NFL Playoffs: NFC and AFC Championship Games Schedule

Get ready for Brady-Manning XVII.

“It really was”, Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak said.

“We stayed patient tonight”, Manning added. “They’ll always be my Steelers and I’m glad for my friends who are Bronco fans, that they enjoy this because I think they will win next week”. “I told them it would take them all today”.

His boss, John Elway, who only got to face his fellow Hall of Famer Dan Marino twice in his playing career, once said there will never be another rivalry like Brady-Manning.

The Carolina Panthers and Denver Broncos won their way into NFL Conference Final games on Sunday with wins at home. Would he have gotten in had Edelman been a little more active in the blocking game? “Every time we play them it’s a tough game, and things happen and…”

Manning’s teammates dropped seven passes but also came through in crunch time. Denver is 10-3 in games decided by seven points or fewer, and Manning said being battle-tested helped them on this night.

And it was Denver’s defense that again came up with a game-changing play late in the game when Bradley Roby stripped Fitzgerald Toussaint for a fumble recovered by DeMarcus Ware.

Then, Manning went to work, driving Denver to its only touchdown. That’s not going to be easy, though, and it should be one heck of a game next weekend.

Ware’s sack ended Pittsburgh’s next drive and Brandon McManus kicked his fifth field goal, tying the National Football League playoff record.

And Denver’s top-ranked defense, too. “So we just had to figure out a way for us to get signals to each other, get the play to each other, and once we did that everything was good”. Pittsburgh did a great job down there in the red zone, keeping us from touchdowns.

Earlier in the third, the Steelers got a 28-yard field goal from Boswell.

Roethlisberger completed 24 of 37 passes for 339 yards despite playing with a sore right shoulder and missing his top receiver – Antonio Brown (concussion) and rusher – DeAngelo Williams (foot).

Bryant had two carries for a team-high 40 yards and nine receptions for a game-best 154 yards. Facing a critical 3rd and 12 on their own side of the field, Manning hit Bennie Fowler across the middle, and the receiver shook off a tackle to make a 31-yard gain. Anderson alternated on key runs to move the chains before Anderson broke through for a touchdown from 1-yard out with three minutes remaining. This one, though, possibly means a little more, given his comeback from a foot ailment that sidelined him for six weeks.