By ANDY CLENDENNEN

OK, before we get to the week's matchup, let's get one thing straight: Bill Belichick made the right decision. (And this is coming from one who despises all Patriots except Randy Moss and Paul Revere).

But, and I can't say this strongly enough, the only reason he made the right call was because of the person on the other side of the ball. Peyton Manning will perhaps go down as the greatest quarterback of all time, certainly he's already in the top five. You just KNEW he was going to win this game, whether he had to go 75 yards (approximately the distance had New England punted) or 29 yards.

Now, would you rather have him go 75 yards and chew up the entire clock, or go 29 yards and give you the ball back with more than a minute remaining, needing just 50-60 yards to be in line for a game-winning field-goal attempt? The one place where Belichick erred was not letting the Colts score more quickly after failing to convert the fourth-down attempt. It's tough to tell your defense to lie down and let the other team score. But it's also tough to ask a running back to take a knee on a sure touchdown. Tough doesn't mean impossible, though - ask Maurice Jones-Drew about that.

So, anyway, kudos to Belichick for going for it. People say it was hubris, people say it was arrogance. I say it was confidence. If you have a team with the best wide receiver of the past 15 years and one of the top 10-15 quarterbacks of all time, the stars are aligned for you to say "My team is better than yours, and this is why." Did it work? No. But when these teams next meet again, I guarantee it will.

So, while Week 10's matchup of Indianapolis vs. New England was this year's Game of the Century, what's on tap this week?

Well, this week is full of some pretty bad games as you scroll through the schedule until you reach a certain AFC West matchup.

Three weeks ago, no one - well, not many, anyway, pointed to this game as a must-see, potential division-changing game. But it appears the Denver Broncos are repeating last year's swoon a few weeks early, and the San Diego Chargers have pulled out of their annual early-season funk just in time.

Both teams enter the game in Denver with identical 6-3 records. But how they arrived at those records is a story in contrasts.

The Chargers have won four straight games and have averaged more than 28 points per game in that time. Indeed, they lead the division with 237 points scored, 90 more than their closest competitor, Denver (with 167). Put simply, the Chargers score 10 more points per game than Denver.

And the once-mighty Denver defense has shown more cracks than Bernie Madoff's defense. After starting the season 6-0 and allowing a total of 66 points in those wins, the Broncos have allowed a staggering 85 in their past three losses. And it's not exactly like Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Washington have Top 10 offenses.

(Well, Pittsburgh has the No. 9 offense in terms of yards, but in scoring offense the Steelers are just 15th overall. Baltimore is 11, and Washington is tied for 28th, slightly ahead of the touchdown-averse St. Louis Rams.)

The Chargers, meanwhile, come in at No. 6 in the NFL in scoring offense, thanks in large part to a rejuvenated LaDainian Tomlinson. Against the Eagles, LT had his best game of the season with 96 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Perhaps spurred on by hearing that his wife is pregnant, LT showed signs that if he's not completely back from the injuries/age issues that cropped up, he's pretty close.

San Diego needs LT to have a big game against Denver. The first time these teams met this year, the Broncos held Tomlinson to just 70 yards and allowed the defense to stop the high-octane passing game. Tight end Antonio Gates was the game's high receiver with just 70 yards,

However, the Chargers were still in a position to win that game except for one thing: special teams. Broncos return man Eddie Royal took back both a punt and a kickoff for touchdowns, leading to the wild Denver win.

You can be sure that the Chargers will not let that happen this time. Odds are that the Chargers come out firing on all cylinders and take control of the AFC West this weekend. Tomlinson, Gates, QB Philip Rivers and WRs Malcolm Floyd, Vincent Jackson and Legedu Nanee are all good plays, as even if LT is limited once again, Rivers has proven to be very adept at spreading the field.

Conversely, the Chargers defense hasn't been as great as advertised, perhaps characterized by the 'bend but don't break' axiom. Eagles QB Donovan McNabb shredded the Bolts for 450 yards, but Kyle Orton isn't exactly Donovan McNabb, with or without Brandon Marshall.

This has all the makings of a high-scoring affair, though, so feel free to start any and all offensive players.

On to what we learned:

The Bengals are for real. The Bengals have now swept - yes, swept - the season series from Baltimore AND Pittsburgh, following Sunday's 18-12 methodical dismantling of the Steelers. I don't have the research capabilities to determine when the last time was that happened, but one thing is clear - the Bengals are here to stay. And there are doing it with defense. Defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer's squad has allowed a division-low 147 points. And with heralded defenses as Pittsburgh and Baltimore in the mix, that's saying something. Cincy is now 7-2 and there is no reason the Bengals shouldn't be 10-2 after three weeks of, in order, Oakland, Cleveland and Detroit. The honeymoon could abruptly end following that stretch, as they have back-to-back games with Minnesota and San Diego, but 10-5 and the tiebreakers should assure them of a good post-season seed.

Peyton Manning is the best quarterback since Joe Montana. And when it is all said and done, he could be the greatest of all time. And honestly, there isn't much more to be said than that, and what was said on the field Sunday night. Just amazing.

Contributor Andy Clendennen previously worked for The Sporting News web site, for which he wrote a weekly fantasy baseball advice column. In addition to The Sporting News, Andy has worked as a sports writer for 10 years, in St. Louis and in Colorado.