Manning’s foot healed, he guided the Broncos to a 23-16 win over Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Brady has won 11 of the 16 meetings, but they’re 2-2 in the playoffs, including Denver’s 26-16 win in the conference championship game two years ago.
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At first, it seemed the Broncos offense would be outperformed by the Steelers version absent its leading rusher and receiver.
That’s most of what you’re going to hear and read about for the next week, but the interesting sub-story here is that the teams buttressing Brady and Manning are different than most of their predecessors.
The Pittsburgh Steelers play the Denver Broncos on Sunday’s AFC Divisional game, January 17 kick off time at 4:40 PM ET, at Sports Authority Field, Denver, Colo.
The Patriots will travel to Denver to face the Broncos in the AFC title game next Sunday at 3:05 p.m. It doesn’t get much better than Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning in the playoffs.
Manning and Brady have faced each other 16 times before, a full season’s worth of matchups between the two quarterbacks whose careers are so intertwined that a conversation about one nearly has to include the other, like Bird-Magic or Ali-Frazier. I think you knew that answer was coming.
The last time Tom Brady and the New England Patriots came to town, Peyton Manning watched the game on television from inside the locker room. “I told them it would take them all today”.
Football fans certainly won’t wait that long. Manning’s teams are 2-1 in those games, while the home team has won all three times.
Brock Osweiler started the last seven games for Denver while Manning was sidelined with a left foot injury, but Manning’s epic cameo against San Diego secured the AFC’s top seed and earned him the starting gig again. Anderson ran it in from the 1, and Demaryius Thomas caught the two-point conversion for a 20-13 lead with three minutes remaining.
Manning’s numbers – 21 for 37 for 222 yards and no touchdowns – were unspectacular, but his receivers also dropped six passes. A 48-yard touchdown run by C.J. Anderson gave the Broncos a victory in OT.
That was Manning’s 55th winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime, extending one of the dozen National Football League records he owns. The second-year kicker drilled all five of his field goal attempts, including a 51-yarder, despite a heavily swirling wind.
“Obviously, down in the fourth quarter and down the home stretch, great play by our defense”, Manning said. Hoepfully we’ll get a classic befitting the two greatest quarterback of this generation and two of the best ever.
“Our confidence is ideal man; we good”, Talib said.
What it meant: The turnover on downs gave Denver the ball with a short field and allowed the Broncos to take more time off the clock, even if they didn’t get a first down. “But when we needed to we put together a big drive to get the touchdown that put us up”. Antonio Brown led in receiving with 119 yards in seven catches.
Two months shy of 40, Manning has said this could very well be his final hurrah, and he’s 60 minutes from another chance to win his second Super Bowl ring.
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On the next Denver offensive series, Peyton Manning showed why he was the best option for the Broncos in the postseason.
