Patriots receiver Wes Welker is second in the NFL in receptions, with 56, and New England has the league’s most powerful passing offense.

The providence journal / Glenn Osmundson

FOXBORO — If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.

That theory will be put to the test on Sunday when the undefeated New England Patriots battle the unbeaten Indianapolis Colts.

For years, Indianapolis wide receivers Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne have been considered one of the top receiving duos in the NFL.

In fact, they led the league in receiving yards by a pair last season, combining for more than 2,600, and finished second in receiving yards by a duo in 2005 with more than a combined 2,400.

They torched New England’s secondary in the regular season in each of the last three seasons.

So what did New England do this offseason?

The Pats signed five-time Pro Bowl receiver Randy Moss; Wes Welker, who led the Miami Dolphins in receptions last season; Donte Stallworth, who amassed 2,437 receiving yards over his previous three seasons, and the touted Kelley Washington to try to keep pace with Indianapolis’ offense, which scored 38, 27 and 40 points, outscored the Patriots, 105-75, and averaged 420.7 yards to the Patriots’ 318.6 in their last three meetings, all Indianapolis victories.

Which receiving group is better? We’ll find out Sunday.

So far, everything has worked out better than expected for the Patriots.

Moss leads the NFL in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns with 47 catches for 779 yards (16.6 per catch) and 11 TDs.

“He’s a tremendous player,” New England defensive back Rodney Harrison said of Moss. “Nothing that he does surprises me. I played against the guy for years and he’s always made tremendous plays. He’s a great athlete. He’s a great football player.”

Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy saw a lot of Moss when he coached with Tampa Bay and Moss played for Minnesota.

“He made a lot of big catches, a lot of big plays,” Dungy said. “He was a phenomenal force at that time, and he and Chris Carter were the focus of the offense and they got a lot of balls. Even when you had him covered he made big plays, and that was probably the frustrating thing.”

Welker is tied for second in the NFL in receptions with 56 catches for 613 yards and 6 touchdowns. Stallworth, meanwhile, is averaging 15.8 yards per catch (26 for 411 yards and 3 TDs).

“They’re all playing well. They’re making a lot of big plays and [Tom] Brady’s doing an excellent job of getting the ball to them and spreading it out,” Indianapolis safety Bob Sanders said. “You know, the thing is just to prepare. You can’t really worry much of what they do. It’s all about us executing and trying to get better.”

The Patriots’ high-profile offseason acquisitions on offense have helped New England amass an NFL-best 439.5 yards per game, 41.4 points per game, 303.8 passing yards per game and 213 first downs.

They have also helped Brady surpass his career-high for touchdown passes at the midway point of the season with 30. He’s on pace to shatter Colts quarterback Peyton Manning’s single-season passing-touchdown record (49). Brady, who has thrown for an NFL-best 2,431 yards has a 136.2 quarterback rating, is on pace to throw for more than 60 TDs.

“Whatever we have to do this week to maintain those guys and get a win, we’ll do and get ready for,” Sanders said.

Harrison and Wayne have shredded the Patriots’ defense the last three seasons. Harrison, who has eight straight seasons with more than 1,100 receiving yards, caught 8 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns against the Patriots in the regular season last year. He had nine catches for 128 yards and two TDs in the 2005 regular-season matchup, and seven grabs for 44 yards and a touchdown in 2004.

Wayne had six catches for 90 yards against the Patriots in the regular season last year; nine grabs for 124 yards and a touchdown in 2005, and one catch for 42 yards in 2004.

“He makes plays when you give him the opportunity,” New England defensive back Ellis Hobbs said of Wayne. “Peyton, he throws the ball out there and he goes and gets it. He’s a great route-runner. He has great speed and great hands.”

“It’s very difficult [to stop them],” Patriots linebacker Junior Seau said. “To be able to sit there and know that they can go anywhere with that ball and you can’t double a receiver here and there is a key for them …To be able to just shut down an Indianapolis Colts offense, that’s almost impossible. They are that good.”

Harrison has missed the last two games because of a strained knee and is questionable for Sunday. Wayne and tight end Dallas Clark (32 receptions for 388 yards and 6 TDs) have picked up the slack in his absence.

“All of them can catch the ball,” Harrison said. “All of them can hurt you. It’s not like Peyton goes to one guy. He goes to so many different guys. You just can’t key on a particular guy. You have to just make plays. That’s what it comes down to — matchups.”

The Colts average 32 points per game and Manning has thrown for 1,833 yards and 13 TDs.

Can the Patriots’ offense keep up with the Colts now that they have Moss, Welker and Stallworth in the lineup? Will Harrison, Wayne and Clark outperform New England’s receivers?

Harrison believes the answer to those questions will be made by each team’s secondary.

“It comes down to making plays man-to-man,” Harrison said. “You can do disguises, do whatever you want, but it comes down, sometimes, to one-on-one matchups. It’s going to come down to who is going to make the most plays.”

roblee@projo.com