By Tony Moss, NFL Editor

(Sports Network) - The San Diego Chargers will have an opportunity to reach their first AFC Championship since 1994 on Sunday afternoon, but will have to get through the reigning world champions in order to make it there.

Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts will be the team standing in the Chargers' way at the RCA Dome in Sunday's AFC Divisional Playoff, and Indy has significantly more experience with that type of white-hot spotlight than does San Diego.

With a win over the Bolts, Indy will have reached its third AFC Championship in the past five years, and will have notched its eighth playoff win in head coach Tony Dungy's six years on the job.

By comparison, the Chargers have eight postseason victories in their 48-year franchise history, and one of those came in last Sunday's 17-6 triumph over depleted Tennessee in an AFC First-Round tilt.

Still, San Diego has ample reason to come into Sunday's game as a confident bunch.

The Chargers have now won seven straight games since starting the year a disappointing 5-5, and also have a positive recent history against the team they will be facing at the RCA Dome.

San Diego was a 23-21 home winner when it hosted Indianapolis back on Nov. 11, a game in which Manning threw a career-high six interceptions.

The Chargers also scored a 26-17 road upset in their most recent visit to Indianapolis, in Week 15 of the 2005 season, a game that knocked the then-13-0 Colts off of their perfect pedestal.

Indianapolis comes off a First-Round playoff bye, a game that was preceded by a 16-10 Week 17 loss to Tennessee. The Colts, who saw their six-game winning streak go by the wayside in that contest, rested many of their key players for large stretches of that game.

SERIES HISTORY

The Colts won the only postseason meeting between the teams all-time, claiming a 35-20 win on the road in a 1995 AFC First-Round Playoff.

The Chargers hold a 14-8 advantage in the all-time regular season series with the Colts, including the aforementioned 23-21 home win when the teams met in Week 10 and the 26-17 road upset in 2005. The Chargers lost the three previous head-to-head meetings, including a 34-31 overtime affair at the RCA Dome in 2004.

Dungy is 2-2 all-time against San Diego, including a win for his Buccaneers in the 1996 season. The Chargers' Norv Turner is 2-3 all-time against Indianapolis, including 1-2 while head coach in Washington (1994-2000). Turner is 1-2 head-to-head against Dungy, including a loss for his Raiders to Indy in 2004.

WHEN THE CHARGERS HAVE THE BALL

San Diego was able to beat Tennessee last Sunday despite a weak showing from running back LaDainian Tomlinson against a Titans defense that stacked the box in order to stop him. The two-time reigning NFL rushing champ managed just 42 yards on 21 carries for the day, though he did deliver the fatal blow with a controversial one-yard touchdown plunge in the fourth quarter. Tomlinson rushed for 76 yards and a TD on 21 totes against the Colts in Week 10, and also led the Chargers with four receptions in that win. Michael Turner spelled Tomlinson with 28 yards on nine carries last Sunday.

After enduring a shaky first half against the Titans last week, Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers (292 passing yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) was instrumental in San Diego's ability to recover from a 6-0 halftime deficit. Working without tight end and top target Antonio Gates, who was carted off with a foot injury, Rivers managed to complete 12-of-17 passes for 194 yards and a touchdown during the second-half rally. Inconsistent wideouts Vincent Jackson (5 receptions, 114 yards, 1 TD) and Chris Chambers came up huge for San Diego, with Jackson putting the Chargers ahead on a 25-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter and Chambers picking the right time to turn in the best performance of his 11-game career with the team. Gates (2 receptions) is regarded as questionable for Sunday, and if he can't go, the Chargers could rely more on Brandon Manumaleuna (2 receptions) as a pass-catcher over the middle of the field.

Running the football doesn't figure to come any easier for Tomlinson against an Indianapolis defense that ranked sixth in the league in yards per rushing attempt allowed (3.768) during the regular season and counts NFL Defensive Player of the Year and safety Bob Sanders (96 tackles, 3.5 sacks, 2 INT) as its most feared run-stopper. Sanders, who finished second on the team in tackles to only middle linebacker Gary Brackett (116 tackles, 4 INT), was a major reason for the ascendancy of the Colts' defense during last year's playoff run. Brackett and starting tackles Darrell Reid (31 tackles) and Ed Johnson (41 tackles, 1 sack) have also been essential to the Indy run-stopping effort this season.

Rivers and his receivers will face up against a statistically sound Colts secondary that led the team to the NFL's No. 2 rank in passing defense (172.8 yards per game), behind only the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In addition to the work of Sanders, cornerbacks Marlin Jackson (87 tackles, 1 INT), Kelvin Hayden (83 tackles, 3 INT), and safety Antoine Bethea (65 tackles, 4 INT) turned in solid 2007 campaigns. Linebacker Clint Session (26 tackles, 2 INT) had both interceptions against Philip Rivers in Week 10, but has done little of note since returning to his reserve role following that game. The Indianapolis pass rush has not been as furious since Dwight Freeney went down with a season- ending foot injury against San Diego in November, but end Robert Mathis (32 tackles, 7 sacks) still has to be accounted for coming off the edge.

