AFCC Game Thread: Patriots/Broncos - The Final Showdown (1 Viewer)

[sho nuff]

Broncos in. Patriots out. Now im out to continue the celebration. Doesnt get better than this!!!! Thanks for the memories.

It'll get better in 2 weeks when the Broncos get embarrassed yet again in a Super Bowl Hope you'll stick around instead of hiding under a rock crying all off season!

So if Denver loses the Super Bowl, it takes the sting out of your team sucking? You're a sad little man.

Of course it does! Losing the Super Bowl isn't what you'd consider a "rewarding season", it's soul crushing and depressing. You don't celebrate being 2nd best. It's much worse than losing an AFC Championship game. Just ask all the Broncos fans if they remember Super Bowl 48. Talk about an embarrassment

Only an idiot thinks losing in the super bowl is worse than losing in the AFC championship game.

 

[twistd]

Congrats to the Broncos! Glad to see Peyton get another trip to the Super Bowl. Especially because this may be his last season. Class act all the way.

 

[FreeBaGeL]

Broncos in. Patriots out. Now im out to continue the celebration. Doesnt get better than this!!!! Thanks for the memories.

It'll get better in 2 weeks when the Broncos get embarrassed yet again in a Super Bowl Hope you'll stick around instead of hiding under a rock crying all off season!

So if Denver loses the Super Bowl, it takes the sting out of your team sucking? You're a sad little man.

Of course it does! Losing the Super Bowl isn't what you'd consider a "rewarding season", it's soul crushing and depressing. You don't celebrate being 2nd best. It's much worse than losing an AFC Championship game. Just ask all the Broncos fans if they remember Super Bowl 48. Talk about an embarrassment

Only an idiot thinks losing in the super bowl is worse than losing in the AFC championship game.

My team didn't even make the playoffs so imagine how excited I am right now!

 

[fred_1_15301]

Broncos in. Patriots out. Now im out to continue the celebration. Doesnt get better than this!!!! Thanks for the memories.

It'll get better in 2 weeks when the Broncos get embarrassed yet again in a Super Bowl Hope you'll stick around instead of hiding under a rock crying all off season!

So if Denver loses the Super Bowl, it takes the sting out of your team sucking? You're a sad little man.

Of course it does! Losing the Super Bowl isn't what you'd consider a "rewarding season", it's soul crushing and depressing. You don't celebrate being 2nd best. It's much worse than losing an AFC Championship game. Just ask all the Broncos fans if they remember Super Bowl 48. Talk about an embarrassment

Only an idiot thinks losing in the super bowl is worse than losing in the AFC championship game.

There is a term for it. It's called sour grapes.

 

[Neil Beaufort Zod]

Broncos in. Patriots out. Now im out to continue the celebration. Doesnt get better than this!!!! Thanks for the memories.

It'll get better in 2 weeks when the Broncos get embarrassed yet again in a Super Bowl Hope you'll stick around instead of hiding under a rock crying all off season!

So if Denver loses the Super Bowl, it takes the sting out of your team sucking? You're a sad little man.

Of course it does! Losing the Super Bowl isn't what you'd consider a "rewarding season", it's soul crushing and depressing. You don't celebrate being 2nd best. It's much worse than losing an AFC Championship game. Just ask all the Broncos fans if they remember Super Bowl 48. Talk about an embarrassment

Only an idiot thinks losing in the super bowl is worse than losing in the AFC championship game.

It's obviously not worse, but you could make the argument that it hurts worse. You're on the biggest stage possible and don't get it done. That might hurt worse than losing "in the playoffs."

Kind of playing devil's advocate for that guy, but I can sort of see it.

 

[scothawk]

Tip for next year for the Pats receivers - try and catch the ball before you start appealing for interference or holding. Seemed like every time a receiver went for a ball he had his hand stuck up in the air gesticulating even when he was jumping. Then getting in the officials face straight after landing.

Aside from that Gronk was freaking awesome. Just throw the ball to him every play.

