The Colts improved to 12-0 with a lot less drama than the Saints, who must have harnessed every ounce of karma there is to escape Washington with a win Sunday. The Colts, meanwhile, flicked away the upstart Titans for their first relatively easy victory since October.

In the process, Indianapolis won its 21st consecutive regular-season game, tying the NFL record set by New England, which launched its run in December 2006 and saw it continue through a perfect 2007 regular season and the first two games of 2008.

It was coincidental, yet intriguing, that the Colts tied the mark on the same day the Patriots lost a second straight game for the first time since 2006 — about a month before they began their record roll. The Patriots, who fell to the Dolphins on a late field goal six days after getting blown out by the Saints, are clinging to first place in the AFC East, but they are no longer the juggernaut Indy has become. The Pats struggle against the pass, blow late leads, get stuffed on fourth down and can’t win on the road. Tom Brady even misses open receivers and throws critical interceptions.

In other words, the Patriots are like a lot of other teams in the NFL these days.

Here’s how Athlon Sports stacks the 32 teams through 13 weeks of the NFL season.

1. New Orleans (12-0). It would not surprise me to learn that everyone associated with the Saints bought a winning lottery ticket last weekend.

2. Indianapolis (12-0). The Colts were having none of that Titans “team of destiny” malarkey that media schmucks like me were dishing out.

3. Minnesota (10-2). From the Department of Shocking Stats: After being held to 19 yards on 13 carries against Arizona, Adrian Peterson has been held under four yards per carry in five of the Vikings’ last six games.

4. Cincinnati (9-3). The Bengals needed an extension to sell enough tickets to avoid a local TV blackout. What, they’re not playing well enough to make sellouts routine?

5. San Diego (9-3). LaDainian Tomlinson passed Jim Brown to move into eighth place on the all-time rushing list with Brown on hand in Cleveland. Next on the list is Tony Dorsett, and the Chargers just happen to be playing in Dallas this week. All L.T. needs to pass Dorsett is 419 yards.

6. Arizona (8-4). When the Cardinals make sure Kurt Warner has time in the pocket and his quarterback counterpart doesn’t — as was the case against Brett Favre — they can beat anybody.

7. Philadelphia (8-4). When you average 6.9 yards per offensive play, as the Eagles did against Atlanta, the game shouldn’t be close. And it wasn’t.

8. Denver (8-4). For the Broncos, the best thing about the big win over Kansas City was knowing they get the Chiefs again in Week 17. All playoff-hopeful teams should be so lucky.

9. Green Bay (8-4). The loss to Tampa Bay five weeks ago really must have jolted the Packers because they haven’t lost since.

10. Dallas (8-4). The Cowboys had better finish drives because if they leave games up to kicker Nick Folk, this figures to be another December to forget.

11. New England (7-5). “Right now, our team isn’t mentally tough,” Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather said after the loss at Miami. Words I didn’t think I’d hear about the Patriots this year.

12. New York Giants (7-5). No way that was Brandon Jacobs wearing No. 27 for the Giants on Sunday. Usain Bolt, maybe.

13. Jacksonville (7-5). No, the Raiders didn’t trade tight end Zach Miller to the Jaguars. The Jags have their own tight end named Zach Miller, a rookie who played quarterback at Nebraska-Omaha. And that was him leading the team with three catches for 74 yards Sunday.

14. Baltimore (6-6). Two things happened when the Ravens tried to cover the Packers’ receivers Monday night. They either watched the guy catch the ball or mugged him so he couldn’t. Neither was good.

15. Pittsburgh (6-6). Anomaly of the Week: The Steelers beat the AFC West’s better teams (San Diego and Denver) and lost to its riffraff (Kansas City and Oakland). Go figure.

16. Tennessee (5-7). I know what happened — the Saints stole the karma Tennessee needed against Indy. What other explanation is there?

17. Atlanta (6-6). The Falcons are hoping New Orleans used up all its karma because the Saints are headed to the Georgia Dome this week.

18. Miami (6-6). How good is coach Tony Sparano? One year he beats the Patriots when he introduces the Wildcat, the next year he beats them when he ignores it entirely.

19. New York Jets (6-6). When I was a kid, I read every Matt Christopher sports book I could find. I highly recommend one for Mark Sanchez: Slide, Danny, Slide.

20. Houston (5-7). It was great seeing Rex Grossman for a few plays Sunday. He was in for Matt Schaub just long enough to throw an interception. You know, for old time’s sake.

21. Seattle (5-7). “It’s a load off when they take care of one of our problems for us,” Seahawks linebacker Aaron Curry said, referring to the 49ers’ decision to run Frank Gore only nine times after he had rushed for 207 yards against Seattle in Week 2.

22. San Francisco (5-7). “In every situation, we just found a way to screw it up,” 49ers coach Mike Singletary said. Opening up the offense for Alex Smith is great, but almost forgetting about Gore might qualify as a screw-up.

23. Carolina (5-7). Those five picks of the Bucs’ Josh Freeman shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Panther defenders practice against Jake Delhomme all the time.

24. Oakland (4-8). It’s not exactly Harrison Ford getting cast as Indiana Jones when Tom Selleck passed on the role, but Bruce Gradkowski is making the most of his chance to play with JaMarcus Russell sitting on the bench.

25. Chicago (5-7). Jay Cutler threw 17 passes against the Rams. Eight were caught by his receivers. And get this — none of the other nine was caught by a Ram!

26. Buffalo (4-8). Terrell Owens has 994 career receptions. The Bills have four games left, so I’m thinking he’ll hit 1,000. Probably even this season.

27. Washington (3-9). If the Redskins were artists, they’d spill paint on the canvas just before finishing the Mona Lisa.

28. Kansas City (3-9). I’m guessing that when Mike Vrabel sleeps, he dreams of playoff games, catches in the end zone and Super Bowl rings. And when he wakes up he sees the arrowhead on his red pajamas and says, “Oh, man, I’m still with the Chiefs.”

29. Tampa Bay (1-11). Of the league’s three one-win teams, only the Bucs beat a team with a winning record (Green Bay). That counts for something.

30. Detroit (2-10). I admire Matthew Stafford’s toughness, but I have some advice: Don’t push it, kid. Let the shoulder heal while Daunte Culpepper takes the pounding for a while. You’re in this for the long haul.

31. St. Louis (1-11). John Lennon was kidding when he uttered the famous line, “I hope we passed the audition.” For Kyle Boller, the audition hasn’t been a laughing matter.

32. Cleveland (1-11). Brady Quinn’s audition, on the other hand, is picking up steam. (Wow. Something positive on the Browns!)

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