Indianapolis at New England

What a matchup. The 7-0 Colts dismantled the supposed "great" Denver defense last week, winning at Mile High. New England, flying under the radar for most of the year, absolutely embarrassed the Vikings on Monday Night. These two teams are flying high and the matchup has a lot of drama, too. New England has knocked out several great Colts teams in the playoffs in recent years. Brady vs. Manning. It doesn't get much better than this for a mid-season matchup. The Colts are the first team to start back-to-back seasons at 7-0 since Green Bay back int he late 1920s. Last year, the Colts broke the "New England jinx" at this exact time, going to Foxboro and beating the Patriots 40-21. This is a crucial game with home playoff implications. With Indy getting off the schneid last year (rare win in New England), do they have the Pats figured out? Are they confident going in here? I don't think so. Sure, they got a big win last year. But, the Patriots still own this Colts team. Outside of last year, Manning has had some real horrible performances in games played here. Bill Belichick is unmatched in his ability to gameplan for a particular player. He has been the only guy the past few years to force Manning, who's at the top of his game, to struggle. Manning, as great as he is, has thrown 14 interceptions in 11 career games against the Patriots. His record? 2-7 since Belichick came on board. Belichick's gameplan last week against the Vikings and their stout rush defense was brilliant. Manning will be facing a New England defense that is ranked third in the league in points allowed (12.4 per game). They haven't allowed more than 17 in any game thus far. On the flipside, we have Brady who is on fire right now and getting hotter. And he gets to pick apart a truly awful Colts defense. They are allowing 22 points per game and they have the worst rushing defense in the entire league. They've given up no fewer than 108 yards rushing, allowed over 175 four times and average 168 per game allowed. Ouch! With Laurence Maroney, the Pats should move the ball at will. And, if by chance the Colts find a way to slow him down, Brady will pick up the slack. Indy has been trying to fix this run defense for four weeks now after getting blasted by Jacksonville for 191 yards. Since then they have allowed over 200 yards on the ground twice! Indy's strength is obviously their passing game. Why has Manning struggled vs. the Pats so much? Belichick. Consider that New England is 18-7 ATS vs. great passing teams (260+ yards per game) over the past decade. Belichick finds a way to clamp down on his opponents' biggest strength. So what are we left with here? A home night game in Foxboro with the greatest gameplanner (Belichick) the game has known. The coolest QB since Joe Montana at the helm - who is playing at the top of his game. A very solid defense (ranked 3rd). And, a psychological edge. On the other side we have a horrible defense. The only thing the Colts have going for them is Manning. And, I just don' think that's enough to overcome all that's against them in this one. Patriots.