Colts need win to prove their worth in AFC South

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indianapolis Colts know the score: Tennessee 3, Indianapolis 0.\nIt's only Week 2, but the Colts view Sunday's home opener like the playoffs are already at stake. What they need is a win to challenge the defending AFC South champs.\n"They proved it on the field," linebacker Rob Morris said. "We have to go out there and prove it on the field."\nThe Colts (1-0) would like to forget their recent legacy against Tennessee. Problem is, the reminders are everywhere.\nThe Titans knocked the Colts out of the playoffs in January 2000 when Eddie George broke a tackle and ran 68 yards for a touchdown.\nAn injury-depleted backfield and a 23-0 deficit were too much to overcome last fall in Indianapolis, and when the Colts went to Nashville in December, turnovers sealed their fate, virtually handing the Titans the division title.\nWith second-year Houston and rebuilding Jacksonville the only other teams in the AFC South, most figure it's again a two-team race.\nAnother Tennessee victory in Indianapolis would put the Colts in a huge deficit -- one they know they cannot afford so early in the season.\n"When it comes down to the last couple games, you come back to games like this and say 'Aw, if we could have won here or there...' " Edgerrin James said. "It's tough."\nAround the Colts' locker room, there is a sense of just how critical this week's game could be.\nThe looks are intense, talkative players have become more subdued and players insist their past failures against the Titans have not seeped into their thoughts.\nBut Indianapolis isn't the only team with something to prove Sunday.\nAfter getting some satisfaction last weekend by beating Oakland, the team that knocked off Tennessee in last year's AFC championship game, the Titans (1-0) have another score to settle.\nThey want to show the Colts -- and the rest of the league -- they're still the division's best team.\n"We're going to continue to play every Sunday, go out and compete and let people in the media and the fans decide whether we're the big dog," Titans quarterback Steve McNair said.\nIt has all the makings of a prime-time, late-season matchup. Except that after Sunday's high-stakes game ends, the division rivals still have 14 more to play.\nThe teams have some striking similarities.\nBoth have Pro Bowl quarterbacks. Both have Pro Bowl running backs whose productivity has been hampered by injuries the last couple seasons. Both have become perennial playoff contenders.\nThe primary difference is Tennessee has the NFL's best road record (37-27) since 1995, and has seemingly had the Colts' number.\n"It's always going to come down to a few plays on the field," McNair said.\nWhen asked why the Titans always seem to make them, he just laughed.\nFor Colts coach Tony Dungy, this series has the makings of another big rivalry.\nWhen he was in Tampa Bay, the nemesis was the Packers and the NFC Central title routinely went through Green Bay. Now it's the Titans, and Dungy is telling his Colts the same thing he told his Bucs.\n"They are the champs until you knock them off," he said.\nNeither team, however, appears in prime shape for this key early-season game. Indianapolis' high-scoring offense wasn't in sync and the Colts were plagued by sloppiness last week. They settled for three field goals in a 9-6 win at Cleveland.\nIn Tennessee's 25-20 win over the Raiders, the Titans drew 11 penalties for 111 yards, and they could be without starting tight end Frank Wycheck after he had his second concussion in less than a month.\nMcNair has a sprained left knee, but is expected to play. Tennessee also signed 44-year-old Gary Anderson to replace Joe Nedney, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee Sunday.\nIn the past, the determinant of victory or defeat has been as simple as health for these teams.\n"I think our first game last year, they had one (running) back on the roster and we were healthy," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "Therein lies the difference."\nBut for the Colts to make a difference, they have no option. They need a win at home to shake up the division.\n"They ended up getting the championship and the bye week and we needed to win one of those games," Dungy said, referring to last season. "We don't want that to happen again"