There will be a new NFL champion this year. The Indianapolis Colts (-11) had the better of the visiting San Diego Chargers on offense Sunday, but two tipped Peyton Manning passes for interceptions were the difference in a 28-24 Chargers victory. San Diego won despite in-game injuries to Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson.

Indy wasn’t the biggest chalk on the Divisional board. That was the New England Patriots (-13.5) in Saturday’s matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tom Brady was 26-of-28 for three touchdowns, and Laurence Maroney rumbled for 122 yards and a score, but the Jags were sufficiently pesky to grab the cash in a 31-20 loss.

The Pats will now prepare to host the resilient Chargers in the AFC Championship game. It was unknown at press time how the knee injuries suffered by both Rivers and Tomlinson would affect their status for Sunday’s matchup. New England reported no significant injuries.

Brady’s chances of breaking Manning’s record are very closely related to Moss’ chances of breaking Rice’s record. With 48 scoring throws through the Pats’ first 15 games, and with the team chasing down a perfect season, New England will play for history Saturday night vs. the Giants. And to win, the Patriots must throw the ball.

One factor that could work against Brady and Moss might be the elements on a late December evening in Jersey, where the wind can make throwing the ball very tough. The Giants gave up big yardage and points to Dallas and Green Bay early this season, but since then the G-Men defense hasn’t been too bad, and they rank in the top 10 against the pass.

Of course, they haven’t run up against anything like the Brady bunch. Given any chance whatsoever, Belichick will get both his QB and his slender WR their records.

Get ready for Sunday Night Football!

Ah yes…a classic match up if ever there was one. The Indianapolis Colts vs. the Baltimore Ravens. It should be interesting to see what Colts QB Peyton Manning can pull out of his bag of tricks this Sunday night against a team that nearly pulled of the upset of the season last week against the unbeaten New England Patriots. I’m thinking that with his crappy game already out of the way (against the Chiefs), I’m thinking Manning is determined to stand tall and win this one on the road.

The Baltimore Ravens (one of the leagues lowest scoring teams) are having a piss-poor season, losing their last 6 games in a row making this their worst season since Brian Billick stepped into the picture as head coach. The Ravens are 4-8 SU overall and out of the playoff picture, their offense is struggling and so is their defense.

The Indianapolis Colts, on the other hand, had to live through the hell that was losing to the New England Patriots in what has been the most-watched game of the season thus far, are coming into this game 10-2 Su overall and are primed for a bye into the AFC playoffs. They’re riding a three-game win streak and coach Tony Dungy’s outlook remains positive.

“I feel great about where we are right now,” Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy said. “Going into the fourth quarter of the season, we’ve got a good lead in the division and we’re second in the conference. If we’d lost, we’d have felt we’d have to win all four of our last games.”

The Patriots dropped the cash!

That’s the main storyline (as far as we’re concerned) about Sunday’s Patriots-Colts game. Sure, the Pats went 9-0 straight up and will now carry the 1972 Miami Dolphins on their backs for the rest of the season – or until they lose, whichever comes first. But it was easily the toughest game of the year for both teams, and New England escaped by the skin of its teeth.

It took two fourth-quarter TD drives (keyed by two Tom Brady bombs) for New England to win 24-20 as 6.5-point road faves. Indy’s offense did well in the first three quarters, but the absence of Marvin Harrison was problematic for Peyton Manning, especially once Anthony Gonzalez was knocked out in the first half with a finger injury.

Even if you had given the Colts a full complement, Sunday’s game would have been a close one. Perhaps they will meet again in the AFC Championship (fingers crossed).

Now here’s a highlite video of the Colts/Patriots game from Sunday. Enjoy.