Denver Broncos beat Pittsburgh Steelers to advance to AFC Championship

Fitz Toussaint apparently had gained first down yardage around the Denver 30-yard line when the ball was popped out by Bradley Roby and recovered by DeMarcus Ware at the Broncos 35-yard line.

Denver recovered the ball and drove 65 yards, going ahead on C.J. Anderson’s one-yard touchdown with three minutes remaining. Manning is, after all, the captain of the offense and the greatest passer in NFL history; just two years ago he did lead the Broncos offense to the greatest single season of offense in the history of the league.

Now he’s 60 minutes from a fourth Super Bowl, and Brady stands in the way.

Today’s game will be played in Denver.

Denver (12-4) survived an extended stretch of games without Peyton Manning as Brock Osweiler filled in admirably for the future Hall of Famer.

It will be the seventeenth time Peyton Manning has faced off against Tom Brady, and the fourth time they will do it in an AFC title game. Now that Manning is deemed healthy enough to start, the Broncos look to their veteran to deliver a crucial performance against a Pittsburgh franchise that eked out a 2 point win at Cincinnati last week. Chris Boswell then kicked a 43-yard field goal on Pittsburgh’s next possession, giving them a 10-6 lead.

Only it’s not. Sure, Manning-Brady XVII will punch one team’s ticket to Super Bowl 50 – either Peyton Manning’s Broncos or Tom Brady’s Patriots.

The Broncos will be big favorites to win this game, but the Steelers have better credentials to cause an upset here than most teams in the NFL. “We’ve got to enjoy this one tonight and get a jump start on improving Monday and focus on who we play on Wednesday”. They use a lot of clock driving it downfield and cap it off with a 1-yard touchdown run by CJ Anderson.

Running back Jonathan Stewart, back from a foot injury, is approaching 100 yards rushing and has two touchdowns, becoming the first Carolina player to run for multiple touchdowns in a postseason game.

Denver’s McManus kicked his third field goal of the first half, from 51 yards with no time left. And that result was more shocking for the fact that Carolina and quarterback Cam Newton built a 31-0 halftime lead over the Seahawks than that they ultimately won.

On third-and-12, he zipped the ball to Bennie Fowler, who had dropped two earlier passes but held on to this one and carried it another 20 yards to keep the game-winning drive alive. Denver goes on to win and will host New England in the next round. It was the Patriots’ first loss of the season after 10 victories.

Manning finished the game with 222 yards on 21-for-37 passing. Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, right, waits for a snap as backup quarterback Landry Jones (3) waits his turn during an NFL football practice, in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016.