Sunday Night Football: 5 Games That Could Replace the Colts-Patriots Matchup

All good things must come to an end eventually. This time, it's the Colts-Patriots prime-time rivalry which has captivated audiences for close to 10 years. Why? 

Let's see. Peyton Manning will miss the whole season, the Colts are winless with Curtis Painter under center, and basically the Colts have already been embarrassed twice in prime time (cough, cough, 62-7, cough)

As for the Patriots, they aren't as good as they initially thought they were. Losses to the Bills, Steelers and Giants have pulled them into a three-way tie for first in the AFC East. 

With the revelation that the Colts suck without Peyton behind center and the Patriots can't win against good teams, NBC announced that they were dropping the game from the Week 13 prime-time slot on Dec. 4. They have yet to announce a replacement, though. 

Here are five NFL games that could replace what was once the greatest rivalry in football. 

Lions-Saints

With the Lions currently on a miraculous run and the Saints doing their thing, it would be irresistible for NFL to skip this game. 

Matt Stafford vs. Drew Brees in a matchup with two top-level quarterbacks.

Megatron vs. Darren Sproles in a matchup with two speed threats.

Ndamukong Suh vs. Jonathan Vilma in a matchup to determine who is the better defensive star.

Saints offense vs. Lions defense.

Lions offense vs. Saints defense.

This game is just oozing prime-time implications.

Falcons-Texans

Another matchup of high-powered offenses but this time, there will be no defense. Not only that, but Matt Schaub goes up against his old team.

Also, Andre Johnson against Roddy White and Arian Foster vs. Michael Turner.

Houston also hasn't had a prime-time game on Sunday Night Football in a while, so it should be interesting to watch. 

Bengals-Steelers

Andy Dalton is having a good year so far and could lead the Bengals to the playoffs. The only thing that could possibly stand in the way is the Pittsburgh Steelers. 

Ben Roethlisberger is trying to prove that he's not an every-other-year quarterback. After being swept by the Ravens, a chance against Cincy might be a great way to prove it. 

Who wins in this matchup?

Packers-Giants

The defending Super Bowl champs on Sunday Night Football? Heck yes. 

Aaron Rodgers and Co. will certainly win against the Giants, but it would be an interesting matchup between two first-place teams. 

The more interesting matchups though will be the Packers defense vs. Giants offense, Clay Matthews vs. Eli Manning and Charles Woodson vs. Hakeem Nicks. 

If anything, this could be the game NBC chooses.

Titans-Bills

It's the Matt Hasselbeck Farewell Tour vs. the New Look/New Team Tour. Both the Titans and the Bills are having decent seasons. The Bills are in first place, and the Titans are a long shot for the Wild Card. However, it would be interesting to see this game on Sunday night.

Imagine Fred Jackson against Chris Johnson under the lights. Now that is interesting.

Hasselbeck also deserves at least one prime-time game in his last season, and thus this would be the best option.