The New England Patriots will now travel to Mile High to face the Broncos next Sunday, and it seems only fitting to have Manning face Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for the 17th time with a Super Bowl berth on the line. The Broncos legendary 39-year-old quarterback Peyton Manning will take the field for another playoff run against a Steelers franchise eyeing its seventh all-time Super Bowl victory.
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The Patriots, the No. 2 seed in the AFC, sealed their spot in the conference title game on Saturday with a 27-20 win over the Chiefs. The Broncos added a two-point conversion and another field goal to go ahead 23-13. Then, Peyton Manning went to work, driving Denver to its only touchdown as C.J. Anderson ran it in from the 1. His physical skills are not the same as they were when he was with the Indianapolis Colts, but before this season he had overcome that to string together some great moments for the Denver Broncos.
Today’s match-up should be a good one, depending on how well the two starting quarterbacks play.
So far, Peyton Manning has completed 8 of 17 passes.
The Pittsburgh Steelers stagger into Denver with an ailing Ben Roethlisberger, who wont have his leading rusher or his top receiver against the leagues best defense Sunday.
The Denver Broncos got the ball first and after what I would call a ticky tack pass interference call had it been called on my team, the drive would stall and the Broncos would have to punt again after a bubble screen to Andre Caldwell was promptly blown up by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Expected to be the lowest scoring game of the weekend and the one with the biggest point differential between the teams, clearly they see it being a blow out. This time around, the Pats will have Julian Edelman, Dont’a Hightower, Jamie Collins, Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski for the entire game. But perhaps the one benefit to missing time with a torn plantar fascia/being benched was that he had to endure only 10 games during the grueling regular season.
Each team had a field goal in the third quarter, so the visitors had a 13-12 edge heading into the fourth. Darius Heyward-Bey provides the Steelers another speedy deep threat, but is inconsistent catching the ball.
And even with Brown out, the Steelers still have Martavis Bryant, Markus Wheaton and tight end Heath Miller, who combined for 163 catches and 14 touchdowns.
Days after the finale, coach Gary Kubiak announced that Manning would return as the Broncos’ starter in what could be his final season.
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Manning moved the Broncos downfield with a steady diet of passes and runs, at one point converting a third-and-12 play with a 31-yard completion to Bennie Fowler.
