But let's be serious, a team that can't keep a double-digit lead in the second half has many more things to worry about than the Super Bowl.
Colts 35, Patriots 34. Fourth quarter, 0:13: The Patriots just gave this one away. Peyton Manning threw a one-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne, and the Colts have erased a 17-point deficit.
Fourth quarter, 2:00: On fourth-and-2, Tom Brady hit Kevin Faulk on a two-yard out-route to the right side of the field, but Faulk bobbled the ball when he came down with it and it looks like the Colts will get it back.
Fourth quarter, 2:08: Despite dominating this game, there have been too many missed opportunities for the Patriots, and they don't want Peyton Manning to touch the ball. The Pats are going for it on fourth-and-2 from their own 28-yard line.
Fourth quarter, 2:23: The Colts chose to kick off — the right call in my mind — and the kick sailed through the end zone. The Pats take over at the 20.
Patriots 34, Colts 28. Fourth quarter, 2:23: Joseph Addai ran into the end zone from four yards away, and the Colts are more than back into this game. They've got three timeouts and the two-minute warning to stop the clock, meaning the Patriots will need at least one first down, but probably two to ice this game.
Fourth quarter, 2:56: The officials just gift wrapped a 31-yard gain for the Colts' offense. Darius Butler was flagged for a very questionable pass interference penalty on Austin Collie.
Fourth quarter, 4:07: If the Colts are going to make a comeback, it's going to start from their own 21-yard line after Chad Simpson's kickoff return.
Patriots 34, Colts 21. Fourth quarter, 4:12: The Patriots couldn't put it away there, but they still came away with a 36-yard field goal off of the right foot of Stephen Gostkowski. Dwight Freeney made his best move of the game on Sebastian Vollmer, spinning to the inside and pressuring Tom Brady's blind side, and that forced Brady to throw the ball away on third down.
The Patriots' defense should feel proud of the way they've played so far Sunday night, but it's tough to feel comfortable with Peyton Manning on his home field.
Fourth quarter, 7:44: Don't call it a comeback. On the Colts' first play of the drive, Peyton Manning threw an interception to Jonathan Wilhite on a pass that wasn't close to any of his receivers, and the Patriots take over at the Indy 32.
Fourth quarter, 7:54: Robert Mathis just made Nick Kaczur look pretty lousy on consecutive plays, and that pressure led to a fumble and an incompletion. The Patriots punted, and the Colts regain control at their own 18-yard line. Even though the Patriots have put forth a convincing performance, did you really think this would end in a blowout?
Fourth quarter, 12:14: The Patriots take over at their own 20-yard line and can put this thing away with another touchdown.
Third quarter, 2:41: Laurence Maroney is going to get roasted for this one. The Patriots held the ball for nearly eight minutes and had a second-and-goal from the 2-yard line when Maroney fumbled the ball into the end zone. It was recovered by the Colts for a touchback, and they'll take over at their own 20. That was the 13th play of New England's drive.
Third quarter, 10:32: Peyton Manning's passes were coming out wobbly on the last drive, and he missed badly on a downfield throw to Pierre Garcon. It was underthrown, and Leigh Bodden made the interception look easy. The Patriots were flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct after the play, and they'll take over at their own 12-yard line.
Third quarter, 11:50: Tom Brady has been gambling more in the last two games with his downfield throws to Randy Moss, and it's definitely paid off more than not. But this one hurt, as Antoine Bethea intercepted Brady's pass in the end zone. Brady might not have read the double coverage on Moss, as Bethea came across the field to make the play. The Colts take over at their own 14-yard line.
Third quarter, 14:54: Matthew Slater took the second-half kickoff to the Pats' 27-yard line.
Start of third quarter: The Colts will kick off to get things going here in the second half. This game will end one of two ways — with the Patriots establishing midseason control as the best team in the AFC, or an eerie reminder of the 2006 AFC Championship.
End of second quarter. Patriots 24, Colts 14: The Pats definitely controlled the majority of the first half, and the score tells the story of the game thus far. The Colts went up, 7-0, but New England rallied with 24 consecutive points to establish its dominance.
Give Tom Brady, Randy Moss, Sebastian Vollmer and New England's secondary a lot of credit in the first half. Safety Brandon McGowan has locked down tight end Dallas Clark, who has two catches for 37 yards.
Second quarter, 0:22: Big stop from the Pats' defense will get them into the locker room with a 24-14 advantage in Indy.
