INDIANAPOLIS — They opened the Lucas Oil Stadium roof on cue, to wild applause from Indianapolis Colts fans.

Let's hope the smell from the team's play didn't hover too long over the city.

I know it's only preseason, but ugly is ugly. The stadium was stunning, the Colts were stunted. Good thing it doesn't count yet.

There were some mitigating circumstances. Peyton Manning was still wearing street clothes. His backup, Jim Sorgi, sat out after warm-ups with a "gimpy knee," which may or may not be the official medical terminology. Dwight Freeney and Bob Sanders were just getting loose in their first game action. The Colts were short on quality linebackers.

However, the Colts' 20-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night in the debut of "The Luke" revealed a team far from ready for prime time.

While the Colts have a dubious tradition of piling up preseason losses — they've lost 15 of their last 18 — coach Tony Dungy played his healthy starters into the third quarter. They were, with a few exceptions, ineffective. This was not the skills-sharpening session Dungy had in mind.

"This was one of those days when we just didn't get the job done," Dungy said, "and it's a little bit disappointing."

The defense couldn't stop future Hall of Fame visitor JP Losman, who directed two scoring drives with surprising precision. The Colts' offense, meanwhile, began the night by allowing quarterback Jared Lorenzen to be sacked, and went downhill from there.

OK, that's not quite fair. A 94-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Quinn Gray — throwing from his own end zone — to wide receiver Devin Aromashodu provided one memorable highlight. But that was a lightning strike in an offensive drizzle. Gray threw four interceptions in 16 passing attempts.

More typical was Joseph Addai looking strong on some running bursts and short pass receptions, only to have a bad handoff exchange with Lorenzen turn into a fumble. Buffalo cornerback Terrence McGee picked up the ball and ran 68 yards for a touchdown and a 17-0 lead.

"Offensively, we didn't have a lot of rhythm, but we didn't have the ball a lot," said Dungy, who blamed turnovers for second-half offensive sputtering.

The decision to hold Sorgi out of the game came after he told coaches he didn't feel 100 percent healthy after warming up. Sorgi hurt his knee last week in Atlanta, practiced on Wednesday but had some subsequent swelling. If it has been a regular-season game, Sorgi would have played, Dungy said. Let's hope that statement is amended to include Manning soon, too.

Unfortunately, the Colts quarterback quandary might have another twist with center Jeff Saturday suffering a knee injury on Sunday. He will have an MRI on Monday to determine the extent of the problem.

Dungy said the one bright spot Sunday was the return of Freeney and Sanders, who played for the first time this preseason after rehabbing from injuries.

While the Colts couldn't contain Buffalo on third down (4-of-7 first half conversions, 10-of-18 in the game), they insist progress is being made.

"When people see us making mistakes and doing things they're not used to seeing us do, sometimes there tends to be a panic," cornerback Marlin Jackson said. "But I really don't believe there's any reason to panic. That's what preseason is for, to work the kinks out. When we get to the regular season, I think we'll be firing on all cylinders."

Wins and losses aren't necessarily the point in Colts' preseason games, especially considering Sunday's game was the debut of Lucas Oil Stadium.

Fans arrived early, roamed the concourse, enjoyed a live local band, and cheered with gusto when Manning, wearing a Colts polo shirt and khaki pants, was shown on the 97-by-53 foot big screens.

Colts owner Jim Irsay addressed the crowd prior to kickoff, exhorting them to carry some of the RCA Dome's old vibe into the new venue.

"We had a reputation for being loud in that building next door," Irsay said. "We don't want to lose that reputation." After that, Irsay counted down to the flipping of a giant "switch" to open the stadium's roof and north window. (In the regular season, the roof must be open 90 minutes before kickoff, or remain closed.)

The Colts built a reputation for excellence on the RCA Dome field with five consecutive seasons of 12 or more wins.

They don't often look so good in the preseason, which concludes Thursday at home against the Bengals.

Maybe flipping a switch to excellence for the regular season is a trait that will transfer to The Luke when the Bears come to town on Sept. 7. If not, Colts officials might want to put blinds on the windows to protect innocent bystanders from disturbing images.