Peyton Manning is 86-57 as a starting quarterback during a career that is getting more distinguished every week. But he is just 1-7 in Foxborough, Mass., the win coming a year ago when he and the Indianapolis Colts beat undermanned New England 40-21.
The Patriots are undermanned no longer as Manning and the Colts return Sunday night. Last week, New England cut up Minnesota 31-7 on the road as Tom Brady threw for 372 yards and four touchdowns and the only Vikings TD came on a punt return.
Manning, meanwhile, carried the Colts past Denver, throwing for 345 yards and three TDs against a team that in its first six games had given up just two touchdowns.
``I guess I'm done with the `Wow! That's really something special,' because I see it every day in practice,'' Tony Dungy said of his quarterback.
Manning will have to do be something special again this week.
Indy is 7-0 despite a defense that is last in the league against the run and allowed 227 yards on the ground to the Broncos. And the Colts aren't assured of anything yet except, most likely, the AFC South title.
With New England at 6-1 and not much opposition in the East, the winner of this game has a good shot at home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs. That's especially big for the Colts, who have lost twice in Foxborough in January and would rather be in their windless, snowless home dome.
Beyond that, Manning is probably facing the only QB who approaches him in Brady, who is likely to be less busy than he was in Minneapolis. The Colts' problems against the run probably mean Bill Belichick will rely more on Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney.
All this overshadows the return to New England of Adam Vinatieri, who kicked two Super Bowl-winning field goals for the Patriots. He was allowed to leave as free agent last season and signed with the Colts.
``He did a lot for this franchise. ... He was a good kicker. We all know that,'' was about all Belichick would acknowledge about him this week.
But the main show will be Manning against Brady, with the spotlight shared by a New England defense that keeps getting better.
``We scored a lot of points, our defense didn't give up any points,'' says New England safety Rodney Harrison, who was out with a knee injury when Manning beat the Patriots last season. ``I think we showed people that we are for real and that we have a pretty good football team.''
The Patriots are usually for real.
Manning can only hope that if he faces them again, it's not in Foxborough.
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In other games Sunday, Miami is at Chicago; Atlanta at Detroit; Dallas at Washington; Houston at the New York Giants; Green Bay at Buffalo; Kansas City at St. Louis; Cincinnati at Baltimore; Tennessee at Jacksonville; New Orleans at Tampa Bay; Minnesota at San Francisco; Denver at Pittsburgh; and Cleveland at San Diego.
Oakland is at Seattle on Monday night.
The New York Jets, Arizona, Philadelphia, and Carolina are off.
Denver (5-2) at Pittsburgh (2-5)
If the Steelers are to have any chance to defend their title, this is a must-win. ``Our season's not over yet, and we're not going to give up,'' linebacker James Farrior says.
Ben Roethlisberger, a week removed from a second concussion in four months, threw four interceptions in Oakland last week, two of which were returned for the Raiders' only touchdowns..
Denver's 31 points against Indianapolis were 14 more than it scored in any previous game. But the three TDs it allowed to Manning and the Colts were one more than it allowed in those six games.
Cincinnati (4-3) at Baltimore (5-2)
A battle between the AFC North teams that benefit most from the Steelers' slide.
The Ravens, with coach Brian Billick calling plays after firing offensive coordinator Jim Fassel, beat the Saints 35-21. Steve McNair went 17-for-23 with two touchdown passes and a TD run in by far his best game as a Raven, while the defense either scored or had a hand in four TDs.
The Bengals, who won the division last season, have been erratic. Running back Rudi Johnson and offensive tackle Willie Anderson wondered where the running game had gone after the 29-27 loss to Atlanta last week. Marvin Lewis told them to pipe down. Chad Johnson? Asked about Ray Lewis, he replied: ``The agenda? Hit him in the mouth.''
Dallas (4-3) at Washington (2-5)
The success of Tony Romo in his first start at QB for Dallas has intensified the talk in Washington about giving Jason Campbell a chance to prove he's Mark Brunell's eventual successor. The Skins traded three picks to move into the first round in 2005 to take Campbell, but he hasn't taken a snap yet.
Certainly this game is the last chance for Washington, already buried in the NFC East. Dallas has life as long as Romo continues to plays well - either to challenge the Giants for the division title or to claim a wild-card playoff spot.
Kansas City (4-3) at St. Louis (4-3)
The battle of Missouri between teams that are in playoff contention.
