Can Andrew Luck finally get the best of Tom Brady? (USATSI)
Can Andrew Luck finally get the best of Tom Brady? (USATSI)

For the third time in Tom Brady's career, the Colts are the final obstacle standing between his team and a Super Bowl berth.

Back in January 2004, Brady threw for 237 yards as the Patriots earned a trip to Super Bowl XXXVIII by beating the Colts 24-14 in the AFC Championship Game.

Three years later, the Colts would get revenge on Brady with a 38-34 AFC title-game victory that vaulted Indianapolis into Super Bowl XLI.

This time around though, Brady won't have to beat a Colts team quarterbacked by Peyton Manning, he'll have to beat a Colts team quarterbacked by Manning's replacement: Andrew Luck.

Fittingly, Luck and the Colts had to beat Manning to earn a spot in Sunday's AFC title game. Luck thoroughly outplayed Manning in the Colts' 24-13 divisional round win and he'll likely have to do the same against Brady if the Colts are going to beat the Patriots.

Beating Brady and Manning in the same postseason might sound tough, but it's not impossible. The 2012 Baltimore Ravens were the last team to knock off both Brady and Manning in the same postseason and Baltimore went on to win the Super Bowl.

Can Indianapolis do the same? Let's take a first look at the AFC Championship Game.

Here are four things to know for Sunday's game (6:40 p.m. ET, CBS).

1. This will be the third meeting between the two teams in a year: The Colts' 2013 season ended with a thud last January when the Patriots beat Indianapolis 43-22 in the divisional round of the playoffs. Despite the fact that Luck played an ugly, ugly game (four interceptions), Indy kept it close and only trailed 29-22 going into the fourth quarter.

Luck and the Colts had a chance to get revenge this season, but things actually only got uglier for Indy. In a Week 11 Sunday night game, the Patriots went into Indianapolis and blew out the Colts 42-20.

So why have the Patriots been able blow out the Colts? Great question and I think "thing to know No. 2" might help explain it.

2. New England has been able to run all over the Indy defense: If the AFC Championship Game goes anything like that Patriots' past two games against the Colts, Brady might not have to throw a pass.

In New England's playoff victory last January, running back LeGarrette Blount ran for 166 yards and four touchdowns. New England ended the game with 234 rushing yards, the second-highest postseason total in franchise history.

If you thought Indy might learn a lesson from the playoff loss to the Patriots, you would be wrong. When the two teams met again this season, Jonas Gray ran for 201 yards and four touchdowns.

Gray's first career touchdown came in that game. He was pretty excited.

The Patriots totaled 246 rushing yards in the November win, marking only the sixth time since 1995 that New England has topped 245 yards rushing in a game.

The Patriots' Week 11 win over the Colts was one of only two times in 2014 that New England topped 150 rushing yards.

The Colts' defense is going to have its hands full, but that doesn't mean Indianapolis won't be up to the task. The Colts held Broncos running back C.J. Anderson in check during their divisional round win over Denver on Sunday. Anderson rushed for 80 of the Broncos' 88 yards on the ground. That number was well below Denver's regular-season average of 111.8 yards.

On the other hand, even if the Colts' defense stonewalls the Patriots ground game, it won't matter much if Luck is throwing an interception every other time he puts the ball in the air, which takes us directly to "thing to know No. 3."

3. Andrew Luck has a Patriots problem: Colts fans spent the beginning of Peyton Manning's career wondering if he would ever win a big playoff game. For Luck, the problem isn't winning playoff games, it's beating the Patriots.

Luck is 0-3 all-time against New England and in two of the three losses Luck was the WPG (Worst Player in the Game). OK, so maybe Luck wasn't the worst player, but he has been bad.

In his first game against New England, back in November 2012, Luck threw three interceptions -- including a pick-six -- in a 59-24 loss.

If you want to shrug that game off because Luck was a rookie and it happened two and a half years ago, I'm cool with that, but let me just remind you that things didn't get much better the second time around.

Actually, they got worse.

In Luck's second game against the Patriots, which came during last seasons playoffs, the Colts quarterback threw FOUR interceptions. Those four picks include the one below, which set up New England's first touchdown in that game.

In three career games against New England, Luck has only completed 53.8 percent of his passes (70 of 130), which is well below his career average of 58.6 percent.

Luck has also thrown six touchdowns against the Patriots, which would be impressive if he hadn't also thrown eight interceptions. That's eight interceptions in three games.

The Colts have been outscored 144-66 in the three losses, which means the Colts are losing by an average of 26 points per game.

If Indy can keep it close though, that could give a former Patriots player a chance to beat his old team, which takes us to "thing to know No. 4."

4. Game-winning kick: Adam Vinatieri's career could come full circle if the AFC Championship Game comes down to a field goal. The 42-year-old started his career with New England in 1996 and since then has become one of the most prolific kickers in NFL history.

Vinatieri spent 10 seasons with the Patriots and played in four Super Bowls -- and is directly responsible for two of New England's three Super Bowl wins in the Belichick era.

The veteran kicker hit a 48-yard field goal to beat the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI. Vinatieri also helped the Patriots earn another ring in Super Bowl XXXVIII when he hit a 41-yard field goal to beat the Panthers.

After the 2005 season, Vinatieri left New England and signed with Indy, where he has spent the past nine seasons.

The Patriots haven't forgotten about Vinatieri though and we know that because they still tweet about the guy.

Anyway, with the Colts, Vinatieri has played in two more Super Bowls and added one more ring to his collection (Super Bowl XLI). That means he has one more ring than Belichick and Brady, two people who would love to match Vinatieri's ring total with a Super Bowl title this season.

Vinatieri was the most accurate kicker in the NFL in 2014 and it would be fitting if Sunday's game came down to a kick off of his right foot.