Kansas City, Mo. ? If playoff experience counts most, Indianapolis might beat Kansas City handily today.

The Chiefs (13-3) haven’t won a postseason game in 10 years. For the Colts (13-4), it’s been seven days.

Momentum might favor the Colts, who’ve won four of their last five, including a 41-10 destruction of Denver last week in a wild-card match.

Kansas City started 9-0 but is 3-3 in its last six games, and took last week off. The Chiefs’ most recent losses were blowouts to Denver and Minnesota. Each scored 45 points against a defense whose confidence might be shaken if Peyton Manning and the Colts score a couple of quick TDs.

The Chiefs are supremely confident, however, that they’ll own one advantage in deciding which team will play in next week’s AFC championship game.

It will come dressed in red, barbecue-fed and noisy, noisy, noisy.

It’s not just a coincidence the Chiefs have won 13 straight in Arrowhead Stadium, where about 80,000 red-clad fans will tailgate all morning and then squeeze into their seats ready to yell and scream and disrupt the Colts in every way that’s legal.

“They probably eat their scrambled eggs dyed red and drink red beer,” Chiefs coach Dick Vermeil said. “They are Kansas City Chiefs passionate fans.

“They add a dimension of intensity to how our guys play at home, a consistent intensity. They add a level of enthusiasm. I think it’s a huge advantage.”

Much is made of Kansas City’s 30th-ranked run defense giving up a whopping 146.5 yards per game. But while going 8-0 at home this year, the average yield has been just barely over 100 yards on the ground.

“I don’t know what it is, but we do seem to be at our best at home,” cornerback Eric Warfield said. “They’re out there yelling and cheering for us. The noise is unbelievable. We feed off their energy.”

The Colts, however, have the AFC’s best road record at 7-1. And although it was eight years ago — a generation in football terms — their last playoff road win was in Arrowhead Stadium.

But aren’t dome teams supposed to struggle on the road, particularly in the postseason?

“I don’t think so,” said Manning, who threw five touchdown passes against the Broncos in one of the finest games of his career. “That’s an image that’s always out there for dome teams. But we have been good on the road as well this year. It still comes down to whether you’re playing well, whether it’s on the road or at home.”

The Chiefs’ scoring differential at home was almost 19 points a game. It’s been such a decided edge, Vermeil worries his players might subconsciously rely too much on the crowd disrupting their foe.

“I told the squad, home-field advantage is only a home-field advantage if you make it one,” Vermeil said. “First off, you’ve got to realize no one’s going to cover a punt for you, no one’s going to tackle for you, no one’s going to catch the ball for you. It’s all still going to be in your hands. And if you don’t play real well you’re liable to make (the fans) mad and then they become your enemy.”

In Tony Dungy’s two years as head coach, the Colts are an impressive 12-5 away from their dome. But in the one playoff road game, they lost 41-0 to the Jets last year.

“We’ve got to go to Kansas City and expect the same type of environment that Denver ran into in Indianapolis,” Dungy said. “We’re playing on the road, so that’s going to be a little different. The thing we do have is some veteran guys on offense and some good veteran leadership on our team, and we don’t really have any phobia about going on the road.”

The offenses are almost exactly even. With Trent Green throwing for 4,039 yards and Priest Holmes rushing for 1,420 yards and an NFL-record 27 touchdowns, the Chiefs scored more than 30 points a game to lead the league.

Manning, with 4,267 yards, was the only quarterback to have more yards passing than Green. Edgerrin James rushed for 1,229 yards and 11 touchdowns, and it added up to a 28-point average for the Colts.

The scoring defense is nearly even. Kansas City allowed 20.8 points per game and Indianapolis 21 — both more than any other 2003 playoff team.

“In the playoffs, you see all kinds of crazy games,” Manning said. “Certainly, I think people are going to talk about the two offenses, because we put up a lot of points. I think it’s going to come down to just whoever executes the best. What you hope for is your offense and defense feed off each other and both phases are playing well at the same time.”