FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The Patriots-Broncos game Sunday will be the 16th matchup for Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, and the rivalry with Manning never gets old for Brady.

“You wait a year to play this game,” Brady said during his news conference Wednesday morning. “You get one of the best teams in the league against us. And we feel like we are a pretty good team and that’s why you play the game. It doesn’t get any better than this.”

Brady, who has a career record of 10-5 against Manning, doesn’t look for extra motivation when facing his rival.

“I’m pretty self-motivated,” Brady said. “He’s always been someone I really look up to and study and admire. I mean, he is older than me. He has more playing experience than me. So maybe when I’m his age, I’ll be playing as well as that.

“Peyton has been a phenomenal player, so consistent, so durable over a long period of time. We’ve had a great rivalry in the AFC and this year is no different. It’s a great matchup.”

With Denver averaging a league-best 32.0 points per game and the Patriots in third with 29.8 points per game, Brady is more than aware of the potential for this contest to turn into a shootout.

“He’s a great player and I think that you just know you are going to get one of the best offenses in the league,” Brady said. “So what that means for me is that our offense has to be at our best. You can’t think you are going to go out and score 10 points and win the game.

“I don’t think any of our games have ever really come down to that. It’s really an important week for our team and all of us on our offense have to bring our best because we are playing against one of the best offenses in the league.”

In the regular season last year, the Patriots trailed the Broncos 24-0 at halftime and staged the greatest comeback in franchise history by scoring 31 straight points en route to a 34-31 overtime win. Brady stressed the importance of avoiding the same start as last year.

“They have challenged a lot of teams this year,” Brady said. “They have gotten ahead of a lot of teams this year and really put the nail in the coffin. That’s a Halloween reference. We are going to have to be able to do the same thing to them.”

The Patriots are underdogs despite playing at home in Gillette Stadium, where they are 96-18, including the postseason.

“We expect to go out and win,” Brady said. “That’s what the expectation has always been. It’s certainly not to go out there, run around, break a sweat and lose the game. So we have to do everything we can to put the pressure on them, score as many points as we can. That’s what it’s going to take.”