FOXBORO, Mass. (AP) -- If the New England Patriots didn't know it before, they're sure of it now: The Indianapolis Colts are much better than last season.

The Colts showed that with a dominating 31-14 win over Buffalo last Sunday in which they passed for 284 yards, ran for 109, allowed no sacks and only 47 yards rushing, and tackled elusive Bills quarterback Doug Flutie five times.

"They left no doubt," Patriots coach Pete Carroll said. "They were not just fortunate to win. This was a convincing victory."

If the Colts needed any evidence that New England wasn't a pushover either, all they had to consider was the Patriots 30-28 win over the AFC East favorite New York Jets.

Drew Bledsoe completed 21 of 30 passes for 340 yards and led a drive to the winning field goal with three seconds left. The defense intercepted three passes and recovered a fumble for a touchdown.

"They eat up big chunks of yardage quickly," Colts coach Jim Mora said.

So what about all those forecasts that the Patriots and Colts, who meet in New England's home opener Sunday, would finish at the bottom of the tough AFC East?

"I really don't understand some of these preseason predictions," Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning said. "People are talking about the Jets and Buffalo and Miami. You don't hear New England as much.

"They have the same players (as last year) and, believe me, they're plenty good."

The Patriots do have some different starters. Kevin Faulk and Terry Allen share time at running back in place of Robert Edwards, who suffered a knee injury that could end his career.

Other new starters are free safety Chris Carter and rookies Damien Woody at center and Andy Katzenmoyer at middle linebacker.

The Colts have five new starters on offense and six on defense after finishing 3-13 last season, Manning's first in the NFL.

One of those newcomers is first-round draft pick Edgerrin James, whose 112 yards rushing in his NFL debut lead the league. He also caught four passes.

With a top quarterback like Manning, the Colts offense "is a perfect fit for me," James said, "because I'm the type of player who likes to also be involved in the passing game."

"They've got a running attack so they can open up the big play for Peyton Manning," Patriots linebacker Marty Moore said. "It's just a matter of us making it a one-dimensional game. If we stop the run, then we know he's going to throw and we can get back in our coverages."

The Colts also added defensive end Chad Bratzke, who had 11 sacks with the New York Giants last season, then sacked Flutie three times.

The Patriots, who have a six-game winning streak against the Colts, expect them to use the same attacking defense against the less mobile Bledsoe.

"The way that we're going to beat that is I'm going to throw the ball quickly," Bledsoe said.

He has plenty of dangerous targets, including wide receivers Terry Glenn, Shawn Jefferson, Tony Simmons, Troy Brown and Vincent Brisby. Nine players caught passes last Sunday, including seven to Glenn and a 58-yard touchdown to Simmons.

Bledsoe "has a great corps of receivers, as good a receiver corps as there might be in the NFL, five guys that are pretty darn good with speed," Mora said.

"They can hit you with the big play."

So can the Colts.

Manning threw two touchdowns passes to Marvin Harrison and also connected with him on a 42-yard reception last Sunday. That's quite a change from early last season, when Manning threw for three touchdowns and 11 interceptions in his first four games.

He improved as the year went on, finishing with 26 touchdown passes and 28 interceptions.

"He was wet behind the ears last year," Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. "He looks really good for a second-year quarterback."

Indy's linemen will have to protect Manning from oft-injured defensive end Willie McGinest. Healthy again, he had two sacks and a fumble recovery for a touchdown against the Jets.

But those linemen did a good job last season, allowing only 22 sacks.

Manning said beating Buffalo "gives us a lot of confidence." But Mora doesn't think one victory means they've vaulted over their division rivals.

"We've made a little progress, but we're still behind those other four teams," he said. "We can't ever think we're better than we really are."

That one victory over the Bills might not have changed the Patriots opinion of the Colts, either.

"I don't think it's a wakeup call," New England cornerback Ty Law said. "We were always aware of the potential that they had. They didn't always execute the way they were capable of, but now they're doing just that."

INDIANAPOLIS Season schedule and results

NEW ENGLAND Season schedule and results

September 12 Buffalo W 31-14 September 19 @New England 1:00pm ET September 26 @San Diego 4:05pm ET October 10 Miami 4:15pm ET October 17 @NY Jets 1:00pm ET October 24 Cincinnati 1:00pm ET October 31 Dallas 1:00pm ET November 7 Kansas City 1:00pm ET November 14 @NY Giants 1:00pm ET November 21 @Philadelphia 1:00pm ET November 28 NY Jets 4:15pm ET December 5 @Miami 1:00pm ET December 12 New England 1:00pm ET December 19 Washington 1:00pm ET December 26 @Cleveland 1:00pm ET January 2 @Buffalo 1:00pm ET

September 12 @NY Jets W 30-28 September 19 Indianapolis 1:00pm ET September 26 NY Giants 8:20pm ET October 3 @Cleveland 1:00pm ET October 10 @Kansas City 1:00pm ET October 17 Miami 1:00pm ET October 24 Denver 1:00pm ET October 31 @Arizona 4:05pm ET November 15 NY Jets 9:00pm ET November 21 @Miami 1:00pm ET November 28 @Buffalo 1:00pm ET December 5 Dallas 8:20pm ET December 12 @Indianapolis 1:00pm ET December 19 @Philadelphia 1:00pm ET December 26 Buffalo 1:00pm ET January 2 Baltimore 1:00pm ET

Records source: STATS, Inc.

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