WHEN THE COLTS HAVE THE BALL

Much of the focus as it pertains to the Indianapolis offense this week will rest not on Manning's 4,040 passing yards this season, his 31 touchdown passes, or his glistening 98.0 passer rating. Instead, league observers will hearken back to his six-INT night against the Chargers eight weeks ago, and wonder if the future Hall-of-Famer will again struggle against San Diego's 3-4 defense. Despite that poor outing, Manning also threw for 328 yards and two touchdowns on 34-of-56 passing in that game, and had Indianapolis in position to take a late lead before Adam Vinatieri missed a chip-shot field goal. Also, the Indianapolis offense was without wideouts Marvin Harrison (20 receptions, 1 TD) and Anthony Gonzalez (37 receptions, 3 TD), tight end Dallas Clark (58 receptions, 11 TD), and left tackle Tony Ugoh in that contest, and all of those players are expected to be in uniform on Sunday. Harrison, who has not played since Oct. 22nd due to a knee injury, is not listed on this week's injury report. Pro Bowler Reggie Wayne (104 receptions, 10 TD) had 10 catches for 140 yards and a touchdown in his last meeting with the Chargers.

After starting the year as a consistent focal point of the Indianapolis offense, Colts running back Joseph Addai (1072 rushing yards, 41 receptions, 15 TD) was less of a factor down the stretch. Addai averaged just 46 ground yards per game during the second half of the season, and never amassed more than 72 yards in a contest during that period. Included in that group of games was a lackluster 22-carry, 56-yard showing against the Chargers in Week 10. Addai had 294 yards and a pair of touchdowns in Indy's four-game run to the Super Bowl title last season. Kenton Keith (533 rushing yards, 13 receptions, 4 TD) spells Addai.

Judging by his last performance against San Diego, you can be fairly certain that Manning will be aware of the whereabouts of cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who logged three of his NFL-best 10 interceptions against Indianapolis back on Nov. 11th. Cromartie (1 tackle) was quiet against Tennessee last week, but fellow d-back Drayton Florence did manage an interception of the Titans' Vince Young. The Chargers finished the regular season with an NFL-best 30 INTs. The high-octane San Diego pass rush, which sacked the usually-untouchable Manning twice in Week 10, managed to bring Young down three times in the First-Round. Outside linebacker Shawne Merriman (4 tackles) had one sack after getting to the quarterback 12.5 times during the regular season, and the team's second- most-feared pass rusher, Shaun Phillips, notched 10 tackles and a fumble recovery in the win.

San Diego was a middle-of-the-pack 16th in the league against the run (107.1 yards per game) during the regular season, but held the Titans' LenDale White in check to the tune of 69 yards on 19 carries last week. Luis Castillo paced the Bolts' three-man front with eight tackles in the game, and inside linebacker Stephen Cooper managed another eight stops playing behind him. Pro Bowl nose tackle Jamal Williams was credited with just one tackle last week, but disrupts opposing running games with his mere 350-pound presence. Williams had six tackles against Indianapolis when the teams met in November.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The Chargers have to be concerned about kicker Nate Kaeding, who has been great during the regular season during his four-year career but has missed key field goals in each of his three postseason appearances to date. Last week, Kaeding misfired on a 45-yard attempt that would have tied the game at 3-3 in the second quarter. The Iowa product later connected on a 20-yard kick. Ex- Packer and Chief Dave Rayner will continue to kick off for San Diego, and Mike Scifres (40.8 avg. last week) will punt.

Return man Darren Sproles made history against the Colts in Week 10, becoming just the second player in NFL history to return both a punt and kickoff for touchdowns in the same quarter.

Vinatieri may be the greatest clutch kicker in the history of the NFL, but this has not been a banner year for the 35-year-old. Vinatieri (23-29 FG) did not make a field goal longer than 39 yards this season (and that kick came in Week 2), and his two misses against San Diego in Week 10 led directly to the team's two-point loss. Still, Dungy won't go sleepless worrying about either him or reliable punter Hunter Smith (41.9 average).

Reserve corner T.J. Rushing (13.1 punt return avg., 1 TD, 23.0 kickoff return avg.) will likely handle all return chores if he is able to overcome an illness that has him listed as questionable on the injury report. If Rushing can't go, backup wideout Craphonso Thorpe (21.2 kickoff return avg., 5.2 punt return avg.) would be the guy. Sproles' game-opening TD against the Colts in Week 10 was one of three that Indy allowed off of kickoff returns this season.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

The Colts and Chargers have played three close games in their three head-to- head meetings of the last four seasons, and there is little reason to expect that this one will be any different. Both clubs are talented, confident, and possess few major weaknesses. Indianapolis, however, has two important advantages. One lies, strangely enough, in the health of a team that has been injury-scarred for much of the year. The Colts look to be as healthy as they've been in some time, whereas the Chargers appear unlikely to have Gates, a key offensive cog, on the field. The other advantage lies with a loud home crowd, which won't allow Rivers to get totally comfortable or display the type of performance he put up in the second half last week. San Diego won't go down without a fight, but the Chargers will go down.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Colts 31, Chargers 24