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Foxborough, Mass. • Tom Brady says Peyton Manning "does everything right."

Manning has read that Brady "wants to play until he's into his mid-40s ... and he could probably do it."

As usual, the stars of the richest quarterback rivalry in NFL history are right on target.

The 16th chapter happens Sunday when Manning leads the Denver Broncos against the New England Patriots, two first-place teams on four-game winning streaks.

"You just know you're going to get one of the best offenses in the league," said Brady, 10-5 against Manning. "What that means for me is our offense has to be at our best."

Just check out the numbers:

The Broncos (6-1) lead the NFL with 32 points per game. The Patriots (6-2) are third with 29.8.

Manning is the top-ranked quarterback, is tied for the league lead with 22 touchdown passes and has thrown just three interceptions. Brady is fifth in passer rating and has thrown for 18 touchdowns and two interceptions.

Each is on a roll with 14 touchdown passes in his past four games.

"The atmosphere is going to be unbelievable," Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski said.

Both defenses face tough challenges, but have improved since last year.

The Broncos' additions of defensive end DeMarcus Ware, cornerback Aqib Talib and safety T.J. Ward have helped them become the fourth-ranked defense in the NFL and the best against the run.

The Patriots' signings of free-agent cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner strengthened the secondary and cut down on long pass completions that hurt last season.

Manning vs. Brady may be on the marquee.

But there's a lot more to the hit show.

"It's never just one guy," Denver coach John Fox said. "This is a team game. There are a lot of moving parts to offense, defense and the kicking game."

The Broncos are 32-7 in three years with Manning and reached the Super Bowl last season. The Patriots have won 10 straight AFC East titles, excluding 2008 when Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opener.

New England's Bill Belichick calls Manning the best quarterback he's ever coached against.

Fox mentioned other greats he's faced — Joe Montana, Dan Marino and John Elway.

"No two players (are) alike," Fox said, "but I can tell you the two that will be playing this week are right up there."

Some things to watch for in what could be a preview of the second straight AFC championship game between the teams:

SACK ATTACK: Brady will have to throw quickly against the pass-rushing duo of Von Miller and Ware. Miller is tied for second in the NFL with nine sacks and Ware has seven. Miller has a six-game sack streak and is lighter and faster than last season when he missed six games for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy and one with a knee injury. Denver has 23 sacks in seven games after getting just 41 in 16 games last season.

"They're phenomenal players," Brady said. "Those two guys are factors on every play."

Bears falling short of expectations

Lake Forest, Ill. • Their offense is underperforming. Their defense is not delivering. Their coach is coming under criticism, too.

No matter how ugly things look at the moment, general manager Phil Emery and coach Marc Trestman insist the Chicago Bears can turn around their season.

It will take quite a shift.

The Bears are 3-5 with a bye this week after brutal losses to Miami and New England, and they are fading fast in a season in which they were eyeing a run to the playoffs.

Jay Cutler still is making questionable decisions at inopportune times. An offense that ranked among the best in franchise history in Trestman's first season has been a disappointment in Year 2. The rebuilt defense hasn't delivered the way the Bears hoped. Special teams are struggling, and Trestman's grip on the locker room is in question.

"I'm not going to play self-defense here," Trestman said. "But if you look at how the team has responded to adversity after Buffalo, into our next game against San Francisco, after (the loss at Carolina) into Atlanta, I think they have continued to respond for us, for themselves, as much as anything. We're on a two-game slide, there's no doubt about it. We're not comfortable with the way we've played. Coming out of Atlanta, we thought we were headed in the right direction.

"I think this team is strong internally, I think they've got great heart," he continued. "I think they'll come back ready to go on Monday."

Exactly where are they going, though?

The Bears are staggering after dropping four of five. They are 0-3 at home and in danger of missing the playoffs for the seventh time in eight years. It's not like the schedule is taking an easier turn, either.

When they come back, they will be staring at Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in Green Bay. After that, they will still have two games left against Detroit and one each against Dallas and New Orleans.

The past two games were nothing short of abysmal. As if falling to Miami at Soldier Field, with Brandon Marshall yelling in the locker room afterward, wasn't bad enough, Chicago got rolled by Tom Brady and the Patriots 51-23 at New England last week.

The Bears have shown some resolve, bouncing back from a season-opening loss to Buffalo by beating San Francisco and the New York Jets on the road. They also won at Atlanta before this slide, but it's not just the losses that are alarming. There are big questions about the team's leadership and mindset.

Whether it was Lance Briggs missing practice to open a barbecue restaurant near his hometown of Sacramento, California, in the week leading up to the opener, or Marshall yelling in the locker room after the Dolphins game, the cracks were already hard to ignore.

LaMarr Houston added another one in the closing minutes against New England when he celebrated a sack against a backup quarterback. One of the Bears' top offseason acquisitions, he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.

If Trestman was angry about Marshall's blowup or Houston's celebration, he didn't show it in public.

"I think Marc is fully in control of this team," chairman George McCaskey told Comcast SportsNet Chicago. "Just because a player isn't called out publicly doesn't mean the issue isn't being addressed. The players know that Marc's got their back, and anything that needs to be addressed with a player will be done behind closed doors."

What has played out on the field hasn't been pretty.

Five-time Pro Bowl defensive end Jared Allen has just 1 1-2 sacks after signing a four-year deal that guaranteed $15.5 million. His string of seven straight seasons in double digits with Kansas City and Minnesota is in jeopardy.

Marshall has been slowed by an ankle injury after signing a three-year extension. Cutler still is committing head-scratching turnovers, whether he's throwing across his body for an interception against Buffalo or attempting a two-handed chest pass that resulted in a fumble against New England.

Emery acknowledged concerns about Cutler's fundamentals and decisions dating to his days at Vanderbilt. He says some of that was brought on by a lack of talent surrounding him. But the past two years, he's been working with an offense-minded head coach, two Pro Bowl receivers in Marshall and Alshon Jeffery, a productive tight end (Martellus Bennett) and a solid line.

"Have I seen improvement in the last two years?" Emery said. "Yes, I have. Because I know where we were at two years ago, and I know how many sacks he took, how much pressure and hits that he played through, and how he tried to overcome that group that was in front of him and how he tried to compensate. I think he's bought all the way in in terms of here's what's important, here's the concepts that we're trying to accomplish.

"We still have some time to go, we still have some things we have to clean up." —

NFL schedule

Thursday

New Orleans 28 at Carolina 10

Sunday 11 a.m. games

Arizona at Dallas

Philadelphia at Houston N.Y. Jets at Kansas City

Washington at Minnesota

Tampa Bay at Cleveland

Jacksonville at Cincinnati

San Diego at Miami

Afternoon games

St. Louis at San Francisco, 2:05 p.m.

Oakland at Seattle, 2:25 p.m.

Denver at New England, 2:25 p.m.

Baltimore at Pittsburgh, 6:30 p.m.

Bye weeks: Atlanta, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, Tennessee

Monday Indianapolis at N.Y. Giants, 6:30 p.m.