Throughout their legendary careers, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning have faced off 16 times.
This Sunday’s game will be the 17th matchup, and perhaps the final chapter of Brady vs. Manning. This is a rivalry that has featured arguably the two greatest quarterbacks of all time. Whether it be the miraculous comeback by Manning in the 2006 AFC Championship, or the incredible goal line stand by the Patriots to keep Manning and Colts out of the end zone, this rivalry has featured iconic moments in important games.
This Sunday’s game will be one last iconic game the two will battle in. Due to Manning’s injuries and age affecting his season, one can assume he will be retiring after this year. Although Manning would like to end his incredible career with a second Super Bowl ring, the New England Patriots want to send their team to the Super Bowl to try to earn Tom Brady his fifth ring. The matchup will determine who faces either Carolina or Arizona in Super Bowl 50.
While Brady has produced a terrific season despite the loss of key offensive weapons, Manning has induced a career-worst year due to injuries and declined arm strength. The two have experienced two opposite seasons to get to this point in the playoffs. One is a possible MVP candidate, while the other was benched earlier in the season. Ironic how just two years ago, Manning set the single season touchdown record, while this year he has only managed nine touchdowns compared to 17 interceptions.
Between their 16 matchups, Brady has held an 11-5 winning advantage over Manning. Four of those games decided who would represent the AFC Conference in the Superbowl. The record is evenly split at two for playoff matchups. In their four playoff matchups between Brady and Manning, the away team has never entered the home atmosphere and won. Advantage Broncos.
How did each team get to this point in the playoffs? The New England Patriots earned the number two seed in the playoffs, despite a late season slump. After their first round bye, they hosted the Kansas City Chiefs, who came in on an 11-game winning streak. Their late season slump was due to a lack of offensive capability due to Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman still dealing with injuries. However, their return in the Kansas City playoff game sparked the offense back to its Super Bowl capability with a 27-20 defeat of the Chiefs. For the fifth year in a row, the Patriots earned a spot in the AFC Championship game. A healthy offensive powerhouse led by Tom Brady will travel into Denver as the favorites of this game despite being the road team.
The Denver Broncos have experienced a quite opposite season. No one expected Manning to have such a decline in his playing capability. He eventually was benched in favor of Brock Owsweiler, but as history will repeat itself, Manning returned to claim his starting role. Manning’s first start after his injury was a playoff matchup against the Pittsburg Steelers in which there were several question marks. How would Manning perform? Would the Steelers prolific wide receiver, Antonio Brown, play? Would Big Ben be able to play through his injury? Those questions were answered as the Broncos defeated the Steelers 23-16. Manning was a game manager who threw over 200 yards and didn’t turn the ball over, but he also failed to throw a touchdown.
The Broncos feel confident coming into this game off of an important playoff victory and because they defeated the Patriots earlier in the season. The Sunday night game on Nov. 29 featured the Patriots traveling to Denver in a snowy 30-24 overtime win for the Broncos. The script will be different this time. That Sunday night victory had Osweiler starting at quarterback for the Broncos. This time it will be Manning under center. The last time these two teams played in the AFC Championship was in 2013, when Denver hosted and beat New England, 26-16. That 2013 AFC Championship win led Denver to the playoffs, only to be embarrassed by the Seattle Seahawks in the Super Bowl. With that being said, the Patriots are 0-2 under Tom Brady when they play in Denver in the playoffs.
Let’s talk advantages and disadvantages. The Denver Broncos have three major advantages over the Patriots. First off, the Broncos have a far superior defense (No.1 ranked in the NFL), a better running and receiving core, and home-field advantage. I would add Manning to the advantage, but the question still remains whether or not Manning will show up. Regardless of his play, Manning is still the best quarterback intellectually. His ability to diagnose defenses and exploit their weak spots still makes him a lethal game manager. Denver’s disadvantages include inconsistent offensive play and having to face Brady. New England’s advantages include having Brady at quarterback and healthy offensive weapons, while their disadvantages include an average defense, a poor-to-nonexistent running game and having to travel to Sports Authority Field.
When Sunday comes, there will be many pre-questions entering the game. How will the quarterbacks handle the playoff tension? Can the defenses stop these elite quarterbacks? One thing we can count on is the Denver defense being able to put pressure on Brady. They ranked first in the NFL with 52 sacks in the regular season. Their secondary will also force Brady to make accurate throws. With cornerbacks on the Broncos like Aqib Talib, who played for New England before signing with Denver, and All-Pro corner Chris Harris Jr., they will make passing as difficult as possible for Brady and the Patriot offense.
I have stated that Manning is not the same player from two years ago; however, his knowledge of this New England defense should give him an edge come Sunday. No doubt, Manning studied film more on the games where he would be facing the Patriots. With this most likely being his last season, he probably has motivation to beat the Patriots one last time. How sweet of a victory would it be if he could win to advance to one last Super Bowl. There is nothing Manning would want more than to end his incredible career with his second Super Bowl ring.
Despite the high-powered offense led by Brady, I am picking the Broncos and Manning to win Sunday’s AFC Championship Game. It is hard not to go with the home team in a game like this. We will see on Jan. 24 at 3:05 on CBS when the Patriots travel to Mile High Stadium to take on the Denver Broncos.