 

[BigSteelThrill]

Manning with a winning postseason record vs Brady!?!? Did I see that right?

And hes 3 n 1 vs old tommy with the superbowl on the line.

 

[devouredbychaos]

Broncos in. Patriots out. Now im out to continue the celebration. Doesnt get better than this!!!! Thanks for the memories.

It'll get better in 2 weeks when the Broncos get embarrassed yet again in a Super Bowl Hope you'll stick around instead of hiding under a rock crying all off season!

So if Denver loses the Super Bowl, it takes the sting out of your team sucking? You're a sad little man.

Of course it does! Losing the Super Bowl isn't what you'd consider a "rewarding season", it's soul crushing and depressing. You don't celebrate being 2nd best. It's much worse than losing an AFC Championship game. Just ask all the Broncos fans if they remember Super Bowl 48. Talk about an embarrassment

Only an idiot thinks losing in the super bowl is worse than losing in the AFC championship game.

Please explain to me how losing the biggest game of the season isn't as bad as losing an AFC Championship. You're delusional if you think that.

 

[Tool]

Everyone down on Belichik for not kicking the FGs at the end, but, really, they'd needed to have hit all three on each drive. No way they go for some crazy end zone play on that last drive where Gronk got lucky on 4th. They would have had to hit the first, the second, and the third.

3 do-or-die FGs with a kicker who can't even make a PAT. Not like it was a sure thing.

so dumb.

 

[belljr]

Broncos in. Patriots out. Now im out to continue the celebration. Doesnt get better than this!!!! Thanks for the memories.

It'll get better in 2 weeks when the Broncos get embarrassed yet again in a Super Bowl Hope you'll stick around instead of hiding under a rock crying all off season!

So if Denver loses the Super Bowl, it takes the sting out of your team sucking? You're a sad little man.

Of course it does! Losing the Super Bowl isn't what you'd consider a "rewarding season", it's soul crushing and depressing. You don't celebrate being 2nd best. It's much worse than losing an AFC Championship game. Just ask all the Broncos fans if they remember Super Bowl 48. Talk about an embarrassment

Only an idiot thinks losing in the super bowl is worse than losing in the AFC championship game.

My team didn't even make the playoffs so imagine how excited I am right now!

 

[ROCKET]

Whoever says it doesn't hurt worse losin a SB more than ANY other playoff game is kidding themselves. I'm over the Pats loss already, the better team won and I honestly thought they didn't have a championship caliber team this year (but neither does Denver IMO). After SB losses it takes me weeks or months to move on except for the 85 SB which was a massacre. There is nothing, and I repeat nothing worse than losing a close SB to a team you feel you should have beat. Am I glad they lost? No, but the reality is the loss yesterday will hurt a lot less than if they lost in two weeks.

 

[FUBAR]

Whoever says it doesn't hurt worse losin a SB more than ANY other playoff game is kidding themselves. I'm over the Pats loss already, the better team won and I honestly thought they didn't have a championship caliber team this year (but neither does Denver IMO). After SB losses it takes me weeks or months to move on except for the 85 SB which was a massacre. There is nothing, and I repeat nothing worse than losing a close SB to a team you feel you should have beat. Am I glad they lost? No, but the reality is the loss yesterday will hurt a lot less than if they lost in two weeks.

 

[JuniorNB]

Whoever says it doesn't hurt worse losin a SB more than ANY other playoff game is kidding themselves. I'm over the Pats loss already, the better team won and I honestly thought they didn't have a championship caliber team this year (but neither does Denver IMO). After SB losses it takes me weeks or months to move on except for the 85 SB which was a massacre. There is nothing, and I repeat nothing worse than losing a close SB to a team you feel you should have beat. Am I glad they lost? No, but the reality is the loss yesterday will hurt a lot less than if they lost in two weeks.

So the teams that have never made it to a Super Bowl are really trolling the rest of the league. Well played boys.

