I was driving through Indianapolis the other day, as I tend to do, and I couldn't help but notice something strange: The sound. Something was wrong. Really, really wrong. Normally, if you roll down the window of your Chevette as you pass through Indiana you usually hear three things:

1. Corn. I know, you don't think corn makes much noise, but Indiana has so many damn cornfields that you can actually hear it growing if you listen really hard. To give you an idea, it sounds a little bit like tiny, screaming babies off in the distance.

2. Hoosiers. This movie is everywhere. I swear, every other channel in Indiana is playing some part of this film. You want the heart-rending town meeting scene? Flip on over to channel 8. You want the drunken Dennis Hopper scene? Try channel 14. You want the weather? Check your local listings.

3. The words "Peyton Manning." You can walk down any street in Indiana and you'll hear the word "Peyton" whispered behind you. You'll turn around to see who said it, only to find no one there. It's like a real-life version of Field of Dreams…with better acting.

But this week was different. Instead of hearing anything about Peyton or his place, I heard something I've never heard before in Indiana. I couldn't make it out at first. It was so quiet, so calm, a softly-hushed whisper. It sounded like "deeee…fffff…" "deeee…ffffssss". But then it started getting louder and I knew what it was. I couldn't believe it. The word "defense" was emanating from the ground like dew at dawn. Could I be hearing that right? Could the team whose D gives up more deep balls than Winona Rider be all about defense now? My ears must've been deceiving me. And then a truckload of 300-pound farmboys in Harrison, Freeney, and Calmus jerseys picked me up by my collar and screamed, "WE'VE GOT THE BEST FUCKING DEFENSE IN FOOTBALL!!!" It was official: Defense was the new buzzword in Indiana.

But all you Hoosier homeboys out there may want to check yourselves before you riggity-wreck yourselves. Yes, your brand new-ish defense has only given up 10 points in two games, but let's look at the offenses they've kept in chiggity-check:

Baltimore
Held them to: Seven points
Reason to be wary: Baltimore's offense looks worse than Renée Zellweger after a…well, pretty much whenever. They couldn't put more than 10 on the scoreboard against the Titans, one of the worst defenses in the league.

Jacksonville
Held them to: Three points
Reason to be wary: Nobody wanted to score in this game. The omnipotent Peyton Manning could only muster 122 yards and an interception. There were a lot of penalties. I ate a corndog and watched it on TV. Scoring wasn't in the cards for anyone.

While all things defensive are looking a little better than last year, let's keep some perspective. The Colts D won't get a real test until Week 6 when they play St. Louis (the prequel to the sequel to the Greatest Show on Turf) and Week 9 when they play the Pats. If they shut down the Lou and the defending champs, then I'll hop on the Indy City bandwagon. But until then, I'll be watching hotel porno. Um, I mean Hoosiers.