FOXBORO -- Here come the Colts. The 0-11 Indianapolis Colts.

Don’t laugh, because the Patriots aren’t. Asked about their next opponent, New England is stressing that the Colts are every bit as dangerous as any other team they’ve faced this season, even if they don’t have Peyton Manning under center.

“Time to turn the page, get back in the [conference] and get ready for Indianapolis, and start preparing for a team that we’ve faced many times that, schematically, looks pretty much the same as they usually do,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said Monday.

“Obviously, a couple of changes in personnel,” Belichick added. “But it’s a team we always have trouble with.”

“These guys coming in, trust me,” wide receiver Deion Branch said shortly after the Patriots dispatched the Eagles Sunday afternoon in Philly. “They’ve got a great team.”

“I know they’re not having the kind of year they want to have or they expected to have,” quarterback Tom Brady told WEEI on Monday. “We’ve had some great games against those guys. Their defense looks the same to me. I know we’ve got our work cut out for us on offense. They have two of the best pass-rushers, another great pass-rushing group, some guys in the secondary that we’ve played before that are very good, that match up well against us.

“I don’t give a damn what their record is. We’re going out there and we’ve got to go out there and try to execute very well against a team that always gives us problems on defense.”

Despite their protestations, you can make a case that this Indianapolis team is one of the worst opponents in the history of Gillette Stadium. At the very least, at 0-11, the Colts have the poorest late-season mark of any team the Patriots have faced since 2001. New England has been installed as three-touchdown favorites, and the game has been flexed out of a prime-time slot to Sunday at 1 -- which will mark the first time all season the Patriots will be playing a home game in that relatively anonymous time slot.

With all that in mind, here’s a quick look at some of the most woeful late-season opponents have faced in the Brady/Belichick Era:

•The 2001 Panthers played the Patriots in the final week of the regular season, and ended up losing 38-6 to finish their season 1-15.

•On Dec. 20, 2004, the Patriots traveled to Miami for a late-season date with the 2-11 Dolphins. In one of the most shocking losses of the Bill Belichick Era, Miami upended New England, 29-28.

•The 2004 49ers were also the final opponent of the regular season for the Patriots, and ended up losing to New England, 21-7. The Niners ended that season 2-14.

•The 2006 Lions met the Patriots on Dec. 3 of that season, and came into the game with a 2-9 record. They left with a 2-10 mark after losing 28-21.

•The 2007 Dolphins met the Patriots in the next-to-last game of the regular season. Miami entered the game with a 1-13 mark, and suffered a 28-7 loss.

Belichick will almost certainly remind his team about the dangers of late-season trap games by showing his team film of that 2004 trip to Miami. (A trip that ended with Brady being tossed to the ground like a ragdoll by perennial nemesis Jason Taylor.) And while they weren’t necessarily weak enough to be included in this class, the 2007 Eagles (who came into their game against New England 5-5) gave the Patriots all they could handle in a game where Philadelphia came into the contest a 23-point underdog, but ended up taking New England all the way to the wire before the Patriots came away with a 31-28 win.

However, the cold truth is that this game appears to be something of a mismatch: The Colts allow an average of 29.7 points per game, worst in the league, while New England’s offense is in the Top 3 in total yards, yards per game, passing yards per game, total points and points per game.

In fact, in Indianapolis, there’s already some concern about the Patriots running up the score on the Colts, a point addressed by Indianapolis coach Jim Caldwell on Monday.

“Our job, what we have to do no matter who we’re playing, we’ve got to play defense,” Caldwell told reporters. “We have to do a good job in terms of making certain that we stop them. It’s not anybody’s responsibility; it’s not a coach’s responsibility to lessen a blow at any point in time. It’s our responsibility to play.

“Our guys know we’re up for a challenge and we’re looking forward to it. They’re a tough team, they’ve been playing well and we’re trying to get ourselves in position where we’re playing like we’re capable of playing.”

Meanwhile, in Foxboro, there’s cautious optimism.

“I don’t ever feel like we should lose against anybody, if we play the way that we’re capable,” Brady said. “So, when we go into any game, whether it’s this game or last week’s game, it’s about what we’re doing and what we’re trying to accomplish and what we need to do with penalties and turnovers and scoring in the red area and converting on third down and playing smart situational football -- all those things that allow for good execution and consistency which allow us to score touchdowns and get points on the board.”