The Panthers shellacked the Cardinals, 49-15, on Sunday to earn a spot in the Super Bowl, their first appearance in the big game with Newton as quarterback and Ron Rivera as coach. The Broncos outlasted the Patriots for a thrilling 20-18 victory a few hours earlier, marking the fourth time Manning has won the AFC championship.
Advertisement
In the much-hyped 17th matchup between quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, it was the player that most had counted out that shined the brightest.
Manning, who is seeking his second Super Bowl championship, can thank linebacker Von Miller for the return trip to the title game. On fourth-and-one, Bill Belchick elected to go for it. Brady faked it one way and threw back to Julian Edelman to the left but Chris Harris and Aqib Talib were there to smother him for a loss of one. Today, we just fell short.
Peyton Manning is off and running.
In the franchise’s past 38 seasons, the Broncos have qualified for Super Bowl Nos.
Manning gave Brady a hearty handshake before No. 12 left the field.
Manning hit Daniels again on a 12-yard touchdown in the second quarter after the Patriots cut the lead to 7-6. The Broncos were credited with 23 quarterback hits on the day, several that led to incompletions and one by Malik Jackson led directly to an interception by Darian Stewart. Brady was 27 of 56 for 310 yards and two interceptions. From the Broncos’ trophy case, he brought the team’s first Super Bowl trophy.
On the first offensive play of the game, Broncos center Manny Ramirez snapped the ball over Manning’s head near the end zone, resulting in a safety. Gronkowski then scored on fourth-and-goal from the 4 to make it a 20-18 game with 12 seconds remaining.
It took them a while against such a stout defense, but the Patriots would counter after recovering a Broncos fumble in New England’s red zone. “We did what a lot of people said we couldn’t do”.
On the next play, Brady threw under pressure to the end zone, where Gronkowski was unable to haul it in through triple coverage.
The Patriots got on the scoreboard after a huge Broncos mistake.
“I was learning on the run and trying to get in the right position”, said Harris, who still was cringing on every play because of a deep bruise in his shoulder. Gostkowski was also one of only five kickers who hadn’t missed a single PAT over the course of the season, despite the new National Football League rule that moved the PAT back, making the kick less automatic.
Brandon McManus restored Denver’s eight-point lead with a 52-yard effort late in the second quarter which made it 17-9 at the half.
KEY PLAY: It came down to the two-point conversion. And he did so ably, avoiding turnovers and tossing two touchdown passes. “When you play against Gronk and Brady, it’s never over with those guys”.
Gostkowski had a 46-yard field goal midway through the second quarter after a Patriots drive stalled when Miller and DeMarcus Ware combined for a third-down sack of Brady. And Stephen Gostkowski wasn’t reliable Gostkowski, putting New England in an early bind by missing an extra point.
Advertisement
Denver’s top-ranked defense picked off Brady twice and Manning threw a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Owen Daniels.
