This is Peyton Manning’s moment. In the offseason when I see (former Steelers receiver) Santonio Holmes, I have to tell him every time, “You stole that Super Bowl from me, man”. It’s not going to be a blowout by it will be close.
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New England earned its fourth Super Bowl championship past year, but the victory tour was tainted by another round of cheating allegations and the possible suspension of quarterback Tom Brady in the scandal that came to be known as “Deflategate”.
And they expect more of the same in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game in Sports Authority Field at Mile High.
The Patriots’ ground game was better than only San Diego’s and Detroit’s this season, and Denver’s top-ranked defense was third in the league against the run. Meanwhile, the 38-year-old Brady continues to defy Father Time.
With No. 1 quarterback Peyton Manning injured, New England opened a 21-7 lead early in the fourth quarter. Brady owns an 11-5 record all-time against Peyton Manning, but a 2-2 record in the postseason against Manning will be a big motivating factor in this game considering it may be the last matchup between these two. “That’s what we’re going to do”. 21/37 doesn’t sound that great but, watching the game, you saw that his receivers just couldn’t hold onto the ball, piling up seven drops. Everybody that was in that, when we talk today it still eats at us.
The Broncos have taken a few public and social media swipes at Brady and Gronkowski in recent days, most notably saying that the Patriots quarterback complains often to the referees, and that Gronkowski is notorious for using his frame to push off. Defensive end Antonio Smith called Brady a crybaby, while fellow lineman Malik Jackson said Brady has thrown “temper tantrums” on the field. They’ve always been a great organization. “Maybe throw a juke, I mean I don’t know how many jukes I’ve got, but I’ve just got to be aware of it. It’s football and it’s just part of the game”.
“I feel like he brings the whole offense together, ” Talib said. He was written off. The only reason he got his job back was the other guy stunk so bad down the stretch.
“Wade is a great coach”, said Patriots head coach Bill Belichick. It doesn’t get any more average than that. I don’t really rank them.
Denver arguably has the best defense in football, but Tom Brady has a knack for exposing weaknesses. Even when players would be covered, he could get the ball in there.
My first thought was I had to bet the Broncos. “It’s definitely unique and special”. Dont’a Hightower got hurt in the second quarter. “So, it’s going to be a big challenge for us”, said Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady.
The perennial AFC powers will be trying to build upon their storied legacies. The Broncos would lose 13-6 to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXI.
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The Patriots have a chance to go to back-to-back Super Bowls for the second time in the last twelve years. It was the first such miss for Gostkowski since 2006 – snapping a string of 523 successful point-after kicks (although the vast majority of those came before those kicks were moved back this season). Manning put up better numbers than Brady on the day, but New England running back Corey Dillon ran all over the Indianapolis defense on his way to 144 yards. For me this game comes down to match-ups, and as good as Josh Norman is, he can’t cover all of the Arizona weapons. “We’ve helped him have a lot of those guys, but Edelman sure fits in that mold”.
