"It certainly feels good," says coach Jim Caldwell, who as successor Tony Dungy has set a new NFL record for best start by a rookie head coach, surpassing the previous mark of 8-0 set by Potsy Clark of the Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans in 1931.

"This team has done a great job of fighting to make certain that we haven't lost one," says Caldwell. "There's been a few that have been awfully tight, so we feel good about where we are right now."

None has been tighter than Sunday night's 35-34 victory vs. the New England Patriots.

Indianapolis trailed by 17 early in the fourth quarter. Yet Peyton Manning threw the winning 1-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne with 13 seconds left.

The winning score came after New England coach Bill Belichick made an ill-fated, unusual decision to disdain a punt and go for it on fourth-and-2 from the Patriots 28-yard line with just over two minutes left.

The Patriots were stopped short. The Colts capitalized and moved on as the AFC's lone unbeaten team.

"It is a huge win," said Manning, who threw for 327 yards and four touchdowns on a night when his New England counterpart, Tom Brady, passed for 375 yards and three touchdowns.

Indianapolis now has a four-game lead in the AFC South over the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars, both 5-4.

The New England game also was an opportunity for the Colts to pad their lead in the overall AFC race.

Right now, the Cincinnati Bengals have the next best record in the conference at 7-2.

Had New England won Sunday night, it could have pulled within a game of the Colts in the race for home field throughout the playoffs. Instead the Patriots dropped to 6-3.

"We still have a lot of football left, but it feels good to be on top of those guys (the Patriots)," says Colts linebacker Gary Brackett.

After a 13-0 start in 2005, the Colts finished the regular season 14-2 but lost their playoff opener at home to the eventual Super Bowl champion, the Pittsburgh Steelers.

After a 9-0 start in 2006, the Colts went 12-4 in the regular season. They went on to win the Super Bowl.

This year's Colts have been depleted by injuries in the secondary. They are starting a pair of rookie cornerbacks, and star safety Bob Sanders is done for the year due to a biceps injury.

While Manning leads the league's top-rated passing game, the Colts ranks 29th in rushing.

But while the team isn't perfect, the record is going into Sunday's game at the Baltimore Ravens. The victory against New England assured that.

"A win like this just shows the character of your team," says Colts linebacker Clint Session.

"Everybody knew that we were 8-0, but they felt like we weren't playing anybody. We had a chance to play a tough team in New England, and we came away with a victory. It just boosts us up down the road."

Enlarge By Darron Cummings, AP Peyton Manning and the Colts improved to 9-0 for the third time in five seasons on Sunday.