But survive they did, staying on course for an unbeaten season as Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes in a four-minute span of the fourth quarter to overcome a 10-point deficit and beat Super Bowl champion Indianapolis 24-20 today.

The win in perhaps the NFL's biggest regular-season game ever keeps the Patriots (9-0) on course for the NFL's first unbeaten season since Miami did it 1972 and gives them the first tiebreaker over Indianapolis (7-1) in the AFC playoffs.

New England, which had been averaging more than 41 points a game and had beaten eight opponents by an average of more than 25 points, trailed 20-10 after Peyton Manning scored on a 1-yard sneak with 9 minutes and 42 seconds left in the game.

However, Brady's 55-yard completion to Randy Moss set up a 3-yard TD pass to Wes Welker. Rosevelt Colvin knocked the ball loose from Manning to force a punt on the next series. Then Brady found Kevin Faulk over the middle for 13 yards for the winning score with 3:15 left.