The Patriots and Colts will hold a rematch of the 2003 AFC Championship when they kick off the 2004 regular season on Sept. 9 at Gillette Stadium.
The announcement was made today by Commissioner Paul Tagliabue at the League Meetings in Palm Beach, Fla.
The Thursday night game will be on ABC and will be the first regular season game of the new season.
The complete 2004 regular season schedule will be released in the coming weeks and published on Patriots.com.