Tom Brady

How Peyton Manning won the strangest of all battles with Tom Brady

Published Jan. 24, 2016 9:31 p.m. ET

share

facebookxredditlink

foxsports

For a game that was hyped so heavily for the star quarterbacks featured in it, the Denver Broncos' 20-18 win over the New England Patriots in Sunday's AFC championship ultimately had very little to do with either guy under center.

In a decidedly un-Brady-versus-Manning-like affair, neither Tom Brady nor Peyton Manning looked the part of an all-time great and neither factored heavily in the result, which sent Manning to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in a career that could very well draw to a close after the game Feb. 7 in Santa Clara.

It was a rarity in a matchup that has now been played out 17 times (the Patriots hold an 11-6 lead in such games, although Manning, between the Colts and Broncos, has won six of the last 11), and while it wasn't the heroic throwback effort from Manning that some fans may have hoped for, it was the exact game Manning needed the rest of his team to deliver for the Broncos to advance.

Simply put, Manning wasn't going to sling his way to a win like he did in the 2013 AFC title game between the same two teams. Those 400-yard games are largely a thing of the past for Manning, who at this stage in his career is lucky to hit 300 on a given Sunday. His job at this point is to take care of the football -- something he's struggled immensely to do at times this season -- stay two steps ahead of the defense like he always has and hope his own defense plays well enough to pull out a win.

Generally, that's been easy for the Broncos to do, as Denver claimed the AFC's top seed this season thanks in large part to the efforts of its top-ranked D -- often winning games in spite of Manning, not because of him. But against a Patriots unit that has generally had its way with every team it's faced, dominance couldn't be assumed, and the belief was that Manning might have to somehow play like Brady to beat him.

As the game played out, however, that didn't turn out to be the case.

Denver didn't end up needing or getting much at all out of Manning, who led an 11-play, 83-yard drive on the Broncos' first possession, but had just one drive longer than seven plays the rest of the game. Manning finished the game 17 of 32 passing for 176 yards and two scores -- the second on a 16-yard drive set up by a Von Miller interception -- but because of players like Miller, who also had 2.5 sacks, and DeMarcus Ware, who terrorized Brady all afternoon, Manning's plodding effort was just barely enough.

Conversely, New England had no choice but to rely on Brady to keep them competitive, but Brady only managed pedestrian numbers despite throwing more passes than he ever has in a playoff game.

Sure, Brady had 310 yards through the air, but the total came on 56 attempts and any good he did was outweighed by two uncharacteristic interceptions, the first of which was gift-wrapped for Miller and effectively changed the course of the entire game.

Additionally, Brady's struggles were precipitated by a non-existent ground game that left Brady, himself, as the team's leading rusher. He was also done no favors by a defensive unit hell-bent on disrupting his day and a Patriots O-line seemingly bound and determined to let its quarterback suffer. Because New England was virtually never a threat to capably run the ball, Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips dialed up blitzes at will, and as a result, Brady seemingly spent more time on his face than he did on his feet.

In total, Brady was sacked four times and took 20 hits, the latter representing the most of any quarterback in any game this year. Even so, Brady was nearly able to eke out a win thanks to a last-ditch touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter. (And Rob Gronkowski, who caught the touchdown, was predictably incredible.)

But an early missed PAT by a guy who hadn't missed one in nine years forced New England to go for a two-point try it couldn't convert, with an unofficial Brady pick sealing the game for Denver.

Overall, it wasn't the Brady-Manning Bowl anyone expected, with just one scoring drive longer than 50 yards, but still, there was something almost refreshing about watching other people do the work. And more importantly for Broncos fans, it proved yet again that Denver can be great even when Manning is not. Whether Manning can be just good enough in Super Bowl 50 to get himself a second ring remains to be seen, but after Sunday, you can rest assured that his defense will at least give him a chance.

You can follow Sam Gardner on Twitter or email him at samgardnerfox@gmail.com.

share

Get more from Tom Brady Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

Tom Brady

New England Patriots

Denver Broncos

National Football League