Coming off their win over the Steelers the Patriots played on home ground against the Colts for the first time in four seasons. The Colts took the opening kick and drove to the Patriots 46-yard line, but on 3rd-and-6 Peyton Manning was intercepted by Brandon Meriweather who returned it 39 yards to the Colts 32. Four plays later, Brady threw a 22-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Welker for an early 7-0 lead. After a Colts punt, the Patriots put together a 15 play, 87-yard drive, culminating with Brady throwing an 8-yard touchdown pass to Hernandez, increasing their lead to 14-0 early in the second quarter. The Colts responded on their next drive, with Manning passing for 62 yards on a 69-yard drive, and scoring on a 1-yard touchdown pass to tight end Gijon Robinson. Ben Tate returned the ensuing kickoff 32 yards to the Patriots 35, and the Patriots offense continued to stay relentless, marching 65 yards in 8 plays, scoring on a 5-yard run by Green-Ellis, increasing their lead to 21-7. The Colts answered right back, engineering a 12 play, 73-yard drive, scoring on an 11-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Reggie Wayne(who made a fantastic catch) 0:08 left in the first half, trimming the deficit to 21-14. After both teams punted on their first drive of the second half, the Patriots raced 79 yards in just 9 plays, scoring on a 36-yard touchdown burst by Woodhead, extending the lead 28-14 on the only score of the third quarter. On the second play of the Colts next drive, Manning was intercepted by McCourty at the Patriots 39. The Patriots drove to the Colts 7, but the Colts defense held, forcing the Patriots to settle for a 25-yard field goal, widening the lead to 31-14 with 10:27 left in the game. Peyton threw for 66 yards on the ensuing 73-yard drive, including a 5-yard touchdown pass to Blair White, trimming the deficit to 31-21. After forcing a quick three-and-out, with help from an unnecessary roughness penalty on Tully Banta-Cain, the Colts raced 58 yards, with Manning throwing his 4th touchdown of the night, again to White, trimming the deficit to just 31-28 with 4:46 remaining in the game. The Colts forced another quick punt and got the ball at their own 26-yard line with 2:25 remaining, giving Manning a chance to pull off a miracle comeback against the Patriots for a second year in a row.  Manning drove the Colts all the way to the Patriots 24-yard line, but was intercepted at by James Sanders at the 6-yard line with 0:37 remaining, giving the Patriots the win. Manning shredded the Patriots 32nd ranked pass defense, going 38/52 for a fantastic 396 yards and 4 touchdowns, but also threw 3 interceptions (2 in Patriots territory) . Brady was 19/25 for just 186 yards, but didn't turn the ball over. Green-Ellis and Woodhead were huge in the run game as the Patriots ran for 134 yards as a team. With the win, the Patriots improved to 8-2.. Which player threw the second longest TD pass?