Colts at Patriots
THE STORY: Dan Orlovsky will be the third different quarterback not named Peyton Manning to start for the winless Indianapolis Colts this season. That fact, as much as anything, explains why the NFL opted to pull the plug on a scheduled prime-time matchup between the Colts and host New England Patriots on Sunday night and instead move it into a matinee time slot. While Indianapolis is staring at the No. 1 draft pick in 2012, the Patriots have regained their footing after back-to-back losses. They have won three straight games to take a two-game lead atop the AFC East and vault back into contention for the No. 1 overall seed in the conference.
TV: CBS, 1 p.m. ET. LINE: Patriots -20, O/U 47.5
ABOUT THE COLTS (0-11): The first casualty of Indianapolis’ 0-11 start was defensive coordinator Larry Coyer, who was fired earlier in the week. The Colts have surrendered a league-worst 327 points and have held only one opponent to less than 23. Orlovsky is in familiar territory – he started seven games for Detroit when the Lions went 0-16 in 2008. Indianapolis had scored a total of 27 points in the four games prior to last week’s 27-19 home loss to Carolina.
ABOUT THE PATRIOTS (8-3): After a three-game lull, Tom Brady and New England’s offense are back on track. The Patriots have scored at least 34 points in each of their last three wins and Brady has tossed eight touchdown passes and zero interceptions in that stretch. Brady threw for 361 yards and three TDs in Sunday night’s 38-20 blowout win at Philadelphia. RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis ran for a pair of TDs, but New England averaged less than three yards per carry on a season-high 36 rushes.
EXTRA POINTS:
1. Brady, who has a 33-5 career record in December, is tied with Johnny Unitas for sixth all-time with 119 wins.
2. Colts DE Dwight Freeney needs a half-sack to become the 26th player to reach 100 for his career. WR Reggie Wayne is three receptions shy of having 50 for the ninth straight season.
3. Orlovsky is the third straight backup QB faced by the Patriots, who have gone up against Philadelphia’s Vince Young and Kansas City’s Tyler Palko in the past two weeks.