These cutbacks can be costly

The Tampa 2 defense that has been the Achilles' heel of the Indianapolis Colts for so long in games like tonight's really should be known as the "Pittsburgh '72."

The defense Colts coach Tony Dungy helped perfect in Tampa but has as yet been unable to duplicate in Indianapolis has its roots in the work of former Steelers defensive coordinator Bud Carson, who first installed the concepts that make up the Tampa 2 in Pittsburgh when he arrived in 1972. Dungy got there as a rookie defensive back in 1977 and eventually would play, coach, and coordinate that defense for the Steelers.

Later, Dungy took over a struggling Buccaneers franchise and got it to the playoffs four times in six years with a defense that incorporated the basics of the "Pittsburgh '72," a zone defense based on speed that was designed to frustrate the quick passing game of the West Coast offenses that had begun to permeate the NFL and continue to be in vogue today.

It is a coverage scheme that has worked well for years and been adopted in many NFL cities, but every defense has a weakness, as even the Hall of Famer-laden Steelers of the 1970s did. And for the cousin of the "Pittsburgh '72" that Dungy runs, the flaw is most often exposed by cutback, power running backs with an approach not unlike those of Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney. The team personification of that rushing style has long been the Denver Broncos, who gashed the Colts for 227 rushing yards a week ago. But even the lowly Tennessee Titans piled up 214 yards rushing on Indianapolis this year in a 14-13 Colts victory.

A year ago, it appeared that Indianapolis had finally stabilized its defense, finishing 16th against the run (110.1 yards per game) and second in points allowed (15.4 per game). The belief was that the Colts had turned the corner defensively because their younger players had begun to mature, but that has not been reflected this season after the losses of defensive tackles Larry Tripplett (free agency), Corey Simon (injury), and Montae Reagor (off-field injury), linebacker David Thornton (free agency), and undersized safety Bob Sanders (injury).

That combination of personnel losses and disappointing play along the line and at linebacker has left the Colts last in the league against the run (167.9 yards a game, 5.4 yards per rush) and tied for 21st in the most important stat in defensive football, points allowed, at 21.9 a game. Not even the recent addition by trade of former Bucs defensive tackle Anthony "Booger" McFarland has improved the situation much, and it is a situation that is likely to haunt the Colts again tonight if Dungy and his staff can't come up with something new or his players can't come up with better individual gap-control play.

In point of fact, though, Dungy's Colts actually play less Cover 2 than people think. They often are in Cover 2 before the snap but then run up a safety to attack the line of scrimmage as the ball is snapped if a run is anticipated. That leaves only one safety to cover the deep ball, and with Sanders inactive for the past five games and Mike Doss forced to go on injured reserve last week, Dungy was left using young cornerback Marlin Jackson at free safety and rookie Antoine Bethea at strong safety in Denver. They were not the entire problem against the run by any stretch, but they weren't part of the solution, either, and neither was McFarland.

The absence of Sanders, who is small but a fierce tackler in the running game, and the disappearance of Doss left the Colts with inexperience in the deep secondary and a weaker presence against the run at the line of scrimmage than they had shown a week earlier against the Redskins, when McFarland's addition seemed to have a positive impact on a defense that also had Doss playing like a fourth linebacker on first down.

Sanders is expected back tonight, but he's not likely to be 100 percent in a game in which the Colts must find a way to stop New England from trampling them with its running game, which is averaging 124.9 yards per game (eighth in the NFL), and thus opening up the play-action passes that can riddle their secondary.

For the Cover 2 to be effective against the run, the Colts will need stouter play by their front four, which must hold up New England's blockers and not get turned sideways, thus creating wide running lanes for Maroney and Dillon. If they can't hold their gaps, backs will come slashing through the defense, gashing it the same way Denver did by hitting the secondary running before there are any tacklers in position to stop them.

"If you have the cutback, then you can start running the football [on Indianapolis]," said Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. "Mike Bell did a good job cutting the ball back, and once you start cutting the ball back, it opens up the quarterback keeps."

Indeed, Jake Plummer ran well against the Colts, though Tom Brady won't be asked to do much of that tonight.

What the cutback also opens up is the vulnerable midsection of the Colts defense that has been protected for seven games by quarterback Peyton Manning's arm. If that's where the Colts again look for help tonight, it may not be there.

Something fishy in payroll

Next time you want to complain about NFL players being disloyal and greedy, remember this story out of Miami.

The Dolphins were recently accused of trying to use a loophole to shortchange former practice squad player Keith Heinrich out of $4,700, as they at first refused to pay him for two practices he participated in prior to the season opener against Pittsburgh. Heinrich had been waived at the end of the preseason and subsequently re-signed to the practice squad. He was on the field Sept. 3 and 4 as the Dolphins prepared to play the Steelers Sept. 7 but was released the morning of Sept. 5, when the Dolphins re-signed tight end Jason Rader.

According to Heinrich's agent, Mike McCartney, Dolphins coach Nick Saban had told the player he would be paid for the two practices but team management later refused to do so, citing a league rule that teams don't have to pay any practice squad member who isn't on the roster by 4 p.m. Sept. 5. That deadline did not take into account that the Dolphins and Steelers began their normal practice week three days early because they were playing in the league's season-opening Thursday night game.

Heinrich would have worked for them that week for free had the Dolphins gotten their way. Practice squad players are paid $4,700 a week during the regular season for a maximum salary of $79,900 (by comparison, the minimum rookie salary is $275,000).

Heinrich was preparing to file a grievance with the NFL Players Association to address the loophole until Saban intervened after learning of the situation by reading a report in a Miami newspaper. Two days later, McCartney received a call from the Dolphins saying the franchise would make good on the money. Tip of the helmet to Saban for that, but somebody in the Dolphins' front office should be ashamed.

