The cheese isn’t going to taste as good this week in Green Bay. Peyton Manning is coming to town — the real Peyton Manning.

The fine folks of Wisconsin, who know what it’s like to be in the presence of a future Hall-of-Fame quarterback (see: Favre, Brett), were hoping they’d see the September Manning for Sunday’s game against their beloved Packers.

You know, the Manning who resembled a journeyman passer in the first 3½ games. The guy so limited by his surgically-repaired knee (twice repaired, as we’ve come to discover) that he had to pitch the ball instead of handing it off for the Colts’ trademark “stretch” running play. The guy who supposedly wasn’t as good as his little brother anymore.

Well, forget about seeing that guy. That guy is gone.

Finally feeling normal, Manning delivered a vintage performance in Sunday’s 31-3 rout of the Ravens, passing for 271 yards and three touchdowns in a virtually flawless performance. Manning’s game was whole again, and the Colts were, too. Some coincidence, huh? They were back to their warped-speed ways, dominating on defense and special teams as much as they did on offense.

So hold the Colt obits, will you please?

After a dreadful 1-2 start, in which Manning threw more interceptions (five) than touchdowns (four), the Colts have regained their usual regular-season swagger. That isn’t an overstatement. Sometimes we tend to place too much emphasis on one game, which is the nature of the week-to-week madness and beauty of the NFL, but this was more than a blip on the screen for the Colts.

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A blip would’ve been a convincing win over the Bengals or the Lions. This was the Ravens, who entered the game with the league’s top-ranked defense and a stout running attack that was supposed to flatten the undersized, Bob Sanders-less Colts defense. That didn’t happen.

Still feeding off their miracle win in Houston (you should be receiving the thank-you gift any day now, Sage Rosenfels), the revived Colts played their best game in 10 months. It was like old times, as Manning played pitch-and-catch with Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne.

“I guess, in some ways, this really is like the first week of the season for me,” Manning said after the game.

Manning missed the entire preseason after surgery in mid-July for an infected bursa in his knee. Taking a page out of the Bill Belichick book on reporting injuries, the Colts took the clandestine approach, not announcing the follow-up procedure. Finally, on Sunday, CBS spilled the beans during its game telecast.

Even for a great player, one of the most durable athletes of our time, a double knee surgery is a tough deal. You can’t miss the entire preseason and expect to regain your timing and your conditioning in one game. Not even a Manning can do that. His slow start, combined with injuries to the offensive line, made the Colts appear vulnerable, almost … well, pedestrian.

The Colts, more than most teams, need their horses at full strength. They don’t try to trick opponents with gadget plays and complicated schemes. The beauty of Tom Moore’s system is its simplicity: Just line up, let Peyton make decisions at the line of scrimmage and attack. When one of two or three of the parts isn’t functioning at peak efficiency, it has a profound impact on the entire operation, especially if one of the damaged parts is named Manning.

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The Colts still aren’t the picture of health. Running back Joseph Addai (hamstring) is hurting a bit and backup Mike Hart (knee) might be finished for the season, which could make the journeyman Dominic Rhodes the primary ballcarrier against the Packers. Fortunately for the Colts, the Packers don’t play much run defense, yielding an averaging of 153 yards per game.

It won’t be easy for the Colts, and neither will the next few weeks. After Green Bay, they face the Titans (away), the Patriots (home) and the Steelers (away). At 3-2, Indy is two games behind the undefeated Titans, reducing its margin for error. This is a pivotal stretch, but the Colts will be more than okay. They might not coast into the playoffs as usual, but they’ll be there.

Manning is Manning again, and his supporting cast, for the most, is getting healthy at the right time. They should be highly motivated. Make no mistake, they’ve heard the critics, the naysayers that have predicted doom. After scoring one of his two touchdowns Sunday, Harrison looked at the crowd and made an unusual gesture. It almost looked like he was brushing off dandruff from his shoulder pads.

He was “dusting off the haters,” Wayne explained.

And dusting the competition. Like old times.

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