Patriots relive games of the past against Indianapolis
The New England Patriots’ matchup with the Indianapolis Colts Thursday Night brings back thoughts of the old days. There were few better rivalries in NFL history than when the Peyton Manning-led Colts played the Tom Brady-led Patriots. As a member of the Colts, Manning played the Patriots 13 times. He won five of them including the 2006 AFC Championship Game. Brady beat Manning twice in the playoffs in 2003 and 2004.
Now, the Colts are a shadow of their former self. Their quarterback Andrew Luck, the No. 1 overall pick in 2012, is coming off an injury that caused him to miss all of the 2017 season. Other than Luck, the team has only six players left since the Patriots and Colts last played in 2015. The Colts’ best receiver, T.Y. Hilton, is unlikely to play. Brady is 5-0 against Luck.
Head coach Bill Belichick has been impressed with what he has seen of Luck this season.
“I think probably any coach would be comfortable putting the ball in Luck’s hands,” Belichick said. “He’s a very good quarterback and he has excellent skill players to work with. We’ve seen Luck control many games before. It’s different because it’s a different system and I’m sure that Coach (Frank) Reich has given Luck a lot of flexibility in the offense in terms of things at the line of scrimmage and post-snap decisions, pre-snap decisions, all of those kinds of things. So it’s different, but I’d say he’s had a lot of responsibility like that in the past and he handles it very well. He’s a very sharp guy that has good football instincts and makes a lot of good decisions, so I can see why they put it in his hands.”
SERIES HISTORY: 76th regular-season meeting, Patriots lead series, 47-28. The last time the Colts beat the Patriots was in 2009 when Bill Belichick decided to go for it on fourth-and-2 at their own 28 — leading 34-28 with about two minutes remaining. On a reception, Kevin Faulk was just short of the first down. Peyton Manning led the Colts on the winning touchdown drive and the Colts won 35-34. The Patriots led that game 31-14 in the second half. The Patriots have won the last seven meetings including two playoff victories by Brady against Luck. The Patriots beat the Colts in the 2014 AFC Championship Game 45-7. The Patriots are 4-1 against the Colts in the playoffs. The Colts beat the Patriots 38-34 in the 2006 AFC Championship Game in Indianapolis.
