FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Colts put up a valiant effort, but the short week, mounting injuries and of course, Tom Brady were all too much to overcome as they fell in New England, 38-24 to drop to 1-4 on the season.

The Patriots led 24-3 at halftime, but the Colts rallied in the second half.  Andrew Luck connected with Eric Ebron for a 14-yard touchdown to make it 24-10.

Luck then found Erik Swoope for a 13-yard TD at the beginning of the fourth quarter as the Colts cut it to a one-possession game.

New England would answer right back though with a 34-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Josh Gordon and a 34-yard TD run from Sony Michel.

The Patriots built their first half advantage on a one-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Cordarrelle Patterson, a one-yard quarterback sneak TD by Brady and a Brady to James White six-yard score.

The Colts only had 44 active players for Thursday night’s game.  Jack Doyle, Denzelle Good, T.Y. Hilton, Marlon Mack, Kenny Moore, Hassan Ridgeway and Quincy Wilson were on the inactive list.  Nate Hairston and reigning NFL defensive rookie of the month Darius Leonard were also ruled out before the game started.

Anthony Walker, Clayton Geathers, Margus Hunt, Denico Autry and Matthias Farley also suffered injuries during the game.

The Colts now have the weekend off to get healthy.  They’ll play next October 14th against the Jets in New York.