 

[IvanKaramazov]

Whoever says it doesn't hurt worse losin a SB more than ANY other playoff game is kidding themselves. I'm over the Pats loss already, the better team won and I honestly thought they didn't have a championship caliber team this year (but neither does Denver IMO). After SB losses it takes me weeks or months to move on except for the 85 SB which was a massacre. There is nothing, and I repeat nothing worse than losing a close SB to a team you feel you should have beat. Am I glad they lost? No, but the reality is the loss yesterday will hurt a lot less than if they lost in two weeks.

If you're like most Patriot fans, you just jumped on the bandwagon a few years ago and never experienced a string of mediocre seasons like fans of just about every other team in the league. And you never will, because once New England starts to fade, you'll hop off that bandwagon and move on to something else. So I get that you just don't know any better. That's fine and completely understandable.

Speaking as a Bills fan, yes, losing the super bowl sucks at the time. But I'm completely confident that 99% of our fan base would happily re-live that era. We look back on those as the good days, not the string of 7-9, 8-8 mediocrity that we have now. Anybody who really thinks that making it to a super bowl and losing is somehow a bad thing or somehow worse than not making it at all just hasn't had enough experience as a fan. Again, I know that doesn't pertain to you because you weren't there when New England was a bottom-feeder and you won't be around for the decline, but that's life for the rest of us.

 

[Hot Diggity Dog]

Rocket has convinced me, burning my Bronco gear and breaking out the silver and blue of the lions. Divisional round playoff loss every 10 years, no heartbreak on my sensitive soul.

 

[ROCKET]

Whoever says it doesn't hurt worse losin a SB more than ANY other playoff game is kidding themselves. I'm over the Pats loss already, the better team won and I honestly thought they didn't have a championship caliber team this year (but neither does Denver IMO). After SB losses it takes me weeks or months to move on except for the 85 SB which was a massacre. There is nothing, and I repeat nothing worse than losing a close SB to a team you feel you should have beat. Am I glad they lost? No, but the reality is the loss yesterday will hurt a lot less than if they lost in two weeks.

If you're like most Patriot fans, you just jumped on the bandwagon a few years ago and never experienced a string of mediocre seasons like fans of just about every other team in the league. And you never will, because once New England starts to fade, you'll hop off that bandwagon and move on to something else. So I get that you just don't know any better. That's fine and completely understandable.

Speaking as a Bills fan, yes, losing the super bowl sucks at the time. But I'm completely confident that 99% of our fan base would happily re-live that era. We look back on those as the good days, not the string of 7-9, 8-8 mediocrity that we have now. Anybody who really thinks that making it to a super bowl and losing is somehow a bad thing or somehow worse than not making it at all just hasn't had enough experience as a fan. Again, I know that doesn't pertain to you because you weren't there when New England was a bottom-feeder and you won't be around for the decline, but that's life for the rest of us.

FWIW, I'm 50 and started going to Pats games back at Schaeffer Stadium in the mid 70's. Seen the good, great, truly awful and everything in between. I went to many games back in the late 80's early 90's where tons of Bills fans from northern NY would come and pee in our cheerios along with Thomas/Kelly/ etc. Don't see a whole lot any more.

 

[fred_1_15301]

Losing in the SuperBowl may be more painful than losing in the championship game but that really depends on expectations going into the games. For example, as a Steelers fan, I was not that disappointed in 1995 when the Steelers lost the SuperBowl to the Cowboys because they weren't supposed to win. I was crushed when the Steelers lost the year before in the AFC championship game against the Chargers. I was also crushed in 2001 when the Steelers lost to the Patriots in the AFC championship game. Those were games the Steelers were supposed to win. I was not that upset when the Steelers lost in the SuperBowl to GB. The ride is certainly a lot more fun when your team makes the SuperBowl.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

How bad would Brady be without Gronk......the guy makes miracle play after miracle play.

Generally, he'd still be great of course - but yesterday he would have been even more miserable than he was. Gronk was amazing during that last drive, and beat double teams on both of those receptions.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I thank the Lord almighty that my team is at least relevant and I'm not a Chiefs or Jets fan.

