INDIANAPOLIS — As Peyton Manning continues his videotape preparation this week for Saturday afternoon’s AFC wildcard game with the Kansas City Chiefs, two of the team’s veteran defensive players have grabbed his attention — cornerbacks Ty Law and Patrick Surtain.

Manning is quite familiar with both. Law was a major thorn in the Indianapolis Colts quarterback’s side when he played for the New England Patriots, coming up with three interceptions in the Patriots’ 24-14 win over Indianapolis in the 2003 AFC championship game. Surtain, meanwhile, was a major contributor for a pretty good Miami Dolphins’ defense when the Colts played in the AFC East.

“We’ve got a tough challenge this week. The Chiefs have an excellent defense, probably as good a cover corner tandem as I think there is the league,” Manning said Tuesday.

“They haven’t gotten much attention. But if you pop them on film, I’m very familiar with both of these guys, Ty Law and Patrick Surtain. They’ve got an excellent defense across the board. [Kansas City running back] Larry Johnson’s a great player. But, for me, I’m just focused on their defense and there’s plenty to think about.”

Both Law and Surtain have been added to the Chiefs’ defense over the last two off-seasons. Surtain, a two-time Pro Bowl selection, was acquired in a trade with Miami a year ago in exchange for a 2005 second-round draft pick. He had four interceptions a year ago and one this season.

Law, meanwhile, was added to the Kansas City roster this past July when he signed a five-year, $30 million free agent contract. A five-time Pro Bowl participant, he began his pro career with New England and played there for 10 seasons.

After one year with the New York Jets, where he played for current Chiefs head coach Herman Edwards and led the NFL with 10 interceptions, Law had four interceptions for Kansas City this season (including one in last week’s playoff-clinching win over Jacksonville). He has four career postseason interceptions.

“They’re excellent in man-to-man [coverage]. Anytime that you got two corners like that, boy, it just gives you a lot of freedom. They can leave those guys on an island and feel good about the matchups. They kind of have multiple identities [on defense]. They can play the Cover 2 but they can put nine guys up there and bring them all. So it really makes you be alert on every single play. It gives them a lot of flexibility,” Manning said.

“[Law] is a great player. He’s a great cover corner. We certainly played against him a lot when he was with New England. He’s got great cover skills. He’s smart. He understands the concepts, understands the defenses real well. He’s an excellent player.”

Colts coach Tony Dungy readily agrees with his quarterback’s on-the-mark analysis of the Kansas City secondary.

“They can do a lot of different things. They’ve got veteran guys in Surtain and Law, who can play zone coverage, who can read patterns. But they can also sit on people and play them man-to-man. They don’t have to be limited to one style of play and that really helps them,” he said.

Not the savior — While it appears that safety Bob Sanders will be returning for this week’s game with Kansas City, Dungy is quick to point out his return won’t necessarily mean an improved defensive effort.

“One person certainly can’t do it, can’t be the savior. And we can’t look at it that way, that ‘OK, Bob Sanders is coming back so automatically we’re gonna be better.’ Everyone has to do their job and Bob is certainly a big part of it. He’s got a lot of speed and he has striking ability, but we have other guys on our defense that do that as well,” Dungy said.

“The big thing we’ve got to do, [the Chiefs] do a lot of shifting and motioning [on offense]. We’ve got to make sure we’re in the right place and then we don’t let the shifting and motioning in different formations slow us down. We’ve got to use our speed and play fast.”

Sanders has played in just four games this year after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee in late September. He managed to start against New England [Nov. 5], where he had 10 total tackles and an interception, and Tennessee [Dec. 3] before sitting out the remaining four games of the regular season.

The former Pro Bowl performer took part in practice on Tuesday, his first full workout in nearly a month. The key, though, will be how well he comes back today and the rest of the week.

“We’ll look at it and if [his knee is sore], we would probably rest him up until at least Friday,” Dungy said.



