CBS New York thinks Eli Manning is facing Tom Brady Sunday

But Broncos coach Gary Kubiak, unlike his counterpart in New England, was comfortable Friday in making a pronouncement two days before the game as to his availability.

Denver Broncos’ cornerback Chris Harris is going to play in today’s AFC Championship Game against the New England Patriots, despite a shoulder injury that has been nagging at him since Week 17 and made him feel like he was playing with one arm against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Denver’s defense not only creates turmoil, it creates turnovers. Patriots have only beat the Broncos once on their way to the Super Bowl, and they have never beaten Broncos in the playoffs when playing in Denver.

When asked about Denver’s continuously improving rushing attack, head coach Bill Belichick pointed to their week 12 match up and said “probably the best it was [was] against us”.

New England earned its fourth Super Bowl championship previous year, but the victory tour was tainted by another round of cheating allegations and the possible suspension of quarterback Tom Brady in the scandal that came to be known as “Deflategate”.

“We love Peyton. Tom is okay but we love Peyton”, Connie Fontenot said. “Exactly how we had it before, but we get to play”.

Denver Broncos defensive end Derek Wolfe isn’t shy about his dislike for the New England Patriots. The Patriots offense averaged 29.1 points this season and 374.4 yards per game and had a plus seven turnover ratio and they are coming off of a dominating win over the Chiefs last week in a game they scored a touchdown on their opening drive and never looked back. In this game, however, the stakes are much higher than they were last time, as the victor of this game will get a chance to compete in Super Bowl 50.

Instead of watching on crutches. Arizona will need to keep the game close and hope that the Panthers let another lead slip away like they nearly did against Seattle last weekend.

The Patriots should enjoy an edge on offense Sunday as long as Brady has Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola to throw to against Denver’s top-ranked defense. That task would go to Ward or Aqib Talib. “It’s a very tough task, but I definitely think we’re ready for it”. They reshaped their bodies through weight loss and a determination to take some stress off their repaired ligaments. It doesn’t get any more average than that.

The Panthers looked downright dominant early in their game against the Seahawks last week. For years, these two future Hall of Famers were the headliners trying to outdo each other in the 16 times they previously squared off, but now, with Manning clearly having declined, he matters less.

The Broncos are the better all-around team, with more offensive weapons and a stronger defense.

One that will be tested Sunday. “I think he’s pompous, and I think he’s spoiled”, said Oliver Gauthier, who grew up near New England but has been a Broncos fan his whole life. We just wanted him to be good enough to be competitive.

This isn’t only the greatest quarterback rivalry of our generation, it is the greatest quarterback rivalry of any time, and one of the greatest individual rivalries in any sport – along with Magic-Bird, Ali-Frazier, Palmer-Nicklaus and Russell-Chamberlain. He’s got great guys that he’s throwing the ball to.