PATRIOTS (6-3) vs. COLTS (6-3)
Sunday, November 18, 2012 at 4:25 p.m. ET
Gillette Stadium (68,756)
The New England Patriots will be at home for the second straight week when they square off against the Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium. The game was originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. but was flexed to a 4:25 kickoff.
Despite not being in the same division, the Patriots and Colts will play each other for the 10th straight year in the regular season. The two teams share a long-time rivalry, as the Patriots and the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts played twice each year from 1970 to 2001 as members of the AFC East, with the exception of the 1982 strike season.
After a down year last season, Indianapolis is off to a familiar start in 2012 with a 6-3 record. This week's game is a battle against two of the top teams since the 2000 season. New England (161-62) has the best record since 2000, followed by Pittsburgh (145-73-1) and Indianapolis (142-77).
This week's game will be the 200th consecutive sellout, including playoff and preseason games (dating back to the 1994 season opener).
PATRIOTS STRONG IN SEASON'S SECOND HALF
The Patriots opened the second half of the 2012 regular season with a victory over the Bills last Sunday. Since the 2010 season, the Patriots are now a combined 17-0 in the second half of the regular season. In both 2010 and 2011, the Patriots were 8-0 in the second half of the regular season. The last time the Patriots lost a game in the second half of the regular season was in the 2009 regular-season finale, a 34-27 loss at Houston on Jan. 3, 2010. The win also put the Patriots at a 6-3 record. The Patriots have started the year at 6-3 or better for seven consecutive seasons.
!CONSECUTIVE YEARS STARTING 6-3 OR BETTER (Including 2012 season)
New England 7
Pittsburgh 7
Baltimore 3
Chicago 3
Green Bay 3
NY Giants 3
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TELEVISION: This week's game will be broadcast to a national audience by CBS and can be seen in Boston on WBZ-TV Channel 4. Jim Nantz will handle play-byplay duties with Phil Simms providing color. The game will be produced by Lance Barrow and directed by Mike Arnold.
RADIO: 98.5 FM, The Sports Hub, is the flagship station for the Patriots Radio Network. A complete listing of the network's 40 stations can be found here. Play-by-play broadcaster Gil Santos is in his 36th season as the voice of the Patriots and will call the action. Former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak will handle the color commentary.
NATIONAL RADIO: This week's game will be broadcast to a national audience by Dial Global Sports. Tom McCarthy and Tony Boselli will call the game.
SERIES HISTORY
The Patriots and Colts will face off for the 13th time since 2003 and for the 76th time in the history of the franchises. The clubs have clashed in each of the last nine regular seasons (2003-11) and also faced each other in the playoffs following the 2003, 2004 and 2006 seasons.
The two teams share a long-time rivalry, as the Patriots and the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts played twice each year from 1970 to 2001 as members of the AFC East, with the exception of the 1982 strike season.
New England is 20-10 against Indianapolis since 1993, and has won 17 of the series' last 24 games. The games have tended to be high-scoring affairs, as the Patriots have scored 20 or more points against the Colts in 22 of their last 24 meetings.
New England holds an overall record of 14-9 in games played in Indianapolis and 26-12 when playing at home.
SERIES BREAKDOWN
(Includes Postseason)
Home Record, 26-12
In Foxborough, 26-11
In Boston, 0-1
Away Record, 20-17
In Indianapolis, 14-9
In Baltimore, 6-8
Largest Victory, 39 points (10/06/74)
Largest Defeat, -31 points (11/26/72)
Neutral Site Record (at Louisiana Superdome), 1-0
Total Points, Patriots 223, Rams 215
Longest winning streak, 2 games (two times)
Longest losing streak, 4 games (12/24/89 – 11/18/01)
Highest Combined Point Total, 72 (11/30/03 and 01/21/07)
Lowest Combined Point Total, 6 (12/06/92)
Longest Winning Streak, 7 (1996-99)
Longest Losing Streak, 3 (1970-71, 2005-07)
Seaonal Sweeps of 2 or more wins, Patriots 12, Colts 5
PATRIOTS – COLTS QUICK HITS
- The Patriots and Colts both surpassed the 1990s San Francisco 49ers for the all-time best mark for a decade in NFL history. New England had 126 wins in the decade from 2000-2009, while Indianapolis had 124 wins. San Francisco had 122 wins in the 1990s.
- Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick is 10-6 against the Colts as the head coach of the Patriots and is 12-8 against Indianapolis as a head coach overall.
- Despite not being in the same division, the Patriots and Colts will play each other for the 10th straight season.
CONNECTIONS
New England Ties
- Colts RB Donald Brown played at the University of Connecticut from 2005-08 and set school records in rushing attempts and yards during his time with the team.
- Colts OL Anthony Castonzo played at Boston College from 2007-2010 and set a school record with 54 starts during his career.
- Colts OLB Dwight Freeney is a native of Bloomfield, Conn. and lettered in football (three), basketball (four), baseball (four) and soccer (one) at Bloomfield High School.
Former Patriots
- !Colts K Adam Vinatieri kicked for the Patriots from 1996- 2005 and helped lead the team to three Super Bowl Championships. Vinatieri connected on last-minute gamewinning field goals in Super Bowl XXXVI vs. St. Louis and Super Bowl XXXVIII vs. Carolina.
- Colts FS Sergio Brown played in 26 games for the Patriots from 2010-2011.
- Colts CB Darius Butler was drafted by the Patriots in the second round of the 2009 NFL Draft and played for New England for two seasons (2009-10)
Former Colts
- Patriots Head Coach Bill Belichick earned his first job in the NFL in 1975 as a Special Assistant for the Baltimore Colts.
- Patriots Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line Coach Dante Scarnecchia coached the Colts offensive line from 1989-90. WHAT TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEK VS. INDIANPOLIS
TOM BRADY
!With one touchdown pass against the Colts, Tom Brady will extend his streak to 42 straight games with at least one touchdown pass and continue his third longest streak all time, behind Drew Brees (52-current) and Johnny Unitas (47).
Brady has 50 career 300-yard games in the regular season and needs one more to tie hall of famer Dan Fouts (51) for 6th place all time.
Brady has two rushing touchdowns in 2012 and needs one more to tie his single-season career high of three set in 2011.
Brady tied Drew Brees with his ninth NFL game with four touchdowns, 300 yards and no interceptions against St. Louis and needs one more such game to be alone in first place.
Brady (42,624) needs 417 passing yards to move past Dan Fouts (43,040) into 10th place all time.
STEPHEN GOSTKOWSKI
Stephen Gostkowski (7-of-10) needs one more 50-yard field goal to tie Adam Vinatieri (8-of-17) for most 50-yard field goals in Patriots history.
Gostkowski has two 50-yarders so far in 2012 and can become the first Patriots player with three 50-yard field goals in a single season.
Rob Ninkovich has a team-leading four forced fumbles. If he has one more forced fumble he will be tied with Mike Vrabel (five in 2007) for the most forced fumbles for a Patriots player within the last 20 years.
WES WELKER
Wes Welker (16) needs one more 10-plus catch game to break a second place tie with Marvin Harrison (16) and tie Jerry Rice (17) for the most 10-catch games in NFL history.
Welker needs one reception to extend his streak to 87 straight regular-season games with at least one reception as a member of the Patriots to extend his franchise record. Welker has an overall streak of 103 straight regular-season games with at least one reception, including his time with the Miami Dolphins.
TEAM
The Patriots opened the second half of the 2012 regular season with a victory over Buffalo. Since the 2010 season, the Patriots are 17-0 in the second half. In both 2010 and 2011, the Patriots were 8-0 in the second half of the season. Their last loss was in the 2009 season-finale at Houston, a 34-27 loss, on Jan. 3, 2010.
