Secondary's charge: Contain the Colts

This was supposed to be a much bigger deal.

The Indianapolis Colts were supposed to ride into town Saturday with their explosive offense and much-improved defense, not to mention an undefeated record, and match them against their conference-best counterparts from the NFC, the Seahawks.

Then the San Diego Chargers went and spoiled pretty much everything by defeating the Colts 26-17 in Indianapolis last Sunday. Since then, Seahawks fans with tickets to what might have been the regular-season matchup of the year in the NFL have learned that the Colts plan to rest their starters for at least part of the game.

The fans likely won't see a full game from the Colts' offensive stars — quarterback Peyton Mannning, wide receiver Marvin Harrison and running back Edgerrin James. Harrison and Manning will almost certainly leave the game early, if only because Harrison has a fractured right hand and Manning a swollen knee.

Manning's injury isn't believed to be serious, and Harrison's hand could take two weeks to heal even though he can play through it.

That doesn't mean the Seahawks will not take this game seriously. There is pride at stake, home-field advantage in the NFC playoffs on the line and an undefeated record at Qwest Field to achieve.

To do that, there is a vaunted Colts offense to stop, if only for as long as the stars are in the game. The Seahawks can — and will — learn from the Chargers' effort by trying to make it as uncomfortable for Manning to drop back and pass as often as possible.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren said Tuesday that he was anxious to look at the San Diego game film because "Indianapolis has been remarkable all season long; no one has really touched them."

If Manning gets the time to set up, look downfield and throw, he's at his most dangerous. And the Seahawks' pass defense made aging Steve McNair look like his former MVP self in Seattle's too-close-for-comfort win over the Tennessee Titans last week.

"You play this team [the Colts] and you don't really want any vulnerable position in the secondary," Holmgren said. "That's not a real good combination, but it is what it is."

"They functioned not as well as they had, for whatever reason," Holmgren said. "So the players have to answer that question. They'll come and tell me and say, 'I'm sorry.' I said, 'OK. You have to answer why that happened.' They have done that. I'm not worried at all that they will answer that question and prepare themselves properly this week."

The problems defending the pass were related to a lack of pass rush. The Seahawks failed to get a sack for the first time in a game all season.

"Our fans might say, 'Well, shoot, our secondary got victimized,' " Holmgren said. "If you look at it hard, they didn't get a lot of help.

"We just didn't get there."

The Seahawks don't quite have the type of pass-rush specialist who can take over a game — the way the Chargers' Shawne Merriman did Sunday in harassing Manning. But they do have a high-effort, high-energy defense that has been very good at getting sacks.

It might serve the Seahawks well to take chances and blitz more often. Linebackers Leroy Hill and Lofa Tatupu have been good at getting pressure, and defensive tackle Rocky Bernard and end Bryce Fisher have been successful with simple bull rushes.

The run defense against James figures to have more success. It's hard to imagine holding the physical James to 25 yards the way the Chargers did, but the Seahawks have allowed only one 100-yard rusher all season. So, the more pressing concerns are in the pass rush and secondary.

The Colts run a lot of single-back offensive sets and don't appear to have a lot of different running plays for James. They also protect Manning extremely well, having allowed an NFL-low 16 sacks.

"We definitely are aware that we have to play a lot better on defense," safety Michael Boulware said. "Any phase of their offense, they can beat you in. We're going to have to stop all phases of their offense."

Seattle could be in for a long afternoon without cornerbacks Andre Dyson and Kelly Herndon, who are out with injuries. That leaves Marcus Trufant to cover Harrison, and Jordan Babineaux — against whom McNair found success Sunday — to handle the overshadowed but very capable Reggie Wayne on the other side. Tight end Dallas Clark also can't be overlooked; the Titans had plenty of success going to tight end Ben Troupe on Sunday.

"The Colts are doing something a little different than most other teams offensively," said Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher, whose team faces the Colts in the AFC South twice a season. "I think it's going to take a number of years for defenses to catch up with them. ... You have to take advantage of a sack, of a knocked-down pass, of a holding penalty and get them into third down and get off the field."

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com