The Broncos lost their first four Super Bowl trips by large margins – 27-10 to the Cowboys after the 1977 season, 39-20 to the Giants (1986), 42-10 to Washington (1987), and 55-10 to the 49ers (1989).
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Manning’s favorite target, receiver Demaryius Thomas, said Manning hasn’t said anything to his teammates, either.
One bettor wagered $623,142.25 at William Hill US on the Panthers to win straight up at -190 odds. Light joined 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich on Friday morning to discuss the struggles along the line, and said it was clear very early in the game they didn’t have a very good handle on the silent snap count in a tough road environment. “The quarterback is not the sole reason that you win a championship”. It’s the team and everybody coming around. “He is a very smart, bright football player, he is going to anticipate and do things off of what he sees”. He was the starter of doing all that. One of us has to win, and I’m not trying to lose.
Which likely means I’ve now jinxed one or both teams. But this is still Peyton Manning’s unlikeliest Super Bowl appearance.
Manning’s possible retirement could give the Broncos the support of unaffiliated fans for this game. It was odd to hear Eli Manning say that rings shouldn’t be the sole measure of a quarterback, because while that’s true, Eli Manning’s Hall-of-Fame debate will be built around the fact he has two Super Bowl rings.
“He has not said anything to me about it”, Eli Manning said on a conference call Wednesday. Of course, as mentioned before, what sets the Carolina Panther apart from some teams that have a great record is that they also have a great record against the spread – much better than the Broncos 9-8-1 record ATS. And after his (neck) injury (which sidelined him for the entire 2011 season), he came back, he was throwing lots of touchdowns and winning games, and back to his old form. In the last 15 years, nine winners of the award have been a quarterback. A single play here and there – a successful extra-point kick, a completed two-pass conversion pass or possibly a different coaching decision here and there – could have tipped the scales New England’s way.
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Asked if the league’s investigation into the December report was a burden of any kind as the Broncos get ready for the title game, Manning said, “None, no”. I don’t want to go through that again, with any player.
