Boston Sports

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) ― Tom Brady and the New England Patriots finished like champions Sunday.

Now it's on to the next challenge: A perfect season and perhaps another Super Bowl title.

In the latest sequel of the league's hottest rivalry, Brady threw two touchdown passes in the last 10 minutes and led the Patriots back from a 10-point deficit against the defending Super Bowl champions for a 24-20 victory at Indianapolis.

"They played with a championship effort and made championship plays and we did not, so that's disappointing," Colts coach Tony Dungy said.

By winning the battle of the unbeatens, the Patriots seemingly ended the debate about which team is better. The Colts (7-1) will now spend this season chasing the Patriots (9-0) for home-field advantage in the playoffs.

The difference in schedules won't make it any easier, either. Indy still has trips to San Diego and Baltimore and home games against its three division rivals in addition to Kansas City.

New England, meanwhile, has only three games left against teams better than .500 -- at Baltimore (4-3), home against Pittsburgh and at the New York Giants (6-2) -- as they try to become the first team to finish with a perfect season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

But the Patriots did show some chinks Sunday.

They failed to score on their opening possession for the first time. They trailed in the fourth quarter for the first time all season. They failed to score at least 34 points and win a game by 17 or more points.

New England also required a frantic finish to beat the Colts.

"They are tough and make you work for everything, but I thought our guys stepped up and made some big plays," Pats coach Bill Belichick said. "Especially in the second half when we needed to."

None were bigger than New England's new connections: Brady-to-Randy Moss and Brady-to-Donte' Stallworth.

Trailing 20-10 with 9:42 left in the game, and the Colts seemingly in control, Brady went to work.

He hooked up with Moss on a 55-yard play that put New England at the Indy 3. Brady went to Wes Welker for a 3-yard TD three plays later to make it 20-17.

Then after Welker had a 23-yard punt return to put the Pats at midfield, Brady found Stallworth for a 33-yard gain and threw a 13-yard TD pass to Kevin Faulk with 3:15 to go. That made it 24-20 and gave Super Bowl MVP Peyton Manning one more chance to duplicate last season's comeback in the AFC title game.

"Look at our situation last year," said linebacker Rosevelt Colvin, who grew up in Indianapolis. "We were not playing 60 minutes and we turned an opportunity into a failure."

That wasn't the case Sunday.

On the Colts' final possession, Manning got his team in position with a 24-yard pass to Reggie Wayne. But on third-and-9 from their 49, Manning was hit by Jarvis Green, the ball popped loose and Colvin snatched it out of midair to seal the victory.

For Manning and the Colts, it was that kind of day.

They dominated early, marching 214 yards on their first three drives behind a strong effort from Joseph Addai. He finished with 26 carries for 112 yards, 80 of that in the first half, and five catches for 114 yards, the majority coming on a spectacular 73-yard TD pass just before halftime.

After all that, the Colts only led 13-7 at the half.

"We had chances we didn't take advantage of," Manning said. "That's something we're always trying to avoid. We want to get touchdowns instead of field goals."

But Manning wasn't playing with the usual cast. Left tackle Tony Ugoh (neck) and perennial Pro Bowl receiver Marvin Harrison (bruised left knee) were inactive, and after Harrison's replacement, rookie Anthony Gonzalez, hurt his thumb on the first play of the game, he was limited, too.

The absences led to uncharacteristic mistakes that eventually proved costly.

"You feel like you're going to win the game," center Jeff Saturday said. "We've moved it down before at the end of games and had that full mentality."

This time, though, they were playing against a three-time Super Bowl winner, and Brady delivered on a day he was under pressure all day.

He finished 21-for-32 for 255 yards with three more TDs and two interceptions while looking primarily for Moss. Moss caught nine passes for 145 yards and one TD, and took over the game even as the Colts tried to take him away.

Now, the Pats are the league's last unbeaten team and the only question left is who will beat them?

"We've got a long way to go," Belichick said. "We're looking forward to taking a little time off this week. We'll be back at it against Buffalo before we know it, but it's good to win."

Notes: Addai became the first Colts player to top 100 yards rushing and receiving in the same game. ... Brady threw at least three TD passes for the ninth straight game and needs 17 to break the single-season record Manning set in 2004. ... It was Indy's earliest loss in three years after going 13-0 and 9-0 the past two seasons. ... Moss tied the franchise's single-season mark for TD receptions (11) with his 4-yard catch in the first half. ... Manning was 16-for-27 for 225 yards with one TD, one interception and lost one fumble.

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