The star of Denver’s dizzying defense had 2½ sacks, an interception that set up a touchdown and a pass breakup in the Broncos’ 20-18 win over the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game Sunday.
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Brandon McManus capped off an entertaining first half by hitting a 52-yard field goal as the Broncos took a 17-9 lead over the Patriots into the third quarter of the AFC championship game.
“To be going to our second Super Bowl in four years is very special and just an awesome effort by our entire team”, Manning, who will become the oldest quarterback to play in a Super Bowl, told the Denver crowd.
He has his defence to thank.
The Broncos will advance to the Super Bowl where they will face the NFC Champion in two weeks. Denver needed Manning to make that one big play.
Manning, who has struggled all season long, played one of his best games of the season – throwing two first-half TDs.
Two plays later, running back Steven Jackson scored from 1 yard out, but Steven Gostkowski pushed the extra point wide right with 1:49 left in the first quarter as the Broncos held on to a 7-6 lead.
While Manning posted a mediocre 176 yards through the air, Brady completed fewer than half of his 56 pass attempts, something that he had never done before in the playoffs. New England TE Rob Gronkowski caught two TD passes last week against the Chiefs and now has eight in his postseason career, the most of any TE in history.
There was much chatter last week about Brady whining when he gets hit and looking for a flag from the officials. Manning is now 3-1 against Brady when it has counted the most – with a spot in the Super Bowl on the line.
All this talk about how the defense has carried the Broncos this year.
According to oddsmakers at RealBets, the Patriots are favored on the road in this game, as they are getting odds of -3 points against the Broncos. In the end, it looks like that new rule played a big part in determining who is heading to Super Bowl 50, and who is heading home. After giving it up twice on downs inside the Denver 20 late in the fourth quarter, Brady lobbed a 40-yard pass to a double-covered Gronkowski to keep a desperation drive going on fourth-and-10. It was about making the right plays and leading the right kind of drives, which is what they’ll try to do against the Patriots. A dump-off screen to Ronnie Hillman went backward, and New England’s Jonathan Freeny recovered.
Billed as Brady/Manning XVII, I don’t think this one lives up to the billing.
Nope. Not after this one, either.
Jan 24, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Denver Broncos tight end Owen Daniels (81) celebrates after scoring a …
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But in the end, the game was less about the future Hall of Famers under center, and more about one dominating defense.
