Peyton Manning set up a new installment of his 15-year rivalry with Tom Brady on Sunday after steering the Denver Broncos to a hard-fought NFL playoff victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The 39-year-old Denver quarterback is to face New England Patriots superstar Brady for the fourth time in an American Football Conference championship game after a gritty 23-16 win over the Steelers.
Manning’s experience proved crucial as Denver mounted a late, time-consuming fourth-quarter drive to score the game’s decisive touchdown through running back C.J. Anderson.
Photo: Matthew Emmons-USA Today
“I think the best thing today was that we stayed patient,” Manning said.
Manning has won two of his three previous championship duels with Brady, with the most recent a 26-16 win in 2014.
Manning, who first faced Brady back in 2001 with the Indianapolis Colts, trails the New England quarterback 11-5 in their overall head-to-head record.
The Broncos signal-caller played down the significance of what will be his 17th meeting with Brady next week, when a place in Super Bowl 50 will be the prize for the victor.
“It’ll be the Broncos versus the Patriots,” Manning said.
The defeat was hard on Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who made 24 completions from 37 attempts to pile up 339 yards.
Pittsburgh led 13-12 through a Fitzgerald Toussaint touchdown and two Chris Boswell field goals, while Denver had been forced to settle for four Brandon McManus field goals.
The pivotal play came when Toussaint spilled the ball with less than 10 minutes left and Denver recovered. Manning then marched the Broncos upfield on a 14-play 65-yard drive which took nearly seven minutes off the clock for Anderson’s touchdown. A two-point conversion left Denver in the box seat and they duly closed out the win as Pittsburgh ran out of time.
In the day’s other game, the Carolina Panthers advanced to a National Football Conference championship game against the Arizona Cardinals after surviving a second-half fightback from the Seattle Seahawks to win 31-24 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The Panthers looked to be romping to an easy win after they raced into a 31-0 lead, but the Seahawks staged a superb second-half rally, with quarterback Russell Wilson throwing for three touchdowns and finishing with 366 yards.
Carolina quarterback Cam Newton later admitted the Panthers had faced nervous moments as Seattle dominated the scoring in the second half.
“It was excruciating to watch,” Newton said.
The Panthers had scored on their very first possession with a four-play 75-yard drive that ended with Jonathan Stewart scoring with a four-yard run.
Carolina linebacker Luke Kuechly then intercepted Wilson for a touchdown as the Panthers went 14-0 up, before Stewart grabbed his second six-pointer.
Graham Gano kicked a field goal to stretch Carolina’s lead to 24-0, before Newton picked out Greg Olsen in the end zone to put the Panthers 31-0 ahead.
Seattle dominated after halftime, quickly scoring touchdowns through Jermaine Kearse and Tyler Lockett to give coach Pete Carroll’s team hope.
Kearse grabbed another score in the fourth quarter, but the Panthers survived.
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