Gary Kubiak pins Broncos’ woes on drops, not Peyton Manning

And on Sunday he will play in his 10th AFC Championship game, leading the Patriots into Denver to face the Broncos with a berth in Super Bowl 50 on the line.

For the second week in a row, an opposing player has accused one of the Steelers’ top offensive stars of faking an injury – and this time the target is quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

“We didn’t instill this in them”, she said.

For Brady and the Patriots, the crushing loss represented their first AFC title game defeat in six attempts.

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning meet again to decide the AFC’s Super Bowl representative.

Manning’s teammates dropped seven passes but also came through in crunch time. It was an epidemic, with almost every receiver, including Demaryius Thomas, Emmanuel Sanders, Bennie Fowler, and running backs Ronnie Hillman and C.J. Anderson each dropping at least one pass. “Hope we’re not one of them”. “In that situation, though, I put it on myself”.

Of course, the Broncos’ win wasn’t almost as exciting as the Cardinals’ overtime victory over the Green Bay Packers, which would not have gone to overtime if Aaron Rodgers had not completed his second Hail Mary pass of the season with a seemingly impossible throw. “He missed a post route I know he’d like to have back to [Demaryius Thomas] that could have been a big play early in the game”, Kubiak said Monday. Playing in 10 regular-season games, Manning threw 17 interceptions and just nine touchdown passes. “I have a strong leg, so I’m not going to ever aim outside the uprights, but with the wind, you might be 1 yard inside each upright”.

So if this is the final National Football League season for Manning, who has been plagued by both injury and questionable form recently, then it is only fitting that he will have to get by the Brady-led Patriots to get a shot at another Super Bowl title.

“Obviously, down in the fourth quarter and down the home stretch, great play by our defense”, Manning said. Only a big punt return and some shanks from Pittsburgh punter Jordan Berry allowed the Broncos to get on the board with Brandon McManus field goals. “There were some plays we didn’t make for him”.

The 68-year-old coach was taken out by Bryant after the Steelers receiver got pushed out of bounds on the Denver sideline. “We wanted to win this game, but I told him, I said we wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for him”.