Veteran quarterback Manning will face off against New England Patriots opposite number Brady next week for the fifth time in National Football League play-off history after an attritional battle in Denver. I thought Rob Gronkowski would play on one leg and the offensive line would get Brady killed. “I didn’t think there was [a penalty]”, Gilbert said.
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Las Vegas is banking on the New England Patriots meeting the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl. “You’ve got to give them credit, but in that situation, I put it on myself”.
Brady has long gotten the better of Manning, who is 5-11 lifetime against his counterpart, but 2-2 in the playoffs, including a win two years ago in this stadium. It was always hovering in the background as a possibility, a final shootout pitting good vs. evil (depending on your area code): Brady vs. Manning, one more time, for a 17th time.
Peyton Manning gets to face his biggest nemesis for one more shot at glory. Manning had just gotten out of his cast and watched that game from the locker room after shaking Brady’s hand in pregame warmups.
After Denver held Pittsburgh, forcing the ball back to the Broncos on downs, McManus kicked a 45-yard field goal with 53 seconds left to play to make it a two-score lead. Kickoff in Denver is set for 3:05 EST.
Manning, making his first start since playing ineffectively in a Week 10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs while fighting a foot injury, finally put together a sustained drive after Broncos cornerback Bradley Roby punched the ball from the grasp of running back Fitzgerald Toussaint.
Toussaint, who scored his first career TD in the first half, took it hard and blamed himself. “They played great all season and were dominant today against a high-powered offence”.
How they advanced: After earning a bye week, the Broncos stunned the Steelers in the divisional round. It was his fourth straight game with at least eight tackles.
McManus, who didn’t miss any tries, joked that he just kept aiming “at the guy holding the beer in the top left corner”.
The offense stalled for a large majority of the game, and the defense uncharacteristically gave up some big plays, but the team did what it needed to when they needed it most.
“This was a dog fight, a grinder and went down to the last drive”, Manning said. They’ve led us to this point. “It was a tale of two halves”. The Broncos added a two-point conversion and another field goal to go ahead 23-13.
Caption + Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe brings down Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger during the second quarter as Steelers guard Cody Wallace is not able to stop the sack.
Pittsburgh pass catcher Martavis Bryant stepped up with 154 receiving yards and 40 rushing in place of All Pro Brown, who was concussed last week against Cincinnati.
With the Broncos trailing 13-12 midway through the fourth quarter, on third-and-12 from the Denver 33, Manning threaded a ideal pass to wide receiver Bennie Fowler over the middle, and Fowler turned it into a 31-yard gain.
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In other words, this could offer up a Super Bowl rematch of Patriots-Panthers, but because I dislike both teams, I really hope not. Of the two quarterbacks, Tom Brady has certainly been the most healthy.
