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INDIANAPOLIS –Darius Butler was on the other visitors sideline back in 2009 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The undefeated Colts and the 6-2 Patriots were meeting on a Sunday night in mid-November.
It was yet another epic chapter in the Colts/Patriots rivalry with the Indianapolis defense stopping New England on a late fourth-and-two. A final minute touchdown completed the Colts comeback and gave the home team a 35-34 victory.
Butler compared the crowd from four years to ago to that of Sunday night.
"It's the loudest I've heard it," Butler said on Monday.
"I was playing in New England on the fourth-and-two game and it was pretty loud the but last night eclipsed it."
In a week when the Colts tried to keep all the "noise" outside of the Indiana Farm Bureau Football Center, they welcomed it inside of Lucas Oil Stadium on Sunday night.
The Colts faithful honored Peyton Manning prior to the game but once the ball was kicked off nearly the entire 67,000 plus were behind the home team.
"The energy was, you could taste it almost," Andrew Luck said after the game. "It was a very special environment to play in. Us in the locker room, from the bottom of our hearts, thank the Colts fans that showed up. From everything I hear, they're the classiest fans in the country and it shows. We are so happy to have them behind us."
From the opening snap, the home crowd was on its feet supporting a team that is now 10-2 at home under Chuck Pagano.
Sunday's prime time contest was the first at Lucas Oil Stadium in over two years and the fans lived up to the atmosphere.
"It was crazy out there man," leading tackler Jerrell Freeman said. "The fans definitely got into it. It was good to get them going and we were feeding off each other."
The announced crowd of 67,196 was the largest in nearly three seasons at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Denver had a season-high 12 penalties for 103 yards on Sunday night with several false start and delay of game infractions.
"Our fans, they really showed up," defensive end Cory Redding said. "They were loud and we just kept playing with such energy on defense, making play after play after play."
Early last week, Chuck Pagano had zero doubt that once the ball was kicked off on Sunday the Colts fans would show the same allegiance they always have – behind the horseshoe.
In typical Colts fashion it was a "pillar, horseshoe" player that sent Lucas Oil Stadium into a frenzy as Indianapolis scored 23 unanswered points following Robert Mathis safety.
"Extremely proud of our fans," Mathis said. "They came, they showed up and they represented the Colts."
"Our fans…I love them to death."