You should. It's not easy.

 

[dansav]

Good game hats off to Denver for playing unbelievable on defense. The panthers will win no matter who they play.

Still makes me smile tha the habitual Pats haters will come in here and post. It's almost like an obsession.

Panthers 38

Den 16

 

[SacramentoBob]

Broncos in. Patriots out. Now im out to continue the celebration. Doesnt get better than this!!!! Thanks for the memories.

It'll get better in 2 weeks when the Broncos get embarrassed yet again in a Super Bowl Hope you'll stick around instead of hiding under a rock crying all off season!

So if Denver loses the Super Bowl, it takes the sting out of your team sucking? You're a sad little man.

Of course it does! Losing the Super Bowl isn't what you'd consider a "rewarding season", it's soul crushing and depressing. You don't celebrate being 2nd best. It's much worse than losing an AFC Championship game. Just ask all the Broncos fans if they remember Super Bowl 48. Talk about an embarrassment

Only an idiot thinks losing in the super bowl is worse than losing in the AFC championship game.

There is a term for it. It's called sour grapes salty haters.

Fixed.

 

[sho nuff]

Broncos in. Patriots out. Now im out to continue the celebration. Doesnt get better than this!!!! Thanks for the memories.

It'll get better in 2 weeks when the Broncos get embarrassed yet again in a Super Bowl Hope you'll stick around instead of hiding under a rock crying all off season!

So if Denver loses the Super Bowl, it takes the sting out of your team sucking? You're a sad little man.

Of course it does! Losing the Super Bowl isn't what you'd consider a "rewarding season", it's soul crushing and depressing. You don't celebrate being 2nd best. It's much worse than losing an AFC Championship game. Just ask all the Broncos fans if they remember Super Bowl 48. Talk about an embarrassment

Only an idiot thinks losing in the super bowl is worse than losing in the AFC championship game.

Please explain to me how losing the biggest game of the season isn't as bad as losing an AFC Championship. You're delusional if you think that.

Getting to the Super Bowl > not getting to the Super Bowl.

HTH

 

[Ignoramus]

Whoever says it doesn't hurt worse losin a SB more than ANY other playoff game is kidding themselves. I'm over the Pats loss already, the better team won and I honestly thought they didn't have a championship caliber team this year (but neither does Denver IMO). After SB losses it takes me weeks or months to move on except for the 85 SB which was a massacre. There is nothing, and I repeat nothing worse than losing a close SB to a team you feel you should have beat. Am I glad they lost? No, but the reality is the loss yesterday will hurt a lot less than if they lost in two weeks.

Of course it hurts a fan more for their team to lose a Super Bowl, but I would much rather my team play in a Super Bowl than not, regardless of the outcome.

 

[Stealthycat]

Denver DEF deserved to win

Peyton - now that you're in, I'm rotting for you to ride off into the sunset with a ring. I still think Tom Brady is better

 

[Leroy Hoard]

Whoever says it doesn't hurt worse losin a SB more than ANY other playoff game is kidding themselves. I'm over the Pats loss already, the better team won and I honestly thought they didn't have a championship caliber team this year (but neither does Denver IMO). After SB losses it takes me weeks or months to move on except for the 85 SB which was a massacre. There is nothing, and I repeat nothing worse than losing a close SB to a team you feel you should have beat. Am I glad they lost? No, but the reality is the loss yesterday will hurt a lot less than if they lost in two weeks.

Of course it hurts a fan more for their team to lose a Super Bowl, but I would much rather my team play in a Super Bowl than not, regardless of the outcome.

I'm sure these people would rather be Browns or Lions fans right now.

 

[SacramentoBob]

Whoever says it doesn't hurt worse losin a SB more than ANY other playoff game is kidding themselves. I'm over the Pats loss already, the better team won and I honestly thought they didn't have a championship caliber team this year (but neither does Denver IMO). After SB losses it takes me weeks or months to move on except for the 85 SB which was a massacre. There is nothing, and I repeat nothing worse than losing a close SB to a team you feel you should have beat. Am I glad they lost? No, but the reality is the loss yesterday will hurt a lot less than if they lost in two weeks.

