Colts, Patriots continue rivalry with showdown Sunday

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Peyton Manning versus Tom Brady. The unbeaten Indianapolis Colts versus the New England Patriots, who have only one loss.\nThe hype versus the reality.\nThere are plenty of subplots to Sunday night's game between two of the NFL's best teams -- Adam Vinatieri's first against the team for which he kicked two Super-Bowl-winning field goals, Manning's struggles against the Patriots and Brady's growing comfort with his new receivers.\nFloating above all that is the perception that it might be the NFL's biggest game so far this season.\n"You would love to hype this thing up like it's the AFC championship, but it's really another game on the schedule," Brady said. "We're really not even halfway through the year."\nWell, what about his matchup with Manning, the NFL's top-rated quarterback? Brady, after all, is coming off his best game of the season -- 372 yards passing and four touchdown strikes in a 31-7 rout at Minnesota.\n"If that's what it takes to get people to watch the game or whatever, that's fine," Manning said, "but it will be about a lot more than that. It's about who blocks better, who tackles better."\nThere's no denying the game is more important than most. Plus, they'll have a good surface to play on: The Patriots put new turf up the middle third of the field, replacing the slippery, sandy surface Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said, "was terrible, to say the least."\nIndianapolis (7-0), New England (6-1) and Denver (5-2) represent the class of the conference. The only NFC team with an equal or better record than those three is Chicago (7-0).\nThe Patriots lost to the Broncos 17-7 in the third game of the season. The Colts came from behind last Sunday to beat the Broncos 34-31 on Vinatieri's 37-yard field goal with two seconds left.\n"That was the first time that I have had the opportunity to really help the team out," said Vinatieri, who signed as a free agent after 10 years in New England. Could it come down to that Sunday?\n"It would be fun if it was that way," he said.\nA New England win would tie the Patriots' best start through eight games. They were 12-1 in 2004 on their way to their third championship in four seasons.\n"If you think things are going well and you need a measuring stick, this would be the game," Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel said.\nA victory by the Colts would make them the only team to start consecutive seasons at 8-0 since the 1929-31 Green Bay Packers did it three years in a row. It also would give Manning and Tony Dungy the franchise record for most wins by a quarterback-coach tandem at 56-16. Johnny Unitas and Don Shula were 55-20-3.\n"It's such an important game, and it's been an important game every time we play these guys," Manning said. "What's happened in the past is really kind of irrelevant, and who plays the best this Sunday night will win."\nThe teams will meet in Foxborough for the fifth straight time, including New England's wins in the 2004 AFC title game and the 2005 first-round playoff game.\nRecent history is definitely on New England's side. Brady is 6-1 against the Colts; Manning is 3-10 against the Patriots, often looking confused by the defensive alignments.\nMidway through last season, Manning threw for three touchdowns and 321 yards in a 40-21 win in Foxborough that ended the Colts' six-game losing streak against the Patriots.\n"He wasn't befuddled last year," Harrison said. "Maybe he struggled at particular times. We look for his best on Sunday."\nManning couldn't have been much better last Sunday when he threw for 345 yards and three touchdowns and led the Colts to score on all five of their second-half possessions to overcome a 14-7 halftime deficit.\nDungy said Manning has improved since throwing an NFL record 49 touchdown passes in 2004.