Colts set to face a different Titans team on Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WLFI) - While the talk this week has centered on Andrew Luck facing an opponent for the second time this season, it’s the Colts defense that doesn’t have the benefit of looking at the film of the same quarterback it saw back on Oct. 28.

Second-year quarterback Jake Locker will be under center on Sunday afternoon after a shoulder injury kept him out of the Colts 19-13 overtime victory in Nashville.

It won’t be the veteran Matt Hasselbeck opposing the Colts on Sunday, instead it’s the dual-threat Locker.

“A little bit better athlete, can make all the throws as well but going through that learning process with that West Coast system but doing well,” Colts defensive coordinator Greg Manusky said of Locker. “He can scramble out of the pocket so we’ve got to make sure that we force him into that pocket and get as much pressure on him as possible.”

In his last three games, Locker is averaging just over seven yards per carry on his 13 rushing attempts.

“He’s a big threat, very dangerous,” linebacker Pat Angerer said. “You can kind of underestimate him but he has made a lot of good plays with his feet.”

One aspect in preparation that won’t change for the Colts this week is trying to defend Pro Bowl running back Chris Johnson.

The electric Johnson ranks fourth in the AFC with 993 rushing yards and the Indianapolis defense is back to facing some of the league’s elite running backs to close out the regular season.

“The plan stays the same. You just try and control (Johnson),” outside linebacker Robert Mathis said. “You can’t let him get to that edge because if he gets loose, he’ll make you pay for it.”

Johnson holds an NFL record with five rushing touchdowns of at least 80 yards in his career and his ability to change the game in a blink of an eye has the Colts defense on high notice.

“You know he’s going to get three here, five there but as a defense you don’t want to let him get any. We don’t want him to get a yard,” inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman said.

“You’ve got to stop the home run and don’t let him get loose. Just try and make them as one-dimensional as you can and let those guys clean up front.”

Back on Oct. 28, Johnson had 99 rushing yards on 21 carries with a gain of 14 yards being his longest rush on the afternoon.

“We did alright,” Manusky said of his defense’s performance in Week 8. “Those good running backs, they keep on giving them the ball and then they usually break one or two. We don’t want him to do that on us on Sunday.” 

Titans head coach Mike Munchak said his team will continue to search for a more consistent rushing attack in an effort to help out a quarterback making his eighth career NFL start.

“Obviously against Indianapolis this weekend, we need to have a big day from (Johnson) because whenever you have a young quarterback, for us, we have to take some pressure off of (Locker) and not having to rely on Jake throwing the ball 45 times, especially coming to Indy, Munchak said.

Munchak pointed out a reason that the Colts have won four of five games since the team’s first meeting is how Indianapolis has played with the game on the line.

It’s the Colts offense that has garnered much of the attention on why Indianapolis is 7-1 in one-possession games but the effort shown by the defense when put in ‘sudden changes’ should not be forgotten.

“One thing we talk about all the time is that sudden change, we’ve got to go out there and make sure that we defend every blade of grass like (Bruce Arians) talks about,” Manusky said.

“Wherever they put us in any situation, we’ve got to make sure we’re defending it. I say that to the guys, I don’t care if they get the ball at the one-yard line and drive it all the way down to our one, it doesn’t matter. As long as they kick field goals, we have a chance to win the game.”