Of course it hurts a fan more for their team to lose a Super Bowl, but I would much rather my team play in a Super Bowl than not, regardless of the outcome.

I'm sure these people would rather be Browns or Lions fans right now.

Pats fans really dodged a bullet by not making the Super Bowl.

 

[Mookie]

Did the league roll back it's intentional grounding and offensive holding rules to keep the game close?

 

[JuniorNB]

Whoever says it doesn't hurt worse losin a SB more than ANY other playoff game is kidding themselves. I'm over the Pats loss already, the better team won and I honestly thought they didn't have a championship caliber team this year (but neither does Denver IMO). After SB losses it takes me weeks or months to move on except for the 85 SB which was a massacre. There is nothing, and I repeat nothing worse than losing a close SB to a team you feel you should have beat. Am I glad they lost? No, but the reality is the loss yesterday will hurt a lot less than if they lost in two weeks.

Of course it hurts a fan more for their team to lose a Super Bowl, but I would much rather my team play in a Super Bowl than not, regardless of the outcome.

I'm sure these people would rather be Browns or Lions fans right now.

Pats fans really dodged a bullet by not making the Super Bowl.

Looks like Belechick trolled us all again. While someone is bound to lose the Super Bowl, he had his guys lose two weeks earlier to avoid embarrassment. GOAT!!!

 

[ShamrockPride]

People make this exact same argument against LeBron at 2-4 in the Finals. Jordan was 6-0. It's better to never make the championship in the first place than to make it and lose. Literally one of the most moronic sports arguments I can ever remember.

 

[freakinback]

So pumped! Still can't believe the Broncos are back in the Super Bowl. What a season this has been. Love our defense--Miller was a one man wrecking crew today.

Mad props to Brady for getting abused all day long but hanging in there and still almost pulling it off. That deep pass to Gronk on 4th and 10 took guts and was as clutch as it gets. Gronk is unreal, although Denver held him relatively in check until losing their two starting safeties to injury. Gotta hope neither injury is serious and Ward and Stewart are good to go against Cam, Olsen and Co. in two weeks.

Good post. I'm a sad Pats fan, but loved how they did not give up. Brady took an ###-whooping and was a play away from OT. Miller was amazing. Denver deserved to win. I also thought this was one of the hardest hitting clean games I've seen in years. GL Denver.

 

[B-Deep]

How bad would Brady be without Gronk......the guy makes miracle play after miracle play.

clearly prior to Gronk Brady was worthless. Gronk obviously has made Brady.

:rollseyes:

 

[Steeler]

I think even pats haters should give props to NE for never quitting in the 4th quarter. The oline couldn't compete with Denver's D and Brady got pummeled all day... but they just wouldn't die. I was impressed by that performance.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

Good game hats off to Denver for playing unbelievable on defense. The panthers will win no matter who they play.

I'm pretty sure they'll play Denver.

 

[Workhorse]

I think even pats haters should give props to NE for never quitting in the 4th quarter. The oline couldn't compete with Denver's D and Brady got pummeled all day... but they just wouldn't die. I was impressed by that performance.

First of all, congrats to the Broncos, Manning and the Denver fans. Just an awesome performance of throwback, smashmouth football and showing what a true home field advantage is all about.

I've never been more proud of Brady as a Pats fan -- He took a historic pummeling and kept getting up and nearly pulled off one of the gutsiest comebacks of his career in the face of an ungodly pass rush. Anyone who thinks that Brady is soft after that game doesn't know #### about football.

 

[thatguy]

I think even pats haters should give props to NE for never quitting in the 4th quarter. The oline couldn't compete with Denver's D and Brady got pummeled all day... but they just wouldn't die. I was impressed by that performance.

No doubt. Brady is an effing warrior.

