Patriots pass Colts

INDIANAPOLIS -- Perfection isn’t always pretty.

The New England Patriots reminded the football world of that Sunday, overcoming some uncharacteristic sloppiness to keep their record unblemished in a 24-20 victory over previously unbeaten Indianapolis at the RCA Dome.

The Patriots (9-0), who wrapped the game up with two unanswered touchdown drives in the fourth quarter, set a franchise record with 146 yards in penalties -- most coming on two long pass-interference calls -- and were pawing at air on a 73-yard touchdown play by Joseph Addai, who turned a short reception into a TiVo-worthy ramble to the end zone.

By beating the Colts (7-1), the Patriots halted the league’s longest winning streak at 12, dating to Week 17 of last season.

“We sort of haven’t had a game like this all year,” said New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi, whose team had blown out opponents by an average of 25.5 points. “So winning a game like this, it’s nice knowing that we still know how to win them.”

The way their remaining schedule sets up, it’s very conceivable the Patriots could join the 1972 Miami Dolphins as the only teams to run the table. At least two challenging opponents remain -- a home game against Pittsburgh and a road finale at the New York Giants -- but there are cream puffs too: Tthe New York Jets and Miami travel to Foxborough in December.

So conditioned are the Patriots not to look beyond their noses, they quickly brush off any questions about the potential of a perfect season -- or a perfect game.

“I don’t think we try to play perfect, I think we try to play great,” defensive lineman Richard Seymour said. “There’s a difference. If you go out and try to be perfect on the football field, you’re just vulnerable, you’re scared to make mistakes. You just can’t go out play, and leave it out there on the field, and if something happens make adjustments. That’s what football is.

“That’s what we’ve been able to do in this locker room, and it’s been fun doing it.”

If the Patriots are having fun, they do a good job of disguising it. The TV cameras show them hugging and high-fiving on the sideline, but they’re all business in the locker room. Coach Bill Belichick, who always looks a bit tortured talking to the media, answered questions after the game in his standard joyless monotone.

Asked about the hype leading up to the game, unofficially dubbed Super Bowl XLI 1/2, Belichick said: “I don’t care about all that. It’s a football game against the Colts, that’s all it was. It was one game. That’s what the significance was.”

The Patriots came into the game having lost three in a row to the Colts, including last season’s AFC championship game, also played in Indianapolis. This time, the Colts were missing All-Pro receiver Marvin Harrison, and his replacement, rookie Anthony Gonzalez, suffered a dislocated thumb on the opening play, a 13-yard catch.

Regardless, with the game on the line, Manning didn’t make the plays and Tom Brady did. Beginning midway through the fourth quarter, the Patriots passer directed touchdown drives of 73 and 51 yards to erase a 10-point deficit and pull away for good. Those drives ended with scoring passes to Wes Welker and Kevin Faulk.

Despite the emotional high of punctuating the first half with Addai’s long touchdown, the Colts’ offense sputtered in the final 30 minutes with possessions ending: interception, punt, punt, touchdown, punt, fumble.

“The disappointing thing is you can’t lose home games,” said Coach Tony Dungy, whose team had won 15 in a row at the RCA Dome dating to its loss to Pittsburgh in a divisional playoff in the 2005-06 season. “You don’t like to lose in your building. This is one that will remain with us for a couple of days . . .”

The moping window closes quickly, though, because the Colts have to get ready for Sunday’s game at San Diego. The Patriots have the week off, although that doesn’t mean they’re taking a breather. To hear the perfectionists in the locker room tell it, they aren’t close to where they want or need to be.

“It certainly wasn’t our best game today,” said Brady, who completed 21 of 32 passes for 255 yards, with three touchdowns and two interceptions. “There are a bunch of things that didn’t go the way we planned it. A lot of that is great defense, and I have to give that to the Colts. And some of it is bad play by our offense. We’ve got to find ways to improve that.”

Manning completed 16 of 27 for 225 yards with a touchdown, an interception and two fumbles. He was sacked three times to Brady’s two.

New England’s Randy Moss had nine catches for 145 yards with a touchdown. For Indianapolis, with 112 yards rushing and 114 receiving, Addai became the first player in Colts history to get at least 100 yards of each in the same game -- neither Eric Dickerson nor Marshall Faulk accomplished that.

Even so, Addai was ready to move on, saying, “We’re going to forget about this game.”

A perfectly good idea.

sam.farmer@latimes.com

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Patriots’ parade

A look at matchups of NFL teams that played each other with records of 5-0 or better:

*--* Nov. 13, 1921 Akron (7-0) at Buffalo (6-0) Pros 0, All-Americans 0 Nov. 4, 1923 Canton (5-0) at Chicago (5-0) Bulldogs 7, Cardinals 3 Oct. 28, 1973 Los Angeles (6-0) at Vikings 10, Rams 9 Minnesota (6-0) Oct. 24, 2004 N.Y. Jets (5-0) at New Patriots 13, Jets 7 England (5-0) Oct. 14, 2007 New England (5-0) at Dallas Patriots 48, Cowboys 27 (5-0) Nov. 4, 2007 New England (8-0) at Patriots 24, Colts 20 Indianapolis (7-0) *--*

Associated Press