Manning leads Broncos past gritty Steelers 23-16

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger may not be at full strength but he is expected to handle all of the offensive plays in Sunday’s divisional-round playoff game against the Denver Broncos. Then, years later, Manning’s Broncos defeated the Patriots at home 26-16, though they went on to lose the Super Bowl. The Broncos advance to the AFC championship game where they’ll host the New England Patriots for a chance to go to the Super Bowl. Denver converted the two-point conversion and added a field goal – Brandon McManus’s fifth of the day – with just 53 seconds remaining in the fourth.

Barring the unexpected, the game will be hyped as another meeting in the series between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, two of the game’s best quarterbacks ever. His physical skills are not the same as they were when he was with the Indianapolis Colts, but before this season he had overcome that to string together some great moments for the Denver Broncos. On the second play, Roethlisberger hit Bryant for a 52-yard pass play to move the ball into Denver territory.

So far, Peyton Manning has completed 8 of 17 passes.

“It’s been a unique season, a lot of new things have happened this season, kind of like tonight”, said Manning, who replaced Osweiler in the season finale, leading the Broncos to a win over San Diego to secure the No. 1 seed.

Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas, whose 80-yard touchdown in overtime from Tim Tebow was the dagger the last time these teams met in the playoffs four years ago, said, “All we’re anxious about now is the Steelers”. The game was the final game in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. This will be the third time since 2008 the Cardinals have visited the Panthers in a playoff game.

The Steelers led Denver, 10-9, at halftime. This comes a week after the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback had to tell his coaches to not call any down-field passes at the end of their game versus the Cincinnati Bengals.

Earlier in the third, the Steelers got a 28-yard field goal from Boswell. The Steelers closed the opening quarter with 133 yards, which is the most allowed by the Broncos in a first quarter this season. Peyton Manning has been struggling all season with consistency and the Broncos need to run to be successful. Have thoughts on how the Broncos or Steelers are performing? In Denver, however, the Broncos showed again that, at 39, Manning is simply a cog – a cross-your-fingers, squint-your-eyes prayer each time the ball is snapped.

Broncos running back CJ Anderson effectively sealed the victory for Denver, scoring the touchdown in the fourth quarter which helped put the home side up seven points late in the game.