Peyton Manning is taking the Denver Broncos to the Super Bowl after another one of his passing-game masterpieces. Three years after his career nearly came to an end due to a neck injury, Manning threw for 400 yards a two touchdowns in leading Denver to a 26-16 victory over Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
In two weeks, at MetLife Stadium in New York against the Seahawks, Manning will attempt to become the first quarterback in NFL history to win a Super Bowl with two franchises.
The matchup of the Broncos and Patriots was supposed to be a show replete with offensive fireworks. Instead, Denver took away New England’s quick-strike capability early and then Manning engineered two extensive drives, chewing great chunks of the clock.
Manning threw a one-yard TD to Jacob Tamme and a three-yard score to Demaryius Thomas. Matt Prater added four field goals for the Broncos, the AFC’s No. 1 seed.
Brady threw for 277 yards and one score. He also ran for a touchdown.
Denver finished 13-3 in the regular season, losing only to Indianapolis (39-33), New England (34-31) and San Diego (27-20). In the AFC divisional playoffs, the Broncos avenged their loss to San Diego with a 24-17 victory.
Manning, the favorite to win MVP honors, set an NFL record with 55 touchdown passes against only 10 interceptions.
Denver will be making its first Super Bowl appearance since after the 1998 season.