Colts hoping offensive line holds up

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Colts offensive linemen winced during film sessions this week.\nThere it was, in full, living color: Peyton Manning being sacked, taking the occasional hit and getting twisted to the ground at Tennessee.\nTo most teams, giving up two sacks and seven quarterback hits in a game might not be a big deal. But when you’re the league’s best protection unit over an eight-year span and you’re protecting the Super Bowl MVP, any little glitch gets noticed.\n“That doesn’t happen very often and to our guys, to their credit, that’s not acceptable,” coach Tony Dungy said. “That’s a good thing.”\nSince 1999, no offensive line has put up better numbers than Indianapolis (2-0).\nIt has allowed the league’s lowest sacks average (1.2) over the last 157 games, allowed the fewest sacks in a season five times, been ranked in the top four seven times and cleared the way for 1,000-yard runners in seven of the last eight seasons.\nThey’ve been so flawless that Manning, now in his 10th NFL season, has never missed a start.\nSo the aberration at Tennessee has forced the linemen to take a hard look at \nwhat happened.\n“There were some mental mistakes and some physical mistakes,” two-time Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday said. “You can fix the mental mistakes pretty quickly. The physical mistakes, those are sometimes caused by who you’re playing.”\nIn the case of the Titans, that meant dealing with a defensive line that included one of the league’s biggest defensive tackles, Albert Haynesworth, and one of the league’s top pass-rushers, Kyle Vanden Bosch.\nThis week, the Colts (2-0) face one of the league’s most improved lines at Houston.\nPairing defensive end Mario Williams, the top pick in the 2006 draft, with rookie defensive tackle Amobi Okoye, this year’s first-round pick, on the right side has given the Texans a dangerous one-two combination. Williams and Okoye each have two sacks this season, and Okoye is tied for the conference lead among defensive tackles with Jacksonville’s Marcus Stroud.\nNeither Kansas City nor Carolina managed to get much going in the ground game against the Texans. And after being held to only 45 offensive plays in last year’s surprising 27-24 loss at Houston, the Colts understand the challenge they face.\n“Their defensive front is a very athletic group,” Manning said. “I mean Williams is an extremely talented guy who’s just got tons of ability. Across the board, they’re very solid. They play hard, they play together and they’re sound in what they do.”\nInjuries could make this week’s task even more \nchallenging.\nRight tackle Ryan Diem missed his second straight day of practice Thursday with a neck injury and Dungy has not said whether he will play against Houston. Backup tackle Charlie Johnson, who missed the first two games with a knee injury, returned to practice Thursday and might play Sunday.\nThere were, however, concerns about the Colts’ line entering the season.