 

[pats3in4]

I think even pats haters should give props to NE for never quitting in the 4th quarter. The oline couldn't compete with Denver's D and Brady got pummeled all day... but they just wouldn't die. I was impressed by that performance.

First of all, congrats to the Broncos, Manning and the Denver fans. Just an awesome performance of throwback, smashmouth football and showing what a true home field advantage is all about.

I've never been more proud of Brady as a Pats fan -- He took a historic pummeling and kept getting up and nearly pulled off one of the gutsiest comebacks of his career in the face of an ungodly pass rush. Anyone who thinks that Brady is soft after that game doesn't know #### about football.

From Bill Barnwell's excellent writeup of the game:

Phillips' defense teed off on Tom Brady on Sunday in staggering, virtually unprecedented fashion. Hits can be an arbitrary measure, but according to the NFL's official data, Brady was knocked down 20 times Sunday, more than any quarterback had been hit in a single game all season. Think about that. For comparison, Brady was hit just 18 times during the entire 2014 postseason, and just once during the 27-20 divisional-round win over the Chiefs.

What's also interesting in that writeup is how Denver's D completely went against its own tendencies vs. New England. Wade Philips hasn't blitzed a team less than the 16.4% of Brady's drop-backs in 8 years.

 

[thatguy]

So pumped! Still can't believe the Broncos are back in the Super Bowl. What a season this has been. Love our defense--Miller was a one man wrecking crew today.

Mad props to Brady for getting abused all day long but hanging in there and still almost pulling it off. That deep pass to Gronk on 4th and 10 took guts and was as clutch as it gets. Gronk is unreal, although Denver held him relatively in check until losing their two starting safeties to injury. Gotta hope neither injury is serious and Ward and Stewart are good to go against Cam, Olsen and Co. in two weeks.

Good post. I'm a sad Pats fan, but loved how they did not give up. Brady took an ###-whooping and was a play away from OT. Miller was amazing. Denver deserved to win. I also thought this was one of the hardest hitting clean games I've seen in years. GL Denver.

For all the talk leading up to it about how Denver was going to try to take out Gronk's knees or hit Brady late, I'm proud that this defense played a clean game. Your comment is so true--it's so rare to see a game where both QB's are constantly under attack and taking huge hits but there really aren't any hits in the game that you can point to and say, "that was such a dirty hit." This game was played how football should be played. Both teams did right by their fan bases and the NFL and all its fans by playing a hard hitting, gritty, thrilling yet ultimately clean game. IMO a game for the ages especially given the extraordinarily high probability that it was the final Brady/Manning showdown. It absolutely lived up to and even surpassed the billing.

 

[ROCKET]

I'll give Denver credit but I think the Pats o-line was absolutely atrocious. I think Carolina will keep them in check in two weeks. As bad as the Pats offense played they still had a chance to tie the game with a 2pt conversion with 12 seconds left. Denver won't be so fortunate vs Carolina and will have to play four solid quarters on offense to win, not two. I don't see it. When is the last time a team routed both of their opponents in the Divisional/Championship games? Panthers are on fire and will be hard for any team to beat.

 

[JIslander]

Great game. Great defense by Denver. Gutsy performance by TB. Happy for PFM and would love to see him get #2.

 

[thatguy]

I'll give Denver credit but I think the Pats o-line was absolutely atrocious. I think Carolina will keep them in check in two weeks. As bad as the Pats offense played they still had a chance to tie the game with a 2pt conversion with 12 seconds left. Denver won't be so fortunate vs Carolina and will have to play four solid quarters on offense to win, not two. I don't see it. When is the last time a team routed both of their opponents in the Divisional/Championship games? Panthers are on fire and will be hard for any team to beat.

I completely agree with you on this point. It's been a problem all season and as a fan it's so frustrating to watch them either let teams back into games, or have to fight their asses off in the second half to get back into and win games. Denver is that rare team that seems to much prefer playing from behind than with the lead. At least if it's a close game, I can say Denver is about as battle tested as any team can be. So, I'm hoping for another thriller, because Denver is absolutely not running away with this game.

