By Adam Zinser, Titans Online

NASHVILLE, TN, Dec. 26, 2007 — Christmas may have come and gone, but the Tennessee Titans are hoping to give themselves and their fans one more present -- a playoff berth.

“I didn’t really get too much for Christmas, so that would be great,” quarterback Vince Young joked after Wednesday’s practice at Baptist Sports Park. “Our city of Nashville really deserves it. I just want to keep it going. That’s why I play the game of football.”

This present will not come easy, as the Titans (9-6) travel to Indianapolis to take on the defending Super Bowl Champion Colts in a nationally-televised game on Sunday Night Football. The Colts (13-2) hold the second seed in the AFC playoffs, and Sunday night’s game will have no bearing on their standing.

Colts head coach Tony Dungy will likely rest some of his starters for a portion, or perhaps the entire game, a situation that would benefit the Titans.

“We’re trying to get our team ready to go, and we are going to try to win. There is no question about that, but we have some other things we want to get accomplished as well and other players that we want to look at,” Dungy said in a conference call with Nashville reporters on Wednesday. “I know we’re not going to play our starters the whole way, but we are going to try to win the ball game.”

Whatever the Colts choose to do, however, is not changing the Titans’ preparation for Sunday’s prime-time contest.

“It doesn’t matter what they do. What matters is what we do,” Titans head coach Jeff Fisher said. “We can’t get caught up in who’s playing and who’s not, or who’s active and who’s not, or who’s hurt. We’ve just got to go play. That’s what we’re going to do this week. We’re going to have to play one of our better games of the year to win this game.”

In their first meeting in Week 2, the Colts and Titans played down to the wire. Young put on one of his best performances of 2007, going 17-of-27 for 184 yards and a touchdown while adding 53 yards on the ground. The Titans rushed for 156 yards as a unit, while holding Colts RB Joseph Addai to just 81 yards. But Manning passed for over 300 yards and a touchdown, and the Colts were able to hold off the Titans and escape LP Field with a 22-20 victory.

This time around, the Titans' playoff hopes are on the line. If they win, they’ll travel to either San Diego or Pittsburgh next week for an AFC Wild Card matchup. Having missed the post-season in the previous three seasons, the Titans must take it upon themselves to determine their own playoff fate. That means remaining focused on the task at hand and preparing as if all the Colts starters are going to play.

“Their offensive coordinator is still going to be calling the plays. You’re still going to see the same thing that the Colts run,” said defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth. “As far as that system, it’s the plays that will make the game.”

But with so many durable and consistent players like quarterback Peyton Manning in the Colts’ starting lineup, most of the Titans know little about the backups. Sunday may provide the first significant introduction between Colts backup QB Jim Sorgi and Tennessee’s starters.

But whether Manning or Sorgi plays at quarterback, everyone on the team knows it will still take their best effort to stop their division rivals.

“We’ve played these guys so many times, and there is more at stake for us,” linebacker Keith Bulluck said. “We don’t really care who they play in the game. I know our guys are going to be out there. It’s really about us.”