Colts Start Bid to Get Edge on Patriots

The Indianapolis Colts are looking past the Baltimore Ravens, their opponents in Sunday night’s nationally televised game at Baltimore.

Thoughts of January already are on the minds of the Colts, who are determined to finish with a better record than the New England Patriots so as to avoid another midwinter trip to their house of horrors in Foxborough, Mass.

Their last two seasons ended in playoff losses there, Peyton Manning unable to duplicate the magic outdoors that he regularly conjures in the RCA Dome and, despite his assault on the record books, falling short of the Super Bowl again.

The two-time most valuable player passed for a record 49 touchdowns last season but couldn’t get the Colts into the end zone in a 20-3 loss to the Patriots.

Perhaps more relevant to Sunday’s game, which will be televised by ESPN starting at 5:30 p.m. PDT, the stingy Raven defense limited Manning to one touchdown pass in a 20-10 Colt victory last Dec. 19, the only time during the regular season that the Colt quarterback passed for fewer than two touchdowns.

Oddsmakers have the Colts as three-point favorites.

Elsewhere:

Denver at Miami plus 4 1/2 , Sunday, 10 a.m., Channel 2: Jake Plummer passed for 4,089 yards last season, breaking John Elway’s 11-year-old Bronco record, but in two games against the Dolphins he has thrown six interceptions and no touchdown passes.

Chicago plus 6 at Washington, Sunday, 10 a.m.: With Rex Grossman sidelined because of a broken ankle, rookie Kyle Orton will start at quarterback for the Bears, who ranked last in the NFL in passing offense last season.

Houston plus 4 1/2 at Buffalo, Sunday, 10 a.m.: Former Venice High quarterback J.P. Losman, who threw only five passes as a rookie last season, starts for the Bills against a Texan team that won four, five and seven games in its first three seasons and hopes to make the jump to playoff contender this season.

Tennessee plus 7 at Pittsburgh, Sunday, 10 a.m.: Norm Chow, now calling the plays for the Titans after leaving Pete Carroll’s USC staff last winter, will be challenged in his NFL debut. The Steelers, winners of 14 consecutive regular-season games, gave up fewer points and yards than any other NFL team last season.

N.Y. Jets plus 3 at Kansas City, Sunday, 10 a.m.: Talk about an imbalance: The Chiefs ranked no higher than 29th in the NFL in defense in any of the last three seasons but were first or second in scoring all three seasons.

Seattle plus 3 at Jacksonville, Sunday, 10 a.m.: Shaun Alexander, miffed at Seahawk Coach Mike Holmgren’s season-finale play-calling after falling one yard short of the NFL rushing title that went to the Jets’ Curtis Martin, begins a new bid against a Jaguar defense that ranks among the league’s best.

New Orleans plus 7 at Carolina, Sunday, 10 a.m.: The Saints, displaced to San Antonio because of hurricane damage and possibly facing an entire season of road games, open against a team with Super Bowl aspirations. “I think when you feel sorry for yourselves, you go upstairs and watch TV and that kind of goes away,” Saint Coach Jim Haslett said, declining to accept lowered expectations.

Cincinnati at Cleveland plus 3 1/2 , Sunday, 10 a.m.: Out of the playoffs since 1990, the Bengals were waylaid the last two seasons by faulty starts, losing four of their first five games each time en route to an 8-8 finish.

Tampa Bay plus 6 at Minnesota, Sunday, 10 a.m., Channel 11: Florida freefall: The Buccaneers lost eight games by seven points or fewer last season on their way to a 5-11 finish, becoming the first team in NFL history to miss the playoffs with losing records in consecutive seasons after winning the Super Bowl.

Green Bay plus 3 at Detroit, Sunday, 1:15 p.m.: Brent Favre, starting his 15th season and trying to lead the Packers to their fourth consecutive division title, is 266 passing yards shy of joining Elway and Dan Marino as the only players to reach 50,000.

Dallas plus 4 1/2 at San Diego, Sunday, 1:15 p.m., Channel 11: The Chargers, who went from 4-12 two seasons ago to 12-4 last season, have all 22 starters back from their playoff loss to the Jets, unheard-of in today’s NFL. Among them: running back LaDainian Tomlinson and quarterback Drew Brees, the NFL’s comeback player of the year.

Arizona plus 3 at N.Y. Giants, Sunday, 1:15 p.m.: Michael Strahan, who leads active players with 118 sacks, returns after sitting out the last eight games of the 2004 season because of a torn chest muscle, leading the Giant defense against well-traveled former teammate Kurt Warner.

St. Louis at San Francisco plus 5 1/2 , Sunday, 1:15 p.m.: A league-worst minus-24 take-away differential led the Rams to shore up their defense in the off-season, the key free-agent pickups including former USC linebacker Chris Claiborne.

Philadelphia at Atlanta plus 1 1/2 , Monday, 6 p.m., Channel 7: Terrell Owens and Donovan McNabb, who haven’t spoken to one another this summer, could be back on speaking terms in time for this rematch of the NFC championship game. Owens said he planned to meet with his Eagle teammate sometime before the game.