Manning-Brady XVII was a defensive showcase. Neither offense found a ton of success, with Peyton Manning and Tom Brady being sacked a combined seven times. In the end, Manning's Denver Broncos defeated Tom Brady's New England Patriots 20-18 in the AFC Championship game.
The Patriots had three chances to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but Denver's defense stepped up to send the Broncos to the Super Bowl. Brady found Rob Gronkowski for the touchdown, but the two-point conversion was picked off with just 12 second left.
Brady, hurried at times by the Broncos' pass rush, was just 27 of 56 for 310 yards, a TD and two picks. He was sacked four times. Manning was 17 of 32 for 176 yards and two TDs. He was sacked three and was credited with a fumble following a backward pass.
Both of Manning's TD passes went to Owen Daniels, who had two catches for 33 yards. Emmanuel Sanders led the Broncos with five catches for 62 yards. Rob Gronkowski caught eight passes for 100 yards. Julian Edelman had six grabs for 47 yards.
Von Miller had a huge game for Denver, racking up 2.5 sacks and two tackles for loss. Jamie Collins was sharp for New England, recording eight tackles, two sacks and 3 TFLs.
Neither team found much success on the ground. The Patriots recorded just 44 yards on 17 carries. Eleven of those yards came via a Brady scramble. Denver had 99 yards on 30 carries. C.J. Anderson led all runners with 72 yards on 16 carries, with a 30-yard run doing most of the damage.
The Broncos scored on their opening drive, going 83 yards after the Patriots were forced to punt. New England finally found the end zone following the Denver fumble. Steven Jackson plunged in from a yard out, but the Patriots missed the extra point.
The Broncos' second score came following a Brady INT in the second half. New England responded with a field goal, and the Broncos added one before the end of the half.
The Patriots added a field goal in the third quarter and the Broncos did the same in the fourth. The Patriots, down eight, went for it on fourth down in the red zone with six minutes to go but came up short. Brady had New England back inside the 10 with just over two minutes to go, but failed to score. The Patriots managed to get the ball inside the five with 20 second left, but came up short on fourth down once again.
With the win, the Broncos advance to Super Bowl 50. They'll play the winner of the Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers.
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