Bob Cook

Peyton Manning would be excused for thinking God put Tom Brady on this earth to teach him humility. After all, Brady’s I-just-win-baby persona, pricking the balloon of Manning’s superior statistics, didn’t start with their playoff battles. It started, literally, with Brady’s first NFL start.

The Patriots’ 44-17 pasting of Indianapolis on Sept. 30, 2001, in the last season of Foxboro Stadium, set the tortoise vs. hare pattern that defined the first three years of the Brady-Manning matchup. Brady would lead his Patriots on slow and steady drives, while Manning would try to hurry his way downfield, only to screw up along the way. (Actually, Brady merely piled onto New England’s domination of the Colts since they arrived in Indianapolis — 21-7 pre-Manning, 4-10 in the Manning era.)

However, in their most recent games, the roles have switched. Manning leading a tortoise-like attack in the Colts’ 2005 regular-season victory, and Brady being the wild-throwing hare in the Patriots’ 2006 regular-season loss.

Actually, given how many interceptions each of these quarterbacks has thrown in the playoffs, the better gauge of who wins might be which rookie running back plays better, the Colts’ Joseph Addai or the Patriots’ Laurence Maroney. Alas, there is no history to fascinate or guide us.

But there is in Brady-Manning. Here is a breakdown of their past meetings:

Sept. 30, 2001: New England 44, Indianapolis 17

The Colts entered Foxboro 2-0; the Patriots were 0-2. The Colts had Manning, who had led the team to two straight playoff berths; the Patriots had Brady, who threw three passes his rookie season of 2000, and had mopup duty after Drew Bledsoe got injured during the previous week’s 10-3 loss to the New York Jets. As it turned out, this was a game that turned both franchise’s seasons — the Patriots, the start of their march toward the Super Bowl; the Colts, the start of their march to 6-10 and Coach Jim Mora’s “Playoffs?” rant.

Brady, as he does best, ran an efficient offense, completing 13 of 23 passes for 168 yards, and handing off 39 times, which resulted in 177 yards. Meanwhile, Manning threw two touchdowns — to New England defenders, including Ty Law, who would become one of Manning’s favorite receivers. Manning got benched for Mark Rypien in the fourth quarter.

At the time, Colts fans, noting their team had lost in the first starts to Patriots quarterbacks Scott Zolak and Tom Ramsey, shrugged. Brady wouldn’t really amount to that much, would he?

Oct. 21, 2001: New England 38, Indianapolis 17

The Colts offense looked great on paper. Manning was 22 of 34 for 335 yards, one touchdown and zero interceptions. Edgerrin James rushed for 143 yards. The Colts outgained New England 484-385. But it is a game like this that Manning’s backers cite in saying, hey, the guy can’t play defense, too!

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Brady again was efficient, completing 16 of 20 passes for 202 yards and three touchdowns. But you want efficient? New England scored 31 points — in its first 29 plays. David Patten became the first player since Walter Payton in 1979 to have a run, pass and catch for a touchdown. All of those touchdowns were on one-play drives.

Nov. 30, 2003: New England 38, Indianapolis 34

With the Colts having moved to the AFC South in 2002, the Patriots didn’t get to beat Indianapolis as often as it used to. Despite the two-year break, this game at the RCA Dome looked like the previous Brady-Manning matchups. Early in the third quarter, New England was up 31-10.

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Yet Brady’s foul-ups brought Indianapolis back into the game. On two straight drives, he threw interceptions, which Manning turned into touchdowns. Handed the ball after the Colts cut the score to 38-34 on a Mike Vanderjagt field goal with 3:27 left, Brady threw three straight incompletions, taking only 30 seconds off the clock.

It turned out another New England nemesis would pop up in this game — what Patriots coach Bill Belichick might call gamesmanship, what Colts general manager Bill Polian might call cheating. With the Colts driving near the goal line with less than a minute left, Patriots linebacker Willie McGinest clutched a seemingly injured knee, bringing the training staff out and slowing down the Colts’ no-huddle offense. “Seemingly” is the operative word because three plays later, on fourth-and-goal from the 1, McGinest burst through the line and stopped Edgerrin James with 14 seconds to go.

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Brady finished 26 of 35 for 236 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Manning was 29 of 48 for 278 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. Manning also learned, after the game, that McGinest knew that when Manning patted his rear end on that fourth-and-goal play, that meant a run.

Jan. 18, 2004: New England 24, Indianapolis 14 (AFC championship)

Here was the game where Brady vs. Manning became BRADY VS. MANNING. The two quarterback’s statistics, for the most part, were somewhat similar. Brady was 23 of 37 for 237 yards and a touchdown. Manning was 23 of 47 for 237 yards and a touchdown. Of course, the difference was Brady threw one interception, and Manning threw four. With three catches, Law was one of Manning’s most frequent targets.

The game also established the pattern for how to beat Manning: control the ball, and force Manning to catch up in a hurry. New England had a 32:14-27:46 advantage in time of possession, but most importantly, its opening drive, for its only touchdown, was a grinding, 13-play affair. However, Manning kept the Colts in the game by continually driving Indianapolis deep into New England territory. Then he took them out by throwing picks. The Colts’ turnovers, including a Marvin Harrison fumble, occurred at the Patriots 5, the Colts 41, the Patriots 14, the Colts 26 and the Patriots 30.

There was more of what Belichick might call gamesmanship, what Polian might — well, did — call cheating. The New England defenders held the Colts receivers so much, the receivers’ parents demand the defenders take their hand in marriage. The NFL ruled after this game that officials needed to tighten their calls on defensive interference and holding.

Sept. 9, 2004: New England 27, Indianapolis 24

Brady had his best statistical game against Indianapolis, completing 26 of 38 passes for 335 yards, three touchdowns and an interception at Foxborough. But like their last regular-season meeting, the Patriots tried to give away the game, and Manning and the Colts just wouldn’t take it.

Brady threw two third-quarter touchdowns to put New England ahead 27-17, but also threw an interception in the fourth quarter with the Colts down only three points. But on the ensuing drive, for the second time in the second half, James fumbled deep in Patriots territory. Then on the Colts’ final, last-second chance, Vanderjagt missed a 48-yard field goal, his first miss after an NFL-record 42 straight.

Manning completed 16 of 29 passes for 256 yards and two touchdowns and a first-quarter interception. But he also took a 13-yard sack from McGinest that set up his idiot, liquored-up kicker for a longer kick.