Confident Chargers Ready For The Colts

The San Diego Chargers have reason to be confident as they begin postseason defense of their AFC championship today.

Having strung together five victories to make the playoffs after a 4-7 start, they are one of the hottest teams in football. Last week, they welcomed back star running back Natrone Means, interception leader Rodney Harrison and starting quarterback Stan Humphries. And they are home against the Indianapolis Colts, a team the Chargers beat two weeks ago on the road and that has not appeared in a playoff game since 1987 nor won one since 1971.

“I think we’re enthused, because we all believe we’ve got a shot,” San Diego coach Bobby Ross said. “Once you get in, boy, it’s a whole new season and anything can happen. Especially if you’re playing well, and we are right now.”

Humphries, who suffered a concussion and sprained neck in the season finale against the New York Giants, is back. So is free safety Harrison, who missed the last five games with a sprained knee. But the biggest boost for San Diego may be the return of the hard-running, 245-pound Means, who has been limited to five carries in the last eight games because of a deep groin strain.

Means practiced at nearly full speed all week and is expected to play, though rookie Aaron Hayden will likely start at tailback.

Hayden, a fourth-round pick from Tennessee, missed training camp and the first nine weeks with a broken leg suffered in his final collegiate game. But he was instrumental in the Chargers’ late surge, rushing for 446 yards and three touchdowns in the last five games. He ran for 96 yards on 26 carries in the Dec. 17 game against the Colts at the Hoosier Dome.

“As far as I’m concerned, he should start because the time he’s in there he’s definitely done a productive job and the team has been winning with him,” Means said. “I feel whoever is on a roll, coach will probably let him play. We’ll still be splitting time, basically.”

Means led the AFC with 724 yards before his injury.

It took Hayden’s big game and 272 passing yards by Humphries to get the Chargers in position to top the Colts two weeks ago, but it was a 43-yard field goal by John Carney with 3 seconds left that gave San Diego its 27-24 triumph.

Now the Colts get their rematch, albeit on the road against the defending conference champions, who still have 19 of their 22 Super Bowl starters on the roster. Only 12 members of the Colts have even been in a playoff game.

“Every play, it seems that’s the play that can determine the game,” said Colts’ quarterback Jim Harbaugh, the league’s top-rated passer, who appeared in the 1991 playoffs with the Chicago Bears. “It’s a very special feeling. But the way I view it is we played playoff-type games the last two weeks, and we know what to expect.”

Coaching becomes even more critical when facing a team for the second time in 14 days.

“Neither team has an advantage,” Indianapolis coach Ted Marchibroda said. “But it should make for good game preparation. You just feel you know the other team pretty well.”

The Chargers held the Colts to 68 rushing yards in their recent meeting, but Harbaugh threw for 285 yards with one touchdown and only his fifth interception of the season, one of which set up the Chargers’ winning drive.

“We had a lot of plays that if we had executed better and known what we were doing a little bit better when the game started, that game could really have been ours,” Harbaugh said.

Indianapolis expects Pro Bowl tailback Marshall Faulk back to shoulder some of the load, after a bruised knee forced him out of the season finale against New England. This will be Faulk’s first pro game back at Jack Murphy Stadium, where he played three years for San Diego State.

“This is Round 2 for the Chargers and us,” Colts safety David Tate said. “We know them and they know us. They beat us in a game we had to have. They came into our stadium and beat us and we just want to return the favor.”

Said Marchibroda: “I think, two years ago, we weren’t ready to play the Chargers. We weren’t the same caliber team. I don’t feel that way now.”