Peyton Manning Gets the Best of Brady Again

After a gritty, ugly match against the Denver Broncos, the New England Patriots’ season is finally brought to an end.

The New England special teams unit had a very up and down game today.

Thanks to a pass interference penalty and efficient play by Manning, who perfectly executed a bootleg pass to Andre Caldwell for a 15-yard gain, the Broncos scored on their opening possession when Manning found Daniels wide open for a 21-yard touchdown.

The pass rushers praised Denver’s secondary for giving them the time to knock Brady around.

91 percent of the money bet in this AFC Championship game was bet on the New England Patriots.

Brady finished the day 27 of 56 with 310 yards and one touchdown. Some thought his career might be over after that one.

It was a play that personified this team’s mental toughness, and the battle that Manning himself has fought throughout this season.

The Patriots got the ball back with 4:35 left at their own 29. Von Miller recorded two and a half sacks.

Denver’s top-ranked defense picked off Brady twice and Manning threw a pair of touchdown passes to tight end Owen Daniels.

That the Patriots were still in position to tie the game despite their offensive struggles is a credit to the play of their defense. A game-tying two-point conversion pass from Brady to Danny Amendola was tipped by Aqib Talib and intercepted, in essense ending the game.

More fresh in the minds of Broncos fans was Manning’s decision to pull up and throw in the playoff game against the Colts last season when he had as much or more open space in front of him as he did Sunday.

Gostkowski’s 38-yard field goal made the score 17-12.

Besting the pathetic Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, and New York Jets annually assures the Pats a first-round bye and second-round home game every year, but does not prepare them for the noise and disruption of Sports Authority Field in January.

“We’ve got one more game to go, and then we’ll have a parade”, elated Broncos receiver Emmanuel Sanders said, referring to Super Bowl 50 on February 7 in Santa Clara, Calif.

New England had to go for 2 after Brady’s 4-yard touchdown to Rob Gronkowski because Stephen Gostkowski missed an extra point in the first quarter, snapping a string of 523 straight makes.

The Broncos took control in the second quarter to lead 17-9 at the end of the first half. He was all over the field for the Broncos defense. The Broncos recovered the onside kick and the celebration began. Gostkowski was also one of only five kickers who hadn’t missed a single PAT over the course of the season, despite the new National Football League rule that moved the PAT back, making the kick less automatic.

The Pats managed only one first down on the opening drive and had to punt.

“It was just tough for us to ever get in a rhythm”, Brady said.

Gostkowski called the first missed extra point of his career in nine years a “nightmare scenario”, per Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald.

Both of the Broncos’ starting safeties left with injuries, which allowed Gronkowski to get over the top for a few catches.