FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Mark Anderson could gain an interesting distinction in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis next Sunday.

He could become the only player to sack both Manning brothers in a Super Bowl.

The Patriots defensive end/outside linebacker was a rookie with the Chicago Bears when they lost to the Indianapolis Colts in Super Bowl XLI. In that game, he was credited with half a sack of Colts QB Peyton Manning.

Anderson, who is back in the playoffs for the first time since then, will have a crack at Peyton’s younger brother, Eli, when the Patriots face the New York Giants in the Super Bowl for the second time in five years.

To hear the six-year veteran talk, the younger Manning rates with the older Manning among the NFL’s elite quarterbacks.

“Eli’s the key to their team right now. He’s the engine right now. He’s playing real good ball. He’s leading the team,” Anderson said. “I think he’s looking like one of the greats right now. He’s playing at a high level. It’s our job as a defensive line to stop that.”

The defensive line that Anderson is a part of (he’s also played some outside linebacker in New England’s 3-4 scheme) has played well in the playoffs, collecting 4.5 of the Patriots’ eight sacks against Denver and Baltimore. Anderson had one of those sacks in the AFC Championship against the Ravens.

“We’ve stepped it up. I know during the regular season we caught a lot of criticism from the media or whatever, but it’s all about what you do right now,” Anderson said.

“Our whole attitude right now is it’s win or go home. You’ve got to lay it on the line,” he said. “We know what we’ve got to do, and that’s stop the offense, try to create turnovers and try to put our offense in great situations to go down and score.”

Anderson, 28, joined the Patriots after spending six seasons with Chicago and Houston. He posted a career-high 12 sacks his rookie year and finished second in NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year voting even though he typically only saw the field in passing situations.

The 6-foot-4, 255-pound Alabama star worked on becoming a more complete lineman in his second year and started in all 14 games he played. He said he made his greatest strides in 2009, when former Detroit Lions coach Rod Marinelli joined the Chicago coaching staff as a defensive assistant.

“I started learning the game more when I started working with coach Marinelli. He really taught me the different run blocks and run sets that you’re going to get as a defensive end,” he said.

Despite becoming a more well-rounded lineman, his sack totals dropped significantly, with just nine over his last three years in Chicago. He lost his starting job before the Bears released him a month into the 2010 season.

He signed with Houston and collected four sacks in 11 games but was a free agent again heading into an off-season of lockout-induced uncertainty.

He settled on a one-year deal with the first team that called him after the lockout ended — New England.

“I took it as a sign from God,” he said.

Because of the truncated off-season, Anderson had to perform in training camp without much time to learn the playbook.

“I had to do a lot of homework, a lot of film study, a lot of one-on-one with the coaches, just to get the system down. Once I did that, everything just kind of started flowing and making sense,” he said.

Anderson started the season back in the situational pass rusher role.  He had a sack in each of New England’s first two games, against Miami and San Diego

He made his first start Dec. 4 against Washington, and it became his permanent role when defensive end Andre Carter was lost for the season with a knee injury a week later against Denver.

As if on cue, Anderson picked up the slack from Carter’s loss. He had two sacks in Denver and three in the final three weeks to finish the season with 10, joining Carter to become the first Patriots teammates with at least 10 sacks in a season since 1985.

Since Carter’s injury, the Patriots have played more of a 3-4 scheme on defense and Anderson has spent more time at outside linebacker, a position he’s never played before.

Anderson doesn’t distinguish between the positions, perhaps because he’s been told by his coaches not to acknowledge his position shift publicly. But he admits he still has a lot to learn about his role in the defense.

“Every opportunity I get I just try to go out there and bring a lot of energy and try to give it my all,” said Anderson, whose 36 tackles this season was the second-highest total of his career.

“He’s been a pretty consistent player for us all year, in our preseason games, practices, regular season games he’s been productive,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said last month. “He’s a good athlete, works hard, on the field, he’s out there every day. He keeps getting better. It’s a good formula.”

The formula the Patriots come up with to rattle Manning will probably include Anderson. But he doesn’t feel added pressure to add Eli to his list of Manning Super Bowl sacks.

“The Super Bowl is pressure enough. All we’ve got to do is study film, get the game plan and try to execute to the best of our abilities,” he said.

“When you get there, you want to cherish that moment,” he added. “That’s what I’m doing right now. Just taking it in, one day at a time.”