The showdown between Peyton Manning's unbeaten Indianapolis Colts and Tom Brady's New England Patriots lived up to the hype as the game of the season with the outcome not decided until the final drive.

Manning's Colts emerged victorious at home, 35-34 winners following a dramatic conclusion to the game at Lucas Oil Stadium between the two teams and quarterbacks that have dominated the current decade with four Super Bowl titles, three of them to Brady and the Patriots.

Brady had looked to have won the battle with his great rival Manning as he threw a third touchdown pass of the night, the second of the game to Randy Moss, at the start of the fourth quarter to give the Patriots a 31-14 lead after the extra kicked point.

Then Manning sparked a Colts' comeback, throwing a 29-yard touchdown pass to Pierre Garcon and then handing off for Joseph Addai to rush for a touchdown from four yards either side of a Patriots field goal.

The pivotal moment came with just over two minutes to go, the Patriots leading 34-28 and in possession with a fourth down and two yards to go for a first down.

Head coach Bill Belichick elected to go for it rather than punt and though Brady found Kevin Faulk with the pass, a big hit from the Colts' Melvin Bullitt sent the running back sliding back behind the first down line and the ball was handed back to Manning.

A punt from the Patriots would have left Manning needing to make around a 70 yard drive but instead, he had just 29 yards to make to reach the end zone.

Three plays later Indianapolis were on the Patriots one-yard line with 13 seconds left on the clock and Manning threw a pass to Reggie Wayne for his second touchdown of the night to tie the game at 34-34.

Matt Stover kicked the extra point to win the game and keep the Colts unbeaten at 9-0, the Patriots slipping to 6-3.

Both quarterbacks finished with 300-yard games, Brady passing for 375 yards and three touchdowns, Manning for 327 yards and four touchdowns but it was the Colts who celebrated.

Results: Arizona 31 Seattle 20; Carolina 28 Atlanta 19; Green Bay 17 Dallas 7; Miami 25 Tampa Bay 23; Minnesota 27 Detroit 10; NY Jets 22 Jacksonville 24; Oakland 10 Kansas City 16; Pittsburgh 12 Cincinnati Bengals 18; San Diego 31 Philadelphia 23; St Louis 23 New Orleans 28; Tennessee 41 Buffalo 17; Washington Redskins 27 Denver 17; Chicago 6 San Francisco 10; Indianapolis 35 New England 34