Running off at the mouth

A year ago, San Diego coach Marty Schottenheimer got into some hot water in these parts after his team dismantled a decimated New England defense and he alluded to the fact that the Chargers probably hadn't beaten the real Patriots. Schottenheimer was trying to be kind but was ripped for the comment by Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who suggested he worry about his own team.

Well, during a conference call with the Cleveland media last night, Schottenheimer was asked to discuss his All-Pro running back, LaDainian Tomlinson. Instead of simply praising him, Schottenheimer claimed he was the best running back of all time. This in the town that gave the NFL Jim Brown, who really was the greatest running back of all time.

Said Schottenheimer, "I spent a couple of years here saying [Tomlinson] was the best. The more I was around him, the more I became convinced that he is the best that I've ever seen. My timeline goes back to probably Jim Brown. I imagine that there were some terrific backs before that, but Jim Brown was the guy that I always viewed as being the best all-time.

"Certainly, you can make an argument for it either way. LaDainian brings just versatility to everything that we do because he can run, catch, and throw it. He is a good pass protector. He is really the complete running back."

Tomlinson certainly is. What he's not is Jim Brown.

Etc.

Seahawks quarterback Seneca Wallace had extra help last week as he prepared to replace the injured Matt Hasselbeck. It seems when he first came to Seattle, Wallace's study habits were not good. This seemed of little importance since he was the third-string quarterback and used more as a receiver than anything else, but when he became Hasselbeck's backup last season, coach Mike Holmgren suggested he attend learning classes to help him absorb the playbook and game plans. Asked about that before his first NFL start last week, Wallace said, "It's something that a lot of people do; there were a lot of grownups there." The Seahawks hope he was one of them.

The Saints have four players on pace to gain 1,000 yards from scrimmage: running backs Deuce McAllister (552) and Reggie Bush (502), and wide receivers Marques Colston (577) and Joe Horn (507). If they keep it up, they'll be the first team in NFL history to have two running backs and two receivers accomplish that feat in the same season. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, four teams in NFL history have had four players gain 1,000 yards from scrimmage, but in each case it was one tailback and three receivers.

The job has been getting tougher every week for rookie quarterback Bruce Gradkowski in Tampa. His production has slipped each of the past four weeks since replacing injured Chris Simms and throwing for 225 yards and two touchdowns against New Orleans Oct. 8. Gradkowski set an NCAA record by completing more than 70 percent of his passes for two seasons at Toledo, and he looked like the same guy in his first NFL game when he completed 64.5 percent against the Saints. But then he slipped to 56.8 percent against the Bengals, 50 percent against the Eagles, and just 41.7 last Sunday at windy Giants Stadium. "It's tough," said Gradkowski, referring to the exotic blitzes he faces. "I'm not used to this. In college, you can kind of get out of the pocket and run for more yards and not throw as many balls away. It's crazy. When I get a chance to see what my stats are, it's like, 'Oh, my gosh!' " Gradkowski said he often realizes when he's confused, but, "You don't get 10 times-outs a game." Funny kid with a future, it says here.

The fashion police struck Titans rookie quarterback Vince Young last Sunday when he was fined by the league for wearing a pair of Reeboks in the first half of the win over Houston that were not primarily white, which is the Titans' color of choice. He wore black shoes with big swatches of light blue before switching at halftime.

Football has seen the last of Curtis Martin. Although Martin has refused to say publicly that his career is over, he has acknowledged he's done for the year because he cannot get his balky knee working well enough. But it is a degenerative, bone-on-bone condition that does not reverse itself. Martin spoke with his first coach, Bill Parcells, last week before announcing that he would not try to play this year, and Parcells told him that he had become the league's fourth all-time leading rusher because he was always willing to push himself, but there is a time when you can push no more. For a great runner and a greater guy, that time has come. Five or six years from now, so will his entry into the Hall of Fame.

You may not have heard of this guy, but Bears fifth-round draft choice Mark Anderson has 7 1/2 sacks in his first seven NFL games, which is a league record. The Colts' Vernon Maxwell (1983), the Bengals' James Francisco (1990), the Buccaneers' Santana Dotson (1992), and the Panthers' Julius Peppers (2002) had shared the record with seven sacks in their first seven games.

One of the few bright spots in the Lions' season has been free agent wide receiver Mike Furrey, who has come out of nowhere to catch 37 passes for 431 yards and three scores after less-than-memorable stints in the XFL, the Arena League, and for the last three years in St. Louis. He never thought he'd be reunited with Lions offensive coordinator Mike Martz, who called in March while Furrey was attending the state basketball tournament in Columbus, Ohio. Furrey didn't recognize the number on his cellphone but answered anyway. Martz offered him a chance to come to the Lions, but Furrey thought it was to play safety, a position Martz shifted him to in St. Louis out of necessity. In Detroit, Martz needed a guy who could catch and be teamed with Roy Williams.

With the Eagles on a three-game losing streak, some guys apparently are looking for a way to hide their identities. One is newly added cornerback Will Peterson, who became the second Eagle this season to change his name. Peterson now wants to be known as William James. He is dropping his last name and using his middle name, saying it symbolizes a changed attitude after he was cut by the Giants. That's a relief. I thought it was to be named after his favorite author. Also, tackle Tra Thomas has asked that he now be called by his given name, William. Apparently, "Tra" was a nickname referring to his being William Thomas III. Now Tra is gone, and so is Will Peterson. Another loss or two and the rest of the Eagles will be gone with them.

Ron Borges can be reached at borges@globe.com; material from personal interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.