 

[Shanahanigans]

Broncos in. Patriots out. Now im out to continue the celebration. Doesnt get better than this!!!! Thanks for the memories.

It'll get better in 2 weeks when the Broncos get embarrassed yet again in a Super Bowl Hope you'll stick around instead of hiding under a rock crying all off season!

This is what people say when their hate falls short. Put the crystal ball away Zultran. For the next two weeks the teams of the year will be featured. Denver is one of them. Very rewarding season. Especially this embarassing game against the Patriots. LMAO. Cant wait to take off the belt and spank some humility into young Cam. I have his dab count at under 2 and his explosive sideline baby pouting at over 3.

Coming from another Broncos fan, please shut up. You are an embarrassment to this fan base with these idiotic comments. Show some class.

 

[ROCKET]

I'll give Denver credit but I think the Pats o-line was absolutely atrocious. I think Carolina will keep them in check in two weeks. As bad as the Pats offense played they still had a chance to tie the game with a 2pt conversion with 12 seconds left. Denver won't be so fortunate vs Carolina and will have to play four solid quarters on offense to win, not two. I don't see it. When is the last time a team routed both of their opponents in the Divisional/Championship games? Panthers are on fire and will be hard for any team to beat.

I completely agree with you on this point. It's been a problem all season and as a fan it's so frustrating to watch them either let teams back into games, or have to fight their asses off in the second half to get back into and win games. Denver is that rare team that seems to much prefer playing from behind than with the lead. At least if it's a close game, I can say Denver is about as battle tested as any team can be. So, I'm hoping for another thriller, because Denver is absolutely not running away with this game.

I think the NFC is just a lot stouter conference this year and Carolina is the cream of that crop. Even if the Pats or Steelers were playing them I'd say it would be an uphill battle as they just seem to be playing with such confidence. I'm still floored the line is only 4. GL to Denver, you deserve to be there. I have been wrong about most of the playoffs to this point so Denver will probably win. Either way I'll be happy for Cam or even Peyton as he seems to be a genuinely nice guy who most likely is getting his last shot at another title. It won't be like watching Ray Lewis win for me which was hard to swallow.

 

[Tool]

So pumped! Still can't believe the Broncos are back in the Super Bowl. What a season this has been. Love our defense--Miller was a one man wrecking crew today.

Mad props to Brady for getting abused all day long but hanging in there and still almost pulling it off. That deep pass to Gronk on 4th and 10 took guts and was as clutch as it gets. Gronk is unreal, although Denver held him relatively in check until losing their two starting safeties to injury. Gotta hope neither injury is serious and Ward and Stewart are good to go against Cam, Olsen and Co. in two weeks.

Good post. I'm a sad Pats fan, but loved how they did not give up. Brady took an ###-whooping and was a play away from OT. Miller was amazing. Denver deserved to win. I also thought this was one of the hardest hitting clean games I've seen in years. GL Denver.

For all the talk leading up to it about how Denver was going to try to take out Gronk's knees or hit Brady late, I'm proud that this defense played a clean game. Your comment is so true--it's so rare to see a game where both QB's are constantly under attack and taking huge hits but there really aren't any hits in the game that you can point to and say, "that was such a dirty hit." This game was played how football should be played. Both teams did right by their fan bases and the NFL and all its fans by playing a hard hitting, gritty, thrilling yet ultimately clean game. IMO a game for the ages especially given the extraordinarily high probability that it was the final Brady/Manning showdown. It absolutely lived up to and even surpassed the billing.

Agree with this. There was one play in particular where the Denver player could've gone after Gronk's knee near the sideline and went right at the thigh to knock him out of bounds.

 

[Shanahanigans]

I'll give Denver credit but I think the Pats o-line was absolutely atrocious. I think Carolina will keep them in check in two weeks. As bad as the Pats offense played they still had a chance to tie the game with a 2pt conversion with 12 seconds left. Denver won't be so fortunate vs Carolina and will have to play four solid quarters on offense to win, not two. I don't see it. When is the last time a team routed both of their opponents in the Divisional/Championship games? Panthers are on fire and will be hard for any team to beat.

