Two of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL lock horns for the 14th time when Peyton Manning and Tom Brady face off on Sunday at Gillette Stadium.
These two quarterbacks have been rivals since Brady's emergence in 2001 where he led the New England Patriots to a win over Manning and his then Indianapolis Colts in his first career start.
It was all very one-sided until 2005 as the Patriots demolished Manning and the Colts on a regular basis, with two big wins at Gillette in the playoffs in the 2003 and 2004 seasons the highlights.
The 1998 first overall Draft pick began to fightback winning three on the bounce, including turning over a 21-point deficit in the AFC Championship game in 2006 on his way to winning the Super Bowl.
It has been a mixed bag since, with the Patriots winning the last two including Manning's first game against Bill Belichick's side as a member of the Denver Broncos.
Looking at the season picture going into the game, Manning and the Broncos travel to Foxborough on a high and atop the AFC West division following their crucial win over the Kansas City Chiefs last week.
Meanwhile, the Patriots fell to 7-3 in the AFC East after their controversial defeat to the Carolina Panthers setting the stage for a crucial showdown.
The Broncos' offense comes into the game like the Colts of old; loaded with talent and scoring at will. They are in sight of breaking the Patriots' scoring record of 2007 while Manning is just 16 touchdown passes behind Brady's season record of 50 set in the same year.
On paper the teams don't match up that well as by rights the Broncos' offense should have their way with the Patriots aided with injuries to key members of the home side's defense as all their secondary are questionable for the clash.
However, that all gets thrown out in this game as Manning is never comfortable against the Pats and more importantly head coach Belichick.
Whereas the Chiefs looked rattled and baffled by the All-Pro, Belichick rarely has and he and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia will have something up their sleeve to try their utmost to deal with him.
Manning's play this year has been off the charts aided by the fact he doesn't take many hits and his lack of producing turnovers. He gets the ball out of his hands quickly due to his analytical mind knowing where the coverage is and his receivers ability to get open fast.
Whether he will be able to do that is another matter.
In the Patriots' success over him and his former side in the early naughties, Belichick instructed his defensive backs to jam the receivers straight away disrupting that quick release.
In this game replace Ty Law and Marvin Harrison with Aqib Talib and Demaryius Thomas, Rodney Harrison and Dallas Clark with Devin McCourty and Julius Thomas. If New England can disrupt that rhythm as they did in the past they could limit the Broncos' scoring, allowing Brady to go to work.
The quarterback will have a job in not only scoring points to keep pace with Manning but limiting his possessions by taking time off the clock. It's a formula that worked against the 37-year-old and has been used against Brady as well.
The key for the Broncos defense, stop the run and force turnovers.
New England have had relative success in their ground game and in the passing game from their backs. The return of Shane Vereen on Monday helped their third down conversion rate while running from Stevan Ridley and LeGarrette Blount kept the pressure off Brady.
If they are allowed to run and take time off, we could see a similar game to that of last season when the Pats ran out 31-21 victors, making it a close game where Brady thrives.
However, if the Broncos can get that elusive turnover or turnovers, the game is theirs to lose.
We're poised again for another cracking game and make sure you watch to the end as these games tend to go the wire.
Simon Sinclair
