New England at Indianapolis, Sun., 6:30 p.m. ET

	Adam Vinatieri was 5-for-5 in field-goal attempts in the Colts' 15-6 win over the Ravens last week. Simon Bruty/SI
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• Numbers to know: If the Patriots pull the upset, they'll be in the Super Bowl for the fourth time in six years, giving them a chance to match the Steelers of the mid-to-late '70s for the most dominant run in the Super Bowl era. The Colts, on the other hand, haven't made the Big Game since January 1971, when they beat Dallas 16-13 in Miami in Super Bowl V. That would be the longest gap between appearances in Super Bowl history.

• The angle to pay attention to: After five consecutive trips to Foxboro, the Colts finally have the Patriots back in the RCA Dome, where the teams haven't met since November 2003. Will it matter? Yes. The Colts are 9-0 at home this season and are a quicker, more explosive team on the fast track of their artificial surface. Will it matter? No. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is 10-0 in domes in his career, 23-1 on artificial surfaces, and 12-1 in the playoffs. Confused? So are we.

• The tidbit: All eyes are on Adam Vinatieri, the former Pats legend who nailed a playoff-record-tying five field goals last week at Baltimore to give Indy all the points it needed in its 15-6 win. Will he gain revenge on his old team with another of his patented fourth-quarter game winners? Maybe, but don't forget about his replacement, New England's Stephen Gostkowski. Last week at San Diego, his 31-yarder with three seconds remaining made him the first rookie to kick a playoff game-winner since the Colts' Jim O'Brien won Super Bowl V with a 32-yard field goal against Dallas. Gostkowski is now 6-of-6 in the playoffs.

• The coaching front: Between Tampa Bay and Indianapolis, this is the eighth consecutive season a Tony Dungy-coached team has made the playoffs, a remarkable run that seldom gets mentioned. In his 11 NFL seasons as a head coach, Dungy has just one losing record (6-10 in 1996, his first year in Tampa Bay), and nine playoff berths. His 114-62 (.648) regular-season record is the best among active coaches with at least 50 wins, including Bill Belichick's mark of 111-81 (.578). But while Dungy is just 7-8 in the playoffs, with three trips to a conference final, Belichick is 13-2 in the postseason, having never lost beyond the divisional round. Head-to-head, Dungy is 2-4 against New England as the Colts coach, but is on a two-game winning streak.

• The buzz: The Patriots have had success when they've spread the field on offense this season, going with sets of three to five receivers for most of the game. Wisely choosing not to run against the Vikings No. 1-ranked run defense, New England had Brady pick Minnesota's Cover Two formation apart through the air. Last week at San Diego, the Pats started thriving when they abandoned their early two tight-end set and spread the field with three receivers. The Colts play the same Cover Two as the Vikings, so New England's plan of attack could wind up mirroring its approach in Minnesota.

• The next household name(s): One of the most well-worn clichés of last offseason was that the Colts were going to sorely miss Edgerrin James' running threat. But that notion was rendered totally bogus by the two-headed backfield of rookie Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes. The pair combined for 1,722 yards and 13 touchdowns this season, making up for James' production and then some. Addai and Rhodes have a combined total of 285 yards rushing on 70 carries (4.1 avg.) and 12 catches for 72 yards in the Colts' two playoff wins.

• The X Factor: Peyton Manning to Marvin Harrison has been a near unstoppable combination in the Colts' wins at New England the past two regular seasons. Harrison caught eight for 145 yards and two touchdowns in Indy's Week 9 win this season, and had nine for 128 and two more scores in the Colts' win in Week 9 of 2005. If New England's best cover corner, Asante Samuel, can play the role of Ty Law and shut down the Manning-Harrison pipeline in the playoffs, the Patriots' upset chances will soar.

• Most memorable encounter: The former AFC East rivals have met eight times since the beginning of the Brady era in New England (the Patriots are 6-2 in those games), but never with more on the line than in the 2003 AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium. New England won 24-14, amid snow flurries, thanks to Law picking off Manning three times and Rodney Harrison intercepting No. 18 in the end zone. The Patriots also sacked Manning four times, three by Jarvis Green.

• The Pick: Both history and logic compels one to go with the Patriots in the playoffs, but the Colts' time has come at last. New England played its Super Bowl last week. Colts 23, Patriots 20

Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.