It was the game at the beginning of the year that was marked on everyone’s calendar. The annual showdown between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. Fast forward to Week 13 and the Colts are still winless and going nowhere fast without Manning under center. Starting at quarterback for the Colts was Dan Orlovsky the former UCONN quarterback in place of Curtis Painter who was benched due to poor play. He played well completing 29 of 38 for 353 yards two touchdowns and an interception.

“We felt confident going into the game that if we stayed patient we could move the ball,” Orlovsky said. “We fell short. I wish we had more time on the clock.” In what seemed like a sure fire blowout became a game when the Colts put up 21 points in fourth quarter to pull within one score. Deion Branch recovered the onside kick that kept the Colts from getting a chance to tie the game up.

“We played good for 45 minutes and then didn’t do anything offensively,” Brady said. “So we’ll hear about that.” The Patriots won their fourth straight and moved to 9-3 tied for the best record in the AFC with the Houston Texans while the colts who are 0-12 have only four games left against Baltimore, Tennessee, Houston, and Jacksonville to avoid becoming the second team in history to go 0-16.

“People can say what they want to say about not playing hard, but I think that (comeback) pretty much shut that up right there,” Colts tight end Jacob Tamme said. Tom Brady had his usual game completing 29 of 38 for 289 yards and two touchdowns, both to Gronkowski.

The touchdown passes put Brady past Johnny Unitas and into a tie for 6^th with Warren Moon for most touchdowns during the regular season. They also tied Gronkowski with Antonio Gates and Vernon Davis for most touchdowns by a tight end in a season. He had a third touchdown which was originally ruled a catch, but was later changed to a run because it was a lateral.

“I wasn’t thinking about whether it was a pass or a lateral,” Gronkowski said. “I’ll take the rushing touchdown. It’s the first of my whole career.” Gronkowski finished with 5 catches for 64 yards and two scores, while Wes Welker had 11 catches for 110 yards. ”Guys played well and did some things well,” Colts coach Jim Caldwell said, “but, still, we’re measured by wins.”

Brady got the offense rolling after the Colts tied the game at three leading scoring drives on the next four possessions to put the Patriots up a by a commanding 28 points. The Colts got their first touchdown when Donald Brown ran it in from five yards out. Orlovsky then found Pierre Garcon, who had nine catches for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns, for 33 and 12 yard scores.

“If we don’t play four quarters, we’re not going to end up in the situation we want to be in,” Welker said. Orlovsky definitely made Patriots Coach Bill Belichick aware of a glaring issue for his team, their defense. ”We’ve obviously got to do a better job of finishing the game,” Belichick said. “That was disappointing, but we’ll work on that.”

The Patriots continue their quest for the number 1 seed in the AFC when they head to Washington to face the Redskins who have lost five straight. The Colts don’t get a tougher task as they travel to Baltimore for a game with the Ravens who are also in the hunt for the number 1 seed.

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Backup quarterback Vince Young and the Philadelphia Eagles were unable to keep up the offensive attack on a strong New England Patriots defense, losing at home to their visitors 38-20.

On paper, Young seemed to have a very good game; he threw for 400 yards in the game on 26 completions for one touchdown and one interception. Receiver Jason Avant was Young’s main target, making eight receptions for 110 yards and the only touchdown. New England’s quarterback Tom Brady also had a great game, throwing for 361 yards on 24 complete passes for three touchdowns.

Wes Welker was Brady’s most successful receiver, making eight catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns. Deon Branch also helped move the ball downfield after his receptions, making six catches for 125 yards. The Eagles’ rushing game was not too successful with Young and running back LeSean McCoy rushing for a total of 71 yards in the entire game.

Patriots’ running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis was able to make his runs count, rushing for two touchdowns on 14 attempts. The first quarter started out quite well for the Eagles, with McCoy rushing in for a touchdown on the Eagles’ first offensive possession. Four minutes later, field-goal kicker Alex Henery kicked a 43-yard field goal to give the Eagles a ten-point lead.