The Rams could challenge in the NFC West because Seattle is struggling without injured Shaun Alexander and Matt Hasselbeck. They could grab a wild-card spot if the teams in the East and South knock each other off enough.
The Chiefs trail the Chargers and Broncos in the AFC West. But they are getting more production out of Larry Johnson, and Damon Huard is playing so well at QB that Trent Green might have trouble getting his job back when he's healthy.
Oakland (2-5) at Seattle (4-3) (Monday night)
This would have been considered a total mismatch a few weeks ago. Now ESPN is promoting it by noting that the Raiders have won two straight and the Seahawks have injuries. True, but the Raiders' were outgained 360-98 against the Steelers and won because of Pittsburgh mistakes.
Seneca Wallace, replacing Hasselbeck at quarterback, was decent last week in Kansas City. But the defense allowed 499 yards to the Chiefs. Alexander will miss at least this game and Hasselbeck will probably be out for at least two more weeks, so wins will continue to come hard for the NFC champs.
Miami (1-6) at Chicago (7-0)
The Bears are good. At home they're special, having outscored opponents 152-30, an average of 38-7. And that's while being merciful - they were up 41-0 at halftime over the 49ers and won 41-10.
Miami isn't likely to put up much resistance, so this is probably a scrimmage to prepare for the Giants next week.
Houston (2-5) at
New York Giants (5-2)
Don't tell Tom Coughlin this is a pre-Bears scrimmage for the Giants, who have played a much tougher schedule than Chicago. Since allowing 42 points in less than three quarters in Seattle, they've allowed only 42 in four straight wins, six points in two home games.
David Carr will be back at quarterback for the Texans after being benched for Sage Rosenfels during the loss in Tennessee. ``This football team has to figure out a way to protect the football better. That's something David's had a problem with,'' coach Gary Kubiak says.
New Orleans (5-2) at Tampa Bay (2-5)
Is the bloom off the Saints after their 35-21 loss at home to Baltimore? Not yet, but some flaws showed up last week in the Saints: 10 penalties and five turnovers, four of which led to touchdowns by the Ravens.
The Bucs are back in their element after losing 17-3 to the Giants in the Meadowlands wind to end a two-game winning streak. ``They practice in 100 degrees and when they got here they kept complaining about how cold it was,'' said Antonio Pierce, New York's middle linebacker.
Atlanta (5-2) at Detroit (1-6)
The Falcons are now tied with the Saints in the NFC South and may be the favorites in that division. Carolina has problems and New Orleans' schedule gets very tough. Atlanta is more dangerous now that Michael Vick has become a passing threat: Vick has seven touchdown passes in wins over Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.
At least the Lions didn't lose last week - they were off. Jon Kitna has been OK at QB, but he makes mistakes, which is why he was a Bengal in the bad old days and is now a Lion.
Cleveland (2-5) at San Diego (5-2)
Credit Romeo Crennel for the fact the Browns play hard every week with less talent than most of their rivals. The problem is offense: they've surrendered more than 21 points only once.
The Chargers will be without Shawne Merriman, serving the first of a four-game substance abuse suspension. Shaun Phillips remains out, so the San Diego linebacker corps is depleted.
Tennessee (2-5) at Jacksonville (4-3)
QB controversy in Jacksonville? Well, David Garrard was effective as the starter last week in the win in Philly and will go against the Titans ahead of Byron Leftwich and his bad ankle, according to Leftwich.
No such thing in Tennessee. Vince Young is the man as the Titans build. He led Tennessee to a win over Houston last week, the first time in 39 games it put two straight wins together. Coach Jeff Fisher also is getting tough on miscreants, suspending Adam ``Pacman'' Jones for this game after a series of off-field episodes.
Minnesota (4-3) at San Francisco (2-5)
The Vikings learned a few things about themselves against New England, none of them good. The offense didn't score and the secondary was riddled as the Patriots didn't even attempt to run against Kevin and Pat Williams in the middle of the Minnesota defense.
But San Francisco isn't New England. Still, the 49ers are a lot more competitive at home, where they've scored 97 of their 134 total points and have both wins.
Green Bay (3-4) at Buffalo (2-5)
The Packers may be the best of the 10 or so bad teams at the bottom of the table and even are starting to think playoffs. Brett Favre, at 37, is demonstrating he remains among the league's best QBs and got the help he needs last week when Ahman Green and Vernand Morency both ran for more than 100 yards against the Cardinals.
The Bills started nicely but have regressed, in part because they are playing four rookies on defense, in part because quarterback J.P. Losman is still inconsistent.
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