I don't know if you can call the Seattle game a rout. Sure they had a commanding lead, but they only won by a touchdown, and it seemed like the Seahawks just ran out of time. I do know that the 1990 Bills beat the Raiders 51-3 in the AFC championship and went on to lose the super bowl. As a Broncos fan, that fact gives me some hope.

 

[ROCKET]

I'll give Denver credit but I think the Pats o-line was absolutely atrocious. I think Carolina will keep them in check in two weeks. As bad as the Pats offense played they still had a chance to tie the game with a 2pt conversion with 12 seconds left. Denver won't be so fortunate vs Carolina and will have to play four solid quarters on offense to win, not two. I don't see it. When is the last time a team routed both of their opponents in the Divisional/Championship games? Panthers are on fire and will be hard for any team to beat.

I don't know if you can call the Seattle game a rout. Sure they had a commanding lead, but they only won by a touchdown, and it seemed like the Seahawks just ran out of time. I do know that the 1990 Bills beat the Raiders 51-3 in the AFC championship and went on to lose the super bowl. As a Broncos fan, that fact gives me some hope.

Your'e right, anything can happen. It just seems that Carolina has a way of getting up in the first half and forcing you to catch them. I think that's the worst case scenario for Denver. I have been saying the Denver D is over rated all year and I stand by it even though they throttled the Pats turnstile line. It will be interesting.

 

[simey]

I'll give Denver credit but I think the Pats o-line was absolutely atrocious. I think Carolina will keep them in check in two weeks. As bad as the Pats offense played they still had a chance to tie the game with a 2pt conversion with 12 seconds left. Denver won't be so fortunate vs Carolina and will have to play four solid quarters on offense to win, not two. I don't see it. When is the last time a team routed both of their opponents in the Divisional/Championship games? Panthers are on fire and will be hard for any team to beat.

I completely agree with you on this point. It's been a problem all season and as a fan it's so frustrating to watch them either let teams back into games, or have to fight their asses off in the second half to get back into and win games. Denver is that rare team that seems to much prefer playing from behind than with the lead. At least if it's a close game, I can say Denver is about as battle tested as any team can be. So, I'm hoping for another thriller, because Denver is absolutely not running away with this game.

The Panthers have been guilty of letting teams back into games in the second half (the Giants, Seattle, Indy, and GB games all come to mind). They finally played a complete game yesterday. I'm hoping they will use that formula in the SB.

 

[ROCKET]

I'll give Denver credit but I think the Pats o-line was absolutely atrocious. I think Carolina will keep them in check in two weeks. As bad as the Pats offense played they still had a chance to tie the game with a 2pt conversion with 12 seconds left. Denver won't be so fortunate vs Carolina and will have to play four solid quarters on offense to win, not two. I don't see it. When is the last time a team routed both of their opponents in the Divisional/Championship games? Panthers are on fire and will be hard for any team to beat.

I completely agree with you on this point. It's been a problem all season and as a fan it's so frustrating to watch them either let teams back into games, or have to fight their asses off in the second half to get back into and win games. Denver is that rare team that seems to much prefer playing from behind than with the lead. At least if it's a close game, I can say Denver is about as battle tested as any team can be. So, I'm hoping for another thriller, because Denver is absolutely not running away with this game.

The Panthers have been guilty of letting teams back into games in the second half (the Giants, Seattle, Indy, and GB games all come to mind). They finally played a complete game yesterday. I'm hoping they will use that formula in the SB.

Only problem is Denver doesn't have the offense to make a game out of it if they go down early. If they don't stay close thruout it's over. That's been their mo all year, keep it close and win with defense and turnovers. They aren't coming back from a big deficit, especially vs that defense.

 

[NE_REVIVAL]

Ugh, Denver played a great game and no question the better team won.