INDIANAPOLIS -- Have the Indianapolis Colts finally turned the corner or will the communication breakdown that played a part in their loss to New England linger for the rest of the season?

The Colts better hope that they’re finally starting to get things going so they can avoid falling below .500 with a loss to Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints.

Here’s a look at three key areas in Sunday’s game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Don’t jump ship: I think it’s pretty obvious that running back Frank Gore can still produce. He’s coming off back-to-back rushing games of 98 and 78 yards. But the Colts panicked and abandoned the running game after they fell behind by 13 points to the Patriots. Indianapolis dropped back to pass on its final 27 offensive snaps. That won’t get it done because it makes the Colts easy to defend.

“I probably was a bit overzealous towards the end,” offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton said. “I should have done a better job of mixing in maybe a screen or a draw, something to help our offensive linemen and not put the pressure on those guys to have to pass protect against a good rushing front for 26 or however many consecutive plays. We were down at that point in the game. We all felt like we needed to do something to score fast. It would help if I mix in something to offset that pass rush.”

Sunday could be the first time that Gore cracks 100 yards rushing with the Colts because the Saints are 30th in the league in stopping the run. They're giving up an average 138.2 yards a game on the ground.

Replacing Adams: Colt Anderson is expected to start at safety in place of the injured Mike Adams (hamstring). Not only is Adams the backbone of the Colts' secondary, he's also their leader in interceptions with four. And what's even more impressive is that three of Adams' interceptions have come in the red zone when the opposing team has been threatening to score. Sunday will just be the seventh career start of Anderson's seven-year NFL career.

“It’s a quarterback league. Last week, we faced Tom Brady, who’s a first ballot hall of famer. Drew Brees is the same," Anderson said. "They’re different players, but at the same time, they’re both future hall of famers, and it’s going to be a tough challenge for us.”

Get to the quarterback: Brees is similar to Tom Brady in that he doesn’t hold onto the ball too long. That’s not good for a Colts defense that has only registered eight sacks as a unit this season. It’s also not good that the Saints are third in the NFL in passing yards (302.3) and completion percentage (70.4) while the Colts are 28th in the league in passing yards allowed (289.2).

“(Brees) gets rid of the ball,” Colts defensive coordinator Greg Manusky said. “He knows where he’s going with the ball. A great student of the game, he’s like a coach on the field, he knows exactly where to go and where he wants to go with it. We got to try to harass him, get pressure on the edge, up his face, across the board and try to disrupt some of the things that he wants done. That’s what we’re going to try to do.”