Broncos lead Patriots 14-9 in 1st half

Peyton Manning, who turns 40 in March, will lead the AFC champion Broncos into Super Bowl 50 against Cam Newton and the NFC champion Panthers on February 7 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

Earlier, with Miller dropping into coverage instead of rushing the passer, the Broncos’ linebacker intercepted a Brady pass intended for Gronkowski and returned it four yards to the Patriots’ 16-yard line.

Aqib Talib stepped in front of Brady’s pass and deflected it skyward.

Week 2, at Kansas City – Sept. 17, 2015: With the score 24-24 and 35 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Broncos inside linebacker Brandon Marshall punched the ball loose and cornerback Bradley Roby quickly scooped it up, sprinting 21 yards to the end zone for a 31-24 victory. The Seahawks led 36-0 before the Broncos finally scored, a 14-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Demaryius Thomas.

This weekend’s game will be the 17th time that the two quarterbacks will have played against each other, and this may be the last time that this rivalry will occur.

The longtime rivals met for perhaps the final time in Denver’s 20-18 win over the Patriots.

I suppose this means we won’t get to cajole Carson Palmer into remembering his time in Oakland with completely fake fondness.

For 30 minutes, Peyton Manning was better than Tom Brady, and that was all he needed to survive, because his dominating defense carried him home.

On fourth-and goal with 17 seconds left, Brady hit Gronkowski with a TD pass to pull it within two points, but his 2-point conversion pass was picked off.

An hour after the game, New England kicker Stephen Gostkowski still felt the sting of missing a rare extra point. “I wish that two-point play had been different”.

Vintage Manning has never been known for taking off when the field is clear, the way he did with 9:49 left in the third quarter and nothing but air between him and the first-down marker on the Patriots sideline.

The Broncos had first-and-goal at the 10, but couldn’t punch it in. Not only were the men protecting Brady banged up, but he was also working without his top two running backs and simply faced too strong of an opponent to guide the Pats back to the Super Bowl.

Upon Kubiak leaving the Ravens to become the Broncos’ head coach and facing free agency once again, Daniels made a decision to go along for the ride by agreeing to a three-year deal with the Broncos in March 2015.

I suppose this means we’ll have to point out that Hall of Fame candidate Terrell Owens did not play for either Denver or Carolina, which when you consider the number of teams he did play for is rather unbelievable. Broncos S Darian Stewart left in the third quarter with a knee injury…. There were only 45 no shows among the tickets distributed.