The undefeated New England Patriots will travel to Lucas Oil Stadium Sunday night to face the Indianapolis Colts. It's a much-anticipated rematch of the AFC Championship game, and deflated footballs will be heavily talked about prior to this game.
The Colts will reportedly start Andrew Luck Sunday night after missing the past two games with a shoulder injury, according to NFL reporter Ian Rapoport. The Colts have won three straight and will look to pull an upset over the Patriots. Luck has struggled this season and has thrown five touchdowns to seven interceptions. The Colts will need Luck to be at his best this week if they want beat the defending Super Bowl Champions.
Head coach Chuck Pagano will likely try to get running back Frank Gore touches early, as he had his best game of the season last week. Against the Houston Texans, Gore rushed for 98 yards and scored a touchdown. The Colts also signed running back Ahmad Bradshaw this week, and it will be interesting to see how Pagano implements him in his first game back in Indianapolis.
The Colts offense will have a difficult task, as the Patriots are just coming off a win in which they held the Dallas Cowboys to just six points. While New England's defense has played surprisingly well this season, it's their offense that the Colts should truly worry about.
The Patriots have the best offense in the entire NFL in terms of yards per game. Quarterback Tom Brady seems to be on a mission after winning the appeal of his suspension. Brady has thrown for 1,387 yards this season with 11 touchdowns and has yet to thrown an interception.
With weapons like Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski, the Patriots offense can score quickly. The two combine for 774 receiving yards and have a combined seven touchdowns. Both the Colts secondary and linebackers will probably have trouble covering Gronkowski, as he provides a matchup advantage with whoever is covering him.
The Patriots have beaten Luck in all four meetings including two playoff games, and head coach Bill Belichick will try to keep that streak going with a fifth win over him Sunday. The game starts at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time, and you can watch the live broadcast here. To listen to the Patriots' radio broadcast, click here, and for the Colts' radio broadcast, go here.