Tampa, Fla. ? Tony Dungy sold his defensive philosophy to the Indianapolis Colts rather quickly. All he had to do was turn on some film of his old team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The coach helped mold the Bucs into Super Bowl champions. Now, he has the Colts on the verge of climbing among the NFL’s elite.

An offensive juggernaut before Dungy’s arrival in 2002, the unbeaten Colts (4-0) are off to their best start in seven years thanks to an improved defense that runs the same scheme that’s been instrumental to Tampa Bay’s success.

“For my first three years here, we had a tough time on defense, and we took all the heat. We were the stepchild,” defensive end Chad Bratzke said. “You just can’t compare. He just turned things around. We feel now like if we have to go out there to make a stop, we can make the stop.”

Tonight, Dungy returns to Raymond James Stadium as coach of an opposing team for the first time when the Colts face the Bucs (2-1).

“If you look at (Tampa Bay’s) defense, they just continue to play better every year the more they have guys in the system. The more guys know about what they’re doing, the less mistakes you make,” Dungy said.