DENVER — Big brother’s coming to your house next week, Eli.
Peyton Manning is headed to MetLife Stadium after punching the Broncos’ ticket for Super Bowl XLVIII Sunday with a masterful, 26-16 dissection of the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game at a frenzied Sports Authority Field.
Adding to the lore of what is just 60 minutes from being the greatest individual season in NFL history, Manning methodically picked New England apart for 400 yards and two touchdowns to send Denver back to the big game for the first time since the 1998 season.
Manning can now match Eli’s two Super Bowl championship rings — in Eli’s building, no less — when the Broncos face the NFC champion Feb. 2.
“We still have one more to go, but you do take a moment to realize we have done something special here,” said Manning, who was joined by Eli, father Archie and brother Cooper in the postgame locker room. “I know I’m going to savor the moment, because I know how hard it is to get to the Super Bowl.”
Manning vanquished a couple of demons along the way on Sunday, too. Not only did he avoid what would have been a league-record sixth career home playoff loss, but No. 18 also got the rare upper hand in what might have been the final installment of his rivalry with Tom Brady.
Brady had won 10 of the first 14 meetings with Manning, including each of the past three, but the Patriots’ MVP and his teammates — running on fumes after so many crucial injuries this season — were overwhelmed in this one.
Brady, who missed practice Wednesday due to an undisclosed illness, looked out of sorts most of the day and misfired badly on two throws to wide-open receivers in the first half that might have gone for touchdowns.
Brady won’t want to remember anything about this one after completing 24 of his 38 passes for 277 yards, and his lone touchdown throw didn’t come until midway through the fourth quarter with the Patriots down 23-3.
With the Broncos’ own battered defense stepping up to stifle a New England running game averaging 214 yards the previous three weeks (the Patriots were held to just 64 yards on 16 rushes Sunday), Denver had nothing to worry about once it became obvious Brady was stuck in a fog.
Manning also got a crucial assist from former Patriots receiver Wes Welker, whose questionable low hit — which wasn’t penalized — on Pro Bowl cornerback Aqib Talib three plays into the second quarter changed the complexion of the game.
The hit knocked Talib out of the game for good with what was announced as rib and knee injuries, and Manning feasted on replacements Logan Ryan (a rookie from Rutgers) and Alfonzo Dennard.