Tony and Herm — Dungy and Kansas City coach Herman Edwards have a close friendship that dates back to when both were assistant coaches with the Chiefs in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Edwards went on to become an assistant for Dungy at Tampa Bay before moving on to became the Jets’ head coach in 2001.

“It’s always tough when we play each other. We have been very close for a long time. You always want your team to do well, but 99 percent of time I’m rooting for his team to do well. So it’s difficult from that regard. But in another way it’s fun. It’s challenging because I know how they’re going to be when they come [to the RCA Dome],” Dungy said.

“They’re going to be well prepared. They’re going to be very, very physical. They’re going to be tough. They’re going to play very hard for 60 minutes. So you know what you have to be in store for and I know we’re going to have to be at our best to win. I’m excited for him, for the Chiefs’ organization and the way they got into the playoffs. It’s going to be a big challenge.”



Edwards firing his team up — The Chiefs’ first-year coach is using a little psychology in helping his team be better prepared for Saturday’s game with Indianapolis.

Edwards was not happy with the perception that Kansas City had “lucked” their way into the playoffs, having to wait for several teams to lose before their postseason berth could be assured.

“I’m defensive,” Edwards told Kansas City media on Monday. “That’s exactly right. Because I don’t want anybody to think all of the sudden we lucked our way into this deal. We didn’t luck our way into it. We won our way into it just like those other teams had to, and they didn’t do it.

“I don’t want them to think that somebody gave us an out and said, ‘You can go because we don’t want to go.’ Are you kidding me? There’s only 12 spots, and we got a spot. We’re representing the National Football League, and we’re representing the Kansas City Chiefs. Whatever anybody else thinks, that’s fine. My opinion is probably the most important opinion, because you know what? The last time I checked, the players are going to believe what I told them. I’m not irritated. I’m just making a point. It’s playoff time now, and I’m in a different mode. All of the sudden, I’m in a different frame of mind.”

The comments drew a smile from Dungy on Tuesday.

“He’s an excellent motivator. Whatever it takes to motivate his team. I know that people are saying that, but they won the games they needed to win,” the Colts coach said.

“They won enough games to get in and, as I told their media on the conference call, I know when they went to (training) camp, they expected to be in the playoffs. And so this isn’t a surprise to them. They’ll be ready to go and we’d better be ready if we want to beat them.”



Caldwell to talk to Arizona, Dungy flattered by Minnesota — The Cardinals have asked for and have been granted permission to talk to Caldwell. According to the Arizona Republic, Arizona officials will be in Indianapolis on Sunday to meet with the Colts assistant.

“He has not talked to them. I know they’re in the process of trying to get something scheduled now. We’ll look at it and see when the best fit [is]. We want to be fair to Jim and let him do that. But we also want to be fair to our team and I know Jim wants to do that too. So we’ll look at it and get it worked out. Hopefully it would work out for Jim,” Dungy said.

“I think Jim Caldwell is fantastic. Obviously we wouldn’t want to lose him, but he’s going to be a very, very good head coach for someone.”

As for rumors that the University of Minnesota is interested in talking with Dungy about their job, which opened when the Golden Gophers fired Glen Mason Sunday, the Colts coach admitted to being flattered but no thanks.

“I would think that [Minnesota’s interest] might be the case just because I went to school there and every time that job comes open, but I’m not a college coach. I’ve never have been a college coach. I think it’s more name recognition and the fact that I’m an alum,” he said. “I’m not a college coach. I’m flattered. Very, very flattered. But not interested.”



Injury update — Indianapolis has closed practice to the media this week. The team issued an injury report Tuesday afternoon which listed tight end Dallas Clark (knee), cornerback Nick Harper (ankle), offensive guard Ryan Lilja (knee), outside linebacker Keith O’Neil (knee), wide receiver Ricky Proehl (hamstring), Sanders (knee), and wide receiver Reggie Wayne (quadriceps).

All but Lilja and perhaps Proehl are expected to be available for Saturday’s game with the Chiefs