Kansas City Chiefs' Young Secondary Faces Tough Test Against Peyton Manning

The Kansas City Chiefs will be facing off against the best quarterback in the NFL on Sunday when they take their 3-0 record to Indianapolis to play the Colts.

Peyton Manning may have attended the University of Tennessee, but don't expect him to take it easy on Chiefs' safety Eric Berry, a fellow Vols alum. Manning is sporting a league-best 11 touchdowns, a 112.2 passer rating, and is second to Denver's Kyle Orton in yardage, throwing for more than 340 yards per game.

The young Chiefs secondary, which ranks 25th in the league in pass defense, will need to show that they took advantage of the bye week with some extra film study if they plan to slow down the Colts passing game on Sunday. 

Chiefs cornerbacks Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr will be matched up against the top two receivers in the league in the Colts' Reggie Wayne and Austin Collie. In addition, the Colts sport the league's best receiving tight end in Dallas Clark. 

Like San Diego's Philip Rivers did in the Monday night opener against the Chiefs, Manning is going to make plays and will likely throw for 300 or more yards for a third straight game. 

The key for the Chiefs will be the play of rookie safeties Eric Berry and Kendrick Lewis and providing help on Wayne and Collie on deep routes, but also limiting the impact of Clark to get open over the middle. 

Manning threw for three touchdowns in each of the Colts' first three games, plus two more Sunday against Jacksonville. If Berry and Lewis can avoid mistakes in coverage, and are able to hold Manning to two or fewer touchdowns, the Chiefs may be on their way to 4-0.

On the other hand, if Manning is able to find Wayne or Collie running free behind the secondary, or hit an uncovered Clark over the middle one too many times, the Colts could provide the Chiefs with their first loss and a wake-up call that most pundits expect.