FOXBORO – Depleted. Disrespected. Doubted.

So many d’s to describe the New England Patriots’ “D”. So few points for the fifth-highest scoring offense in the history of the National Football League.

Minus Ty Law, Tyrone Poole, and Richard Seymour (a game-time decision), the Patriots held Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts to three points a week after they’d put up 49 on the Denver Broncos.

New England listened all week to talk that they’d be fortunate not to suffer the same fate, and said little in response. On Sunday, after making the definitive statement on the field, they embellished it in the post-game locker room.

“I mean, we had to sit back and we had to absorb Indianapolis,” said safety Rodney Harrison. “We had to accept Vanderjerk (Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt) talking smack. It really gave us that added thump. And, I mean, I’m just so proud of this team.”

“Everybody doubted us. They said we couldn’t do it,” said defensive lineman Jarvis Green, who got the start in place of Pro Bowler Seymour. “It was very emotional for us, what happened out there.”

What happened out there was the Colts’ lowest point total since they were shut out by the New York Jets in a 2003 playoff game. New England allowed a season-low 46 yards and zero first downs on the ground and didn’t give up a pass play of longer than 18 yards.

“New England did a great job tackling and just kind of keeping things in front of them,” said Manning.

Time to throw wasn’t an issue for Manning. The Patriots sacked him just once. So why wasn’t Indianapolis able to exploit a secondary that was lacking Manning’s greatest nemesis from last year’s AFC championship game, Ty Law, and another starting cornerback?

“Well, we tried to go after them,” Colts coach Tony Dungy said. “It’s not like we said. Oh, OK, we are not going to try to go get them.’ They did a great job and outplayed us with the guys that played.”

“It’s the same old thing we’ve been doing since game one when we played these guys,” said defensive back Asante Samuel. “We went out there and executed our game plan. It’s the same old thing – being aggressive, read Peyton and play the ball.”

Despite the new emphasis on the five-yard “chuck” rule this year, New England still played Indianapolis’ receivers physical. The Patriots’ secondary lined up in press coverage and was able to disrupt Manning’s timing with his receivers while keeping their safeties over the top for protection deep. The Colts were able to do some damage with screens to Edgerrin James, but their 1,000-yard receivers, Marvin Harrison (five catches, 44 yards), Reggie Wayne (3-35), and Brandon Stokley (8-64) were hemmed in.

“You can’t take everybody away. They’ve got too many players,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “We tried to mix it up on them a little bit. Why exactly they did what they did, I’m not sure. We just tried to hang on and not give up big plays.”