Telegraph Sports Reporter Tom KIng.

The Indianapolis Colts and Thursday Night Football.

What a potentially lousy combination.

For the average football fan, anyway. But the Colts seemed like a welcome sight for the New England Patriots in a competitive but sloppy 38-24 Patriots victory.

We know that quarterback Tom Brady, who arrived at Gillette Stadium just after 4 p.m. Thursday, likes these made-for-television nights because it gives teams a mini-bye with 10 days in between.

“If you win,” he said the other day, “I think it’s a big benefit beyond that because you get quite a bit of time off as you can move forward to the next week. But you’ve got to take care of business.”

By halftime Thursday night it looked as if the Patriots were doing just that. They led 24-3, and the offense was purring. There was none of that ragged Thursday Night look in the first half. The second half, with the ball being stripped and deflected, was a different story as the Patriots hung on.

But the players for the most part don’t enjoy these Thursdays. It’s once a year by rule. Their bodies are still telling them it’s four days until they should be playing. Games for the most part look like glorified practices.

The Colts, of course, have quite the relationship with the Patriots. This area had one with the Colts, too, as former Merrimack High School hoop standout had been the Colts Vice President of Business Development until leaving the organization a couple of months ago. Godbout made his way through the ranks in corporate sales in the organization after spending time working for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Future Hall of Fame placekicker Adam Vinatieri, of course, was possibly the most popular Patriot ever before Brady became football royalty, and several years ago he left as a free agent after the Patriots hit him with the franchise tag two years in a row. It’s amazing that both he and Brady, 45 and 41-years-old respectively, are still in the league.

“I was lucky enough to be here when he was here early in his career and I thought so much of him,” Brady said, revisiting perhaps the most famous field goal in Patriots history, Vinatieri’s Snow Bowl kick in January of 2002. But on Thursday night, he bonked a 38-yard attempt off the left upright late in the first quarter with the Colts already trailing 7-0. He later booted a 54-yarder with 8:49 left in the half. That’ll show ’em.

Of course, there’s DeflateGate. The Colts were the main whistleblowers, with a little help from the Baltimore Ravens. But the Colts general manager at the time who was the driving force, Ryan Grigson, is no longer there as Indy has stunk since that AFC title game.

And last but not least, the quirky relationship between the two franchises took another bizarre turn when Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was announced as the Colts new head coach less than 48 hours after last year’s Super Bowl loss to Philadelphia, only to back out a few hours later.

That’s all interesting fodder that would be played up even more if the two teams were in another playoff game with an entire week to spread the rehash stories out.

Thursday night marked the return of receiver Julian Edelman to the Patriots lineup, the first time both he and tight end Rob Gronkowski were active players since late in 2016. On the first drive, Edeleman caught two passes, one a 9-yarder on the game’s first play from scrimmage, which brought a roar from the crowd. Gronkowski later caught a 19-yard pass on the same drive.

The gang was back together. The Patriots were on their way toward the .500 mark again, perhaps the next step in the right direction.

Tom King can be reached at 594-1251, tking@nashuatelegraph.com., or @Telegraph_TomK.