashed the potent rushing attack. Rookie Joseph Addai rushed for 122 yards and a touchdown, which turned out to be huge because Peyton Manning was not his usual self. Manning completed a good percentage of his passes (30-of-38), but none of them were deep, only one of them reached the end zone, and three of them ended up in Chiefs hands.

The Colts travel to Baltimore next week to take on the Ravens.