Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson should serve as the team’s best offensive and defensive weapon against an explosive Indianapolis Colts team during Saturday’s first-round playoff matchup in the RCA Dome.

The Chiefs offense likely will pound the ball with Johnson, who set a team record with 1,789 rushing yards and an NFL record with 416 attempts this year, against a porous Colts run defense, allowing a league-worst 173 yards per game.

But Kansas City (9-7) also needs its Pro Bowl runner to grind out the clock and keep the NFL’s No. 3-ranked offense, led by quarterback Peyton Manning, off the field.

“They’ve got racehorses,” coach Herm Edwards said during his Tuesday press conference. “That’s what their team is built for – a fast, high scoring inside game. They’ve got a quarterback who can score from anywhere on the football field, and they’ve got receivers who can score from anywhere on the football field, and they’ve got receivers that can jump and make catches.”

Kansas City running back Larry Johnson blows a kiss to the crowd after breaking the NFL single-season rushing-attempt record. Johnson figures to be the Chiefs' best offensive weapon against the Colts, who ranked last in the NFL in rush defense.

Indeed Manning, a two-time NFL MVP, enjoyed his usual stupendous season, passing for 4,387 yards and 31 touchdowns. His two prime receiving targets – Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne – each surpassed 1,000 receiving yards and combined for 21 touchdowns.

The Chiefs cannot let Manning and company jump out of the gates quickly because the Colts’ defense is designed to play against an offense in a must-throw situation. Although their defense lacks the girth to effectively stop the run, they have excellent speed on the edges with pass rushers Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis. In his first year as a full-time starter, Mathis racked up 9.5 sacks, and Freeney has registered double digit sacks four times in his five-year-career.

“What we don’t want to get into is a game where they take the ball away early and get up a couple of scores,” Edwards said. “Then they force you to do something you don’t want to do in this dome. You don’t want to have to go back and pass.”

As Edwards studies the 12-4 Colts, he sees something the Chiefs aspire to become – a winning franchise that has made the playoffs five years in a row.

“We want to mimic (Indianapolis),” Edwards said. “We want to be a team that’s in the playoffs every year.”