Before 's bad shoulder made it at least conceivable and before, even, deflated footballs swallowed the offseason, set the NFL against in its history and gave birth to the , there was a simpler concern for the as they contemplated the : Can the ' defense at all?"I think so," safety said. "You can't take anything away from them, but if we go into the game and follow our plan and limit their touches and yards after the catch, if we tackle well and stay within our scheme, we should be OK."That is a lot of ifs for a defense that has had a lot of whiffs in four games against the since 2012 -- when Luck became the quarterback. The have outscored the 189-73, including the last season. The have scored at least 42 points in all four games, averaging 47.3 points per game, 29 more points per game than the average.Perhaps most astonishing is the ' utter dominance with the run when playing Indy. They have scored 15 rushing touchdowns and averaged 193 rushing yards per game (on an average of 39 carries per game). Against the , they have rushed 55 percent of the time, while rushing just 40 percent of the time against all other opponents. In the last three games alone, the have rushed for 657 yards. Memorably, last season the made look like Jim Brown , when he rushed for 201 yards and four touchdowns. Then Gray overslept and was never heard from again. By the time the playoffs began, it was 's turn and he .In the wake of those games, owner Jim Irsay made . The effort took an early hit when defensive tackle Art Jones before the season even began. Then , the starting nose tackle, . The new-look defensive front -- with rookies and on the line -- has held up well. Last week, to 41 yards on 19 rushes. This week, they're set to face (), who was briefly in Indianapolis last season and who has 418 yards from scrimmage in four games this season."Not to compare, but we are doing everything right," said Adams, who was named the after he had two interceptions, two pa ses defended and five tackles . "We are holding our blocks and getting our linebackers free. We have faced good runners up until this day, and I think we did a fairly good job. That won't stop -- Dion is a good back, a shifty back and that's a good test for us. He's slippery. Blount had a great game against us in the playoffs. Our game is we have to make them one dimensional, we have to stop the run."So the want to force the game into 's hands? Really?"When can't run, it does make it a little harder," Adams said with a laugh.It has been an odd, , who began the season as a popular pick to represent the AFC in the but who lost their first two games as Luck struggled behind a porous offensive line. But the have won their last three -- two with under center as Luck recovered from the shoulder injury -- all against division opponents. The start has surprised everybody, Adams admitted, who, in a bit of positive spin, thinks the will peak at the right time. He wonders where teams that start hot will be in Week 10 or 11. Still, the rocky beginning to the season -- replete with speculation that coach Chuck Pagano if the do not make a run to the -- has given this game even greater meaning for the ."In this league, you don't want to use things as a measuring stick," Adams said. "We are 3-0 in our division, and this is another conference game and they are big tests. This is a Maxx Williams Jersey big game for us. I'm not saying it's a do-or-die situation. I know we're progre sing. I see progre s every week."We're without two games straight, but we still won those games. You can look at that as a positive. We stepped up. Now we're getting pieces back. We know what we have now. I want to say I'm curious about a measuring stick."The have gone out of their way this week to insist that this is just another game, mostly to not acknowledge the elephant in the NFL: The undefeated seem to be on a Deflategate-fueled mi sion to obliterate opponents. The scandal all began in Indianapolis and there is little doubt that the would not mind embarra sing the in their first meeting since the AFC Championship Game.Pagano's me sage to his team was to stay focused on the task at hand this week, and the have been careful not to engage in any talk about deflated footballs. It is worth noting that if the would sooner forget Deflategate, so would the , who remember the game that started it all with much worse memories."Honestly, I wouldn't say we've ignored it. I'd say it wasn't in my mind at all," Adams said. "I say that because of the fact that it was talked about and it kept being talked about, and our names were being mentioned and we had a bad lo s. It was like an excuse. They really beat us, beat us bad. It's like, 'Let's stop talking about Deflategate because it brought back memories of the lo s.' I don't blame it on the ball. We got our butts handed to us."If they said they have got to make a point, well, we do, too. We're 3-2. We've got to make more points than they do. We've got to win a game. If they are using that as motivation, that's fine. We have our own motivation. We have to show people we are for real."Three more things to watch around the NFL in Week 6:1) A game to determine first place in the NFC East. Seriously, that's -, and it is as much a testament to New York's improved defense and Philadelphia's determination to run the ball as it is to the . Both offenses are coming off their best performances of the season , so this game could hinge on the defenses. That should favor the , whose rush defense with a very big caveat: linebacker , the linchpin of the defense, left with a concu sion and it is not clear if or how much he will be able to play. The pa s defense also sustained a hit, with cornerback out a few weeks with a pectoral injury. The running game is critical for the , who have averaged 155 yards rushing in their two victories, but just 52.3 yards in their three lo ses. The other : Jr.'s hamstring bothered him during the victory over the , and while trainers said early in the week he was responding well, any setback for him is a setback for the entire offense.2) It might seem like the Bruce Arians Bowl, but the game between is likely to boil down to the ' defense against and . The announced on Friday that . Even with the return of receiver , the will have to be careful with what they allow Vick, who has connected on just one pa s that traveled at least 20 yards in the air, to do. The already -- three more than any other team -- and they have at least one sack in each of the last 14 games. So expect a heavy dose of Bell, who has been spectacular in his three games, going for more than 125 yards from scrimmage in each of them. This is a tough task for the on a short week against what might be the NFL's most complete team.3) The are undefeated, but still feels like a litmus test for their conference title viability, even though the are clearly not right at 2-3. The 'Hawks , but their offensive line better figure out how to block for (Seattle has already ). This is probably not the game the finally figure out what to do with . The ' defense has allowed just 86 yards total in receiving yards by tight ends this season, the fewest in the NFL. And the have scored a touchdown on just seven of 54 offensive po se sions. Wondering how the will score? It probably will have to be the show again. He already has 43 carries and two rushing touchdowns this season, to go with seven touchdown pa ses. One more interesting wrinkle to watch: Is there any hangover after the blew a to the ?Follow Judy Battista on Twitter . Greg Dortch Jersey