However, the Patriots were able to get on the scoreboard in the final two minutes of the first quarter after Green-Ellis ran for a four-yard touchdown. The Patriots got back the lead early in the second quarter when Green-Ellis ran in for his second touchdown of the night, after the Patriots were able to move the ball downfield in under two minutes with only four plays.

The Patriots widened the distance between the Eagles six minutes later when Brady threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to Welker, making the score 21-10 halfway through the quarter. The only points obtained by the Eagles came off the boot of Henery with two minutes left in the half, but was equaled by a 45-yard field goal kick from Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski.

The only offensive action that came in the third quarter came from the Patriots when, after eight plays that took the team 69 yards, Brady threw a 9-yard pass to Welker for his second touchdown of the night and strengthened the Patriots lead 31-13.

Receiver Rob Gronkowski widened the Patriot’s lead even further halfway through the final quarter after making a 24-yard touchdown catch from Brady after the team spent seven minutes with possession. However, although there was no sign of a possible comeback, the Eagles had the last say in the game after Avant caught a one-yard pass from Young in the final minute of the game, making the final score 38-20.

The Philadelphia Eagles (4-7) travel to Washington on Thursday to face the Seattle Seahawks, while the New England Patriots (8-3) head back home to face the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

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The New England Patriots coasted to a victory Monday night over the Kansas City Chiefs, who were without their starting quarterback Matt Cassel, by a score of 34-3. After a slow offensive start Tom Brady and Co. were able to pick things up. Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes to tight end Rob Gronkowski, and the Patriots got another score from Julian Edelman who returned a punt 72 yards for the score.

With the win the Patriots, who now sit at 7-3, increased their lead in the AFC East to two games, but by beating Kansas City who’s in the hunt for the wild card helped their division rivals the New York Jets.

No one was expecting much from the Chiefs who started quarterback Tyler Palko in place of the injured Cassel. He threw three interceptions, two which were picked off by Kyle Arrington, and the Chiefs only managed one scoring drive, a field goal that gave them the lead with 1:30 left in the first quarter.

“Three interceptions is inexcusable,” Palko said. “The game is hard enough as it is without making mistakes.” Palko finished 25 of 38 for 236 yards and three interceptions. The Patriots got off to a slow start punting on three of their first four possessions and the other ending in a fumble by Brady. On the next series Brady was sacked twice.

“Obviously, the first half we didn’t do anything,” Brady said. “I don’t think it could have gotten much worse.” After that the Patriots were lights out scoring on their next three drives. Brady found Gronkowski for a 52 yard touchdown in which Gronkowski ran for the last 35 yards and tiptoed the line barely remaining inbounds.

The Chiefs gave it right back when Arrington got his first of two picks to set up a field goal to make it 10-3 Patriots. ”We were still fighting and we knew it was a close game going into halftime,” Chiefs safety Kendrick Lewis said. “They got a big play and a big score (Gronkowski’s second touchdown) in the second half and that started their rally.”

The Patriots drove 85 yards on plays to start the third quarter capping on a 19 yard pass to Gronkowski for his second score. Brady finished 15 of 27 for 234 yards and two scores. A minute after that Edelman got his chance and returned a punt for only the second time in his career to put the Patriots up 24-3 with just under nine and a half minutes left in the third.

Arrington got his second pick of the day on the next possession setting up another field goal by Stephen Gostowski to make it 27-3. ”We did too many things that get you beat in this league too many times,” Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali said. The Patriots got their final score in garbage time when rookie Shane Vereen scored his first NFL touchdown on a 4 yard score with a minute left.

The Patriots look to continue their quest for the number one seed in the AFC when they travel to Philadelphia to square off with the Eagles. The Chiefs will try to stay in the hunt for the AFC West and the wild card, but without Cassel it will be hard. They head home to face Pittsburgh, but after that travel to Chicago and to New York before heading back home to face the Packers.

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