Manning Torches The Patriots, Broncos Advance To Super Bowl XLVIII
Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos are heading to the Super Bowl after a 26-16 victory over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
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Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos are heading to the Super Bowl after a 26-16 victory over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
Peyton Manning may have looked over New England's defense and realized that unless the Broncos beat themselves with fumbles, stumbles and tumbles, the highest-scoring team in NFL history should put up plenty of points on the Patriots.
If you're going to be alarmed by any statistic, it's Peyton Manning's microscopic comebacks in the playoffs.
Manning and Brady will meet Sunday for the 15th time, and the fourth time in the postseason, when the Broncos (14-3) face the Patriots (13-4) in the AFC title game.
250-pound LeGarrette Blount struggled the last time he faced the Broncos, a game the Patriots won 34-31 in overtime Nov. 24. He carried the ball three times and lost it twice.
In anticipation of the AFC and NFC Championship games this weekend, we've pulled together America's leading sportscasters to make their predictions and picks for Patriots-Broncos and 49ers-Seahawks.
Peyton Manning and Tom Brady are clearly football royalty. On the other side, you see two sleek athletes who represent the NFL's future. Colin Kaepernick has already been to one Super Bowl, while Russell Wilson is trying to get to his first.
Brady played the underdog card on Monday but hasn't harped on it, at least not publicly. "When you play against one of the best teams in the league, you realize there's very little margin of error," he said.
The good news: either Manning or Brady will get to go to another Super Bowl. The bad news: one of them will not, and be denied adding more to his legacy yet again.
Four days before the AFC championship game against the Denver Broncos, the star quarterback missed practice Wednesday because of illness and his right shoulder, the Patriots said in their practice report.
Brady and Belichick will join the battle, but they don't have enough weapons to overcome this problem. The AFC Championship looks like the end of the line for New England.
For those that want to attend the AFC Championship Game, making sure to purchase legitimate tickets is a big deal. Counterfeits are more popular all the time, especially as the playoffs arrive.
"I know when we played Baltimore nobody picked us to win," Brady said. "I'm sure no one's going to pick us to win this week. We've had our backs against the wall for a while."
It's pretty simple. If you are a San Francisco 49ers or New England Patriots fans feeling adventurous and want to go on the road to support your team you better come up with a really creative way of doing it.
So, after a ho-hum divisional playoff weekend, we wind up getting the matchups that everyone wanted anyway. Especially this one: Brady vs. Peyton.
Familiar foes. Rivalry showdowns. Talk about a couple of juicy title-game tussles. First up, it's Peyton Manning vs. Tom Brady — Round 15 — in the AFC championship game next Sunday.
After a slow start in his first season with the Patriots, LeGarrette Blount ran for a total of four touchdowns in his last two regular-season games then got four more against the Colts.
Peyton Manning and the Broncos narrowly avoided a repeat of their playoff slip from last year, advancing to the AFC championship game with a 24-17 win over the Chargers on Sunday.
Welker missed the Broncos' last 3½ games after sustaining his second concussion in a four-week span just before halftime in a game against Tennessee on Dec. 8.
Chargers QB Philip Rivers is 6-2 in Denver. And he'd be 7-1 if not for Ed Hochuli's blown call on a last-minute Denver fumble in 2008. Rivers And The Chargers Have Momentum On Their Side
No quarterback has been to the playoffs more than Peyton Manning or experienced more heartache either. Only once in his previous dozen trips to the postseason has Manning put his fingerprints on the Lombardi Trophy.
My hands may be white from all the chalk I pick, you know there will be one supreme surprise this week. But where? Since we went 3-1 last week - losing with the wretched Bengals, like everyone else - let's try our hand at the most heavenly weekend of a most horrible winter.
When the San Diego Chargers went into Denver last month and beat the Broncos, no doubt some eyebrows were raised. Now, imagine if they do it again this Sunday.
Being the sixth and final seed in the NFL playoffs usually means you're a sizable underdog. When it comes to the San Diego Chargers, that holds true a second weekend straight.
The Denver Broncos are arguably the best team in the NFL, but that doesn't mean they're going to win this week. In fact, many stats show Peyton Manning and his Broncos are more likely to lose than win, as the No. 1 seed against the No. 6 seeded San Diego Chargers.