Second quarter, 1:36: So much for the third-down conversion. The Colts take over at their own 24, and if they put up some points on this drive, each team will be feeling pretty good heading into the locker rooms. As of this point, though, the Patriots have definitely controlled the first two quarters.
Second quarter, 1:55: Tom Brady takes a lot of pride in scoring points inside the two-minute warnings. Big third-and-8 here.
Second quarter, 2:40: Wes Welker returned Indy's punt to the Pats' 36-yard line.
Second quarter, 3:13: Oddly enough, Jerod Mayo's sack earlier in the game was the first of his career.
Second quarter, 3:54: Indy's defense created a little momentum by forcing three Tom Brady incompletions and a New England punt. Prior to the drive, Brady only had four incompletions on 14 pass attempts. The Colts take over at their own 25-yard line after the punt.
Second quarter, 4:17: Matthew Slater took a knee on the kickoff, and the Patriots take possession at their own 20-yard line.
Patriots 24, Colts 14. Second quarter, 4:17: The Patriots could only hold down Reggie Wayne for so long. Peyton Manning threw a perfect pass across his body and hit Wayne over the middle in the end zone for a 20-yard scoring strike.
Second quarter, 7:19: The Colts take over at their own 20-yard line, and we'll see if Peyton Manning can inject some life into this dying offense.
Patriots 24, Colts 7. Second quarter, 7:19: This is a machine-like performance for the Patriots' offense. Julian Edelman returned to the lineup after missing two games with a forearm injury, and he just scored his first career touchdown to extend the Patriots' lead. Edelman caught a nine-yard touchdown pass to cap off the Patriots' fourth consecutive scoring drive.
Second quarter, 9:31: The Patriots have a chance to put the first stake into Indy's coffin with this possession. After the Colts' third three-and-out, Wes Welker returned the Colts' punt to the New England 43-yard line. Randy Moss, by the way, has four receptions for 144 yards and one touchdown, and Tom Brady is 7 of 10 for 180 yards and one touchdown.
Second quarter, 11:13: Chad Simpson returned the kickoff to the Indy 24-yard line, and this might be Peyton Manning's most important possession of the game. With the way the Patriots are rolling on offense, the Colts probably can't afford to give the ball away while trailing by 10 points.
Patriots 17, Colts 7. Second quarter, 11:18: Randy Moss really showed up for this one. Tom Brady aired one out and hit Moss for a 63-yard touchdown. Moss was blanketed by safety Antoine Bethea — Indy's only traditional starter in its secondary — but Moss reached above and hauled in a tremendously difficult catch. Bethea gives up five inches to Moss.
Second quarter, 12:09: The Colts have gone three-and-out twice in their four drives, and the Patriots are taking over at their 25-yard line with a chance to pad their lead. Of the Colts' other two drives, one went for a touchdown and the other was over after four offensive plays. The Pats' defense is really controlling Indy's second-tier receivers and is starting to look comfortable out there.
Second quarter, 13:15: Stephen Gostkowski recorded his second touchback in three kickoffs, and the Colts start up at their own 20.
Patriots 10, Colts 7. Second quarter, 13:16: Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 31-yard field goal to give the Patriots their first lead of the game, but the drive stalled on third down when Robert Mathis blew past right tackle Nick Kaczur and sacked Tom Brady. It was the first time the Colts put some real pressure on Brady, and it came from a four-man rush when the Colts showed blitz but backed off. Mathis made a great move on Kaczur and stormed through the inside of the line.
End of the first quarter: Fast-paced first quarter comes to a close with the Patriots deep in Colts territory. The Pats are definitely trying to establish a ground game, which is working, but the offense is looking really good through the air.
First quarter, 1:00: The Patriots announced Tully Banta-Cain has a rib injury, and his return is questionable.
First quarter, 3:07: Wes Welker returned the Colts' punt to the Pats' 29-yard line. The Pats' ground game has been efficient so far, but let's see if they go straight back to the air, which was so successful during their touchdown drive.
First quarter, 4:20: Judging by the replays on NBC, it looks like Colts running back Joseph Addai might have broken a finger or two while trying to evade a tackle by Brandon McGowan. Rookie Donald Brown, a former UConn teammate of Darius Butler, has been taking the carries on this drive. Addai taped his fingers and is back on the sideline.
First quarter, 4:47: Chad Simpson took a knee on Stephen Gostkowski's kickoff, and the Colts take over with their third possession of the game.
