Broncos beat Steelers to set up Manning and Brady showdown

Just two more games over the next three weeks, but they mean an bad lot.

The Patriots have barely even pretended to show any interest in running the ball, with Brady handing the ball off just four times in the half. “The momentum built from there, and we were able to close the game out”. You just got to play better all-round football.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) leaves the field after an NFL divisional playoff football game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016, in Foxborough, Mass. The Patriots won 27-20. Each team that you watch them play is not played identically. This will be a rematch from the AFC title game of two years ago, when Broncos receiver Wes Welker leveled then-Patriots cornerback Aqib Talib, knocking him out of the game and opening things up in the secondary.

Manning didn’t want to start reflecting on the rivalry with Brady right away.

And Manning was forced to go on the defensive in December, vehemently denying a claim in an Al Jazeera documentary alleging that he was among a number of professional athletes who may have been provided human growth hormone, or HGH, by an in doctor. When you fake that way and kind of get your head around, I felt that guy closing, so I stepped up and kind of leaned forward. Both teams then were limited to field goals until Anderson’s score with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

A late turnover by Steelers running back Fitzgerald Toussaint handed the Broncos the ball near midfield and suddenly the balanced attack the home team had been trying desperately to stoke into efficiency, came to life. Belichick noted the change in getting ready for Manning.

But when the New England Patriots visit the Denver Broncos on Sunday, the game will have a different feel than the previous matchups between the best quarterbacks of their generation.

Only the end of the game stopped a seventh.

Roethlisberger didn’t have his top receiver for the Broncos game, as Antonio Brown sat out after suffering a concussion against the Bengals.

That was when Manning’s gilded right arm wasn’t held together with Play-Doh.

Manning only directed one touchdown drive against the Steelers, but that was all the Broncos needed.

There is no easy climb to a Super Bowl crown, but some summits are more treacherous than others.