Baltimore ? The Indianapolis Colts took a page right out of the Baltimore Ravens’ playbook.

The Colts’ defense answered every Ravens challenge, and proved more stout and more opportunistic than the league’s best-ranked unit in a game of field goals that sent Indianapolis into next week’s AFC championship game with a 15-6 win on Saturday in Baltimore.

“We knew their defense was going to come out and put a lot of pressure on our offense, and we decided that we were going to pressure them, too,” Colts safety Bob Sanders said.

Most figured the Colts’ beleaguered defense would prevent it from making this kind of postseason run. That may not be the case any longer.

A week ago, the Colts held one of the league’s best backs, Kansas City’s Larry Johnson, to 32 yards rushing.

This time, Jamal Lewis carried 13 times for 53 yards, only squirting free for a couple of big gains, and the Ravens finished with 20 carries for 83 yards.

They were equally inconsistent through the air. Steve McNair was 18-of-29 for 173 yards, was sacked twice, lost a fumble and threw two interceptions.

The Ravens couldn’t take advantage of Peyton Manning’s subpar performance. Manning was 15-of-30 for 170 yards, two interceptions and a rating of 39.6.

“I’m not sure if we’ve ever won one before in the nine years I’ve played without scoring a touchdown,” Manning said. “My guess is no.”

The Colts actually did that in the 2003 season opener against Cleveland, a 9-6 win.

But the Indianapolis defense played so poorly during the regular season, Manning could be forgiven for that mistake.