Patriots 7, Colts 7. First quarter, 4:47: Laurence Maroney plunged into the end zone from one yard out, and the Patriots answered the Colts' scoring drive with one of their own. Similar to the way the Patriots answered the Dolphins' TD last week with a long drive, Randy Moss keyed this drive with a 55-yard reception.
First quarter, 8:15: Matthew Slater returned the kickoff to the New England 27-yard line. Tully Banta-Cain is on the ground after suffering an injury during the return. Not a good sign for the Pats, who are already extremely thin on the defensive line.
Colts 7, Patriots 0. First quarter, 8:19: The Colts just ran a perfect screen play, allowing Mike Wright to fly through the line — a clear indicator there's a screen coming — and Joseph Addai scampered in from 15 yards out. It capped off an eight-play, 90-yard drive.
First quarter, 11:47: Tom Brady missed Ben Watson on a pass that could have led to a first down, and the Patriots went three-and-out on their first possession. T.J. Rushing called for a fair catch on Chris Hanson's punt, and the Colts take possession at their own 10.
The Patriots opened the game in a four-man front, and it looks like they'll roll with Vince Wilfork and Mike Wright on the interior and Tully Banta-Cain and Derrick Burgess on the outside.
First quarter, 13:22: Stout defense from the Patriots, who forced a three-and-out on the Colts' first drive of the game. Wes Welker returned the punt to the Pats' 31-yard line. Dan Koppen is starting at center for New England.
First quarter, 14:55: Chad Simpson returned the kickoff to the Indy 23-yard line, and the Colts are in business. Get comfortable. This is going to be a great one.
8:22 p.m.: Taking a closer look at the Patriots' inactives, this was fairly surprising that Ty Warren is missing Sunday night's game. Surely, he missed two practices this week and had limited participation Friday, but Warren played through the ankle injury last week against the Dolphins. Obviously, it's gotten worse since then. Entering this season, Warren, Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork and Jarvis Green were the Patriots' four best defensive linemen. They're playing without three of those guys Sunday.
Speaking of Green, this is the second consecutive game he has missed since having knee surgery. The Patriots need to generate pressure on Peyton Manning as much as possible without blitzing, so there will be a lot of pressure on Wilfork, Mike Wright, Tully Banta-Cain and Derrick Burgess to perform in this game.
This is the third consecutive game Sammy Morris has missed with a knee injury, and it's the fifth straight game Fred Taylor has missed with an ankle injury. Matt Light is missing his fourth straight with a knee injury, and if Sebastian Vollmer handles his business against Dwight Freeney, I really wonder if he'll be able to steal Light's job.
It's also surprising Shawn Springs will miss the game, as he fully participated in practice all week and was listed as "probable" for Sunday night. Pat Chung and Jonathan Wilhite will need to step up for Springs. This is the second consecutive game linebacker Eric Alexander will miss, as he's been dealing with a groin injury. Rich Ohrnberger has missed all nine games this season and has never been listed on the injury report.
Finally, Julian Edelman returns after missing two games with a forearm injury. His return comes a day after Brandon Tate was put on injured reserve with a knee injury he suffered last week against Miami. It's unclear if his injury was related to the torn ligaments he suffered as a senior at North Carolina, but Tate was walking around looking OK last week in the locker room.
7:41 p.m.: The Patriots announced their inactive list earlier. Running backs Sammy Morris and Fred Taylor, left tackle Matt Light, offensive lineman Rich Ohrnberger, defensive linemen Jarvis Green and Ty Warren, linebacker Eric Alexander and defensive back Shawn Springs will all miss Sunday night's game against the Colts.
This means wide receiver Julian Edelman will return, which definitely has something to do with Brandon Tate's move to injured reserve, and center Dan Koppen is back in the lineup. Expect Koppen to start after he missed two and a half quarters last week.
12:35 p.m.: There are games that need no introduction — games so big that the world stops to take notice, rivalries so huge they command a week's worth of hype and stars so bright their Hall of Fame status had been determined before they even turned 30.
The Patriots-Colts rivalry is the best thing going right now, and its next installment is Sunday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Headlined by quarterbacks Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, this series features the two winningest teams of the decade, with more than 200 victories and four Super Bowls between them since 2000. They're at it again, as the Patriots (6-2) and Colts (8-0) are flying toward the playoffs, and this game will go a long way in determining January's events.
Stick with NESN.com's live blog to get up-to-the-minute insight throughout the game of the year.