Who'll have the horses?

Likewise, Patriots coach Bill Belichick said these Colts aren't doing anything the Patriots haven't seen (and stopped) the past few seasons. The question is, will they stop it tonight at Gillette Stadium?

''It's the same guys," Belichick said of the Colts, who lost to the Patriots in the playoffs each of the last two years. ''It's the same plays and it's pretty much the same results.

''You give me the coverage, I'll tell you where the ball is going. You show me the front, I'll tell you how they are going to block it."

So, if both teams are doing the same things that they always have done, won't they get what they've been getting? Not necessarily.

The Patriots may be playing the same defenses, but cornerback Ty Law isn't locking down on receivers on one side, and Rodney Harrison isn't body-slamming them in the middle. And for the past three games at least -- and probably not tonight -- defensive end Richard Seymour (sprained left knee) isn't dominating up front.

Dungy isn't falling into that trap.

''We played them the first time last year and they had Ty Law, [cornerback] Tyrone Poole [out for the season with an ankle injury], and Richard Seymour and we moved the ball pretty well and scored a lot of points. The second time we played those guys they didn't have Seymour, Poole, and Law and we scored 3 points," Dungy said. ''It is how you play that particular day. It is not who plays or what uniform they are in or where the game is or how the weather is. It is how you play."

Noted for being as good of an X's and O's coach as there is in the NFL, Belichick has been scouring video of his team's past whippings of Indianapolis.

''I think there's some point in the week, every week, when you come to the point where you feel like, 'I know we want to be here,' " Belichick said. ''It's not always on Tuesday or Wednesday."

Before that statement, Belichick signed running back Mike Cloud and waived safety Arturo Freeman, who started the previous week. So Belichick surely will have had his ''I got 'em" moment before kickoff. Patriots coaches spend time in the offseason on every opponent, and with the Colts having been last year's season-opening opponent, and a postseason foe, there has been plenty of study of what they do.