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Denver's defense carries Peyton Manning back to the Super Bowl

DENVER — Peyton Manning is glad he doesn't have to face Denver's dizzying defense. Tom Brady wasn't so lucky.

The Broncos bashed Brady throughout a 20-18 dethroning of the New England Patriots in the AFC championship Sunday that sent Denver to a record-tying eighth Super Bowl.

Von Miller's monster performance led the way for a dominant defense that hit Brady 23 times and forced him into 29 incompletions, two fourth-down flops and two costly interceptions, one of them on a failed 2-point try that would have tied it with 12 seconds left.

"Von played phenomenal today," safety T.