Peyton Manning had been denied by the New England Patriots in the postseason before.
But he wasn’t going to let that happen Sunday in the AFC championship game.
Manning threw for 400 yards and two scores as the Denver Broncos posted a 26-16 win to advance to Super Bowl XLVIII.
The Broncos’ offense had their way with a beat up Patriots’ defense as Denver accumulated more than 500 total yards.
“It’s very rewarding when you put a lot of hard work into the offseason and the regular season and it pays dividends with a huge win,” Manning said.
Denver jumped out to a 23-3 lead and then held off a late rally by the Patriots. Tom Brady hit Julian Edelman for a nine yard touchdown to cut the deficit to 26-16 with just more than three minutes left in the fourth but a failed two-point conversion attempted ended any comeback.
The Patriots’ offense was limited thanks to timely drives by the Broncos. Denver converted 7-of-13 3rd down conversions and held the ball for nearly 36 minutes.
Manning reaches the third Super Bowl in his career but the first with Denver. The Broncos have not played in the Super Bowl since the 1998 season.
