USA Today Sports
Tom Brady and Peyton Manning will meet for the 14th time in the regular season or playoffs.Tom Brady has won nine of his 13 head-to-head meetings against Peyton Manning, although Manning has thrown for more yards and more touchdowns in those games.
Seven of the 13 games have been decided by a touchdown or less. Let’s rank those 13 games in order of most notable:
1. 2006 AFC Championship – Colts 38, Patriots 34
Manning helped the Colts overcome a 21-3 deficit by throwing for 349 yards and a score. Their 18-point comeback is tied for the fourth-largest in postseason history and is the biggest in an AFC or NFC Championship Game.
2. 2003 Week 13 – Patriots 38, Colts 34
The Colts had first-and-goal from the Patriots' 2-yard-line with less than a minute remaining but failed to convert, as New England stopped Edgerrin James on first, second and fourth down. Manning threw four touchdowns in a losing effort, becoming the first player to throw four touchdowns against Bill Belichick’s Patriots.
3. 2009 Week 10 – Colts 35, Patriots 34
Leading by six with 2:08 remaining, Belichick went for it on fourth-and-2 from the Patriots' 28-yard-line. Brady’s pass to Kevin Faulk came up a yard short, and Manning threw the game-winning score to Reggie Wayne four plays later to complete the 17-point, fourth-quarter comeback.
4. 2003 AFC Championship – Patriots 24, Colts 14
Head-to-Head Including Playoffs
Manning threw four interceptions, three of them to Ty Law, and was sacked four times in his first postseason meeting with Brady.
5. 2007 Week 9 – Patriots 24, Colts 20
The Patriots improved to 9-0 en route to the first 16-0 regular season in league history as New England overcame a 10-point deficit in the game’s final eight minutes. It was Brady’s ninth straight game with at least three passing touchdowns, breaking Manning’s NFL record from 2004.
6. 2004 Week 1 – Patriots 27, Colts 24
The Patriots defense’s goal-line stand with four minutes left prevented the Colts from taking the lead. Mike Vanderjagt missed a game-tying field goal attempt, and the Patriots extended their win streak to 16.
7. 2006 Week 9 – Colts 27, Patriots 20
The Colts improved to 8-0 behind 326 yards and two scores from Manning. Their defense kept Patriots receivers out of the end zone and picked off Brady four times, one of Brady’s two career games with zero passing touchdowns and four interceptions.
8. 2010 Week 11 – Patriots 31, Colts 28
The Colts’ potential rally from a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit ended when Manning was intercepted by James Sanders at the Patriots' 6-yard line with less than a minute remaining.
9. 2004 Divisional Playoffs – Patriots 20, Colts 3
Brady increased his head-to-head record against Manning to 6-0, throwing a 5-yard pass to David Givens for New England’s first touchdown and scoring on a 1-yard rush for its second. Brady would win his third Super Bowl ring three weeks later.
10. 2005 Week 9 – Colts 40, Patriots 21
Manning threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns to get his first win against Brady in their seventh head-to-head meeting and also his first career win in Foxborough.
11. 2001 Week 3 – Patriots 44, Colts 13
In his first career start, Brady completed 13 of 23 passes for 168 yards in a blowout win against Manning and the Colts. Manning threw three interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns.
12. 2012 Week 5 – Patriots 31, Broncos 21
In the first Manning-Brady matchup that didn’t double as a Colts-Patriots game, the Patriots jumped out to a 31-7 lead and held on to drop the Broncos to 2-3 on the season. Since this game, the Broncos are 20-1 in the regular season.
13. 2001 Week 6 – Patriots 38, Colts 17
Brady improved to 3-1 as a starter and threw for three touchdowns for the first time in his career. He threw two touchdown passes to David Patten, who also had a rushing and passing touchdown. Patten became the first player with a passing, rushing and receiving touchdown in a game since Walter Payton in 1979.