The New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts will renew their rivalry on Sunday night. Let's not kid ourselves, these two teams flat out can't stand each other. Last season's "deflate game" controversy didn't help either.

Let's preview the game and pick a winner.

New England Patriots (4-0)

The Patriots are looking good so far at 4-0. They don't have Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner in the secondary anymore, but Malcolm Butler is playing very well for them. The Patriots have definitely had the upper hand lately. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady have won their last six consecutive games against the Colts, two of which were playoff games.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, offensive tackle Nate Solder was recently rule out for the remainder of the season with an injury.

Even without Brandon LaFell, who is on the PUP list, the Patriots' passing attack has looked good. Julian Edelman is moving the chains with underneath passes and Robert Gronkowski has four touchdowns already. The biggest surprise for the Patriots has been running back Dion Lewis. The Patriots don't have a great rushing attack, but Lewis is averaging five yards per carry so far this year. The Patriots ground game has destroyed the Colts in the last three games.

LeGarrette Blount should get his fair share of carries, but the key will be protecting Brady. Playing on the road, crowd noise will be high, and the Patriots have to master the snap count. The Patriots have done very well against Andrew Luck in the past, but they can't let their guard down.

The Patriots will play the New York Jets next week.

Indianapolis Colts (3-2)

After an 0-2 start to the season, the Indianapolis Colts have rallied to win their last three consecutive games. Let's not forget the Colts did begin last season 0-2 last season then finished 11-5. With Luck hurting, Matt Hasselbeck filled in and did his job perfectly with wins over the Jacksonville Jaguars and Houston Texans. Hasselbeck had zero interceptions in his two starts whereas Luck has seven interceptions in his three starts this season.

Luck is expected to get the start against the Patriots on Sunday night.

This Colts team has a huge problem playing outside the AFC South. The Colts dominate their division opponents, but play below average when they face teams outside of the division. This season the Colts are 0-2 playing teams outside the AFC South, but 3-0 facing AFC South teams. That's just not going to cut it if they want to get a bye week and home-field advantage for the playoffs.

Frank Gore has to be productive for the Colts to have a chance. If Gore can give the Colts a nice running game, that will result in a balanced attack and more time of possession on offense. T.Y. Hilton has been limited in practice this week, but many NFL insiders believe he will indeed play on Sunday.

The Colts will play the New Orleans Saints next week.

Schedule

The New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts will play each other on Sunday, Oct. 18 at 8:30 p.m. EDT on NBC. The game will be played at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. You can watch a live game stream here.

Prediction

As much as the Colts need this game, the Patriots do as well. The Cincinnati Bengals and Denver Broncos are looking great at 5-0, and the Patriots want that No. 1 seed in the AFC. This game should be closer than previous matchups, but coaching and turnovers will make the difference.

Patriots win 27-24

 Follow Damon Salvadore on Twitter @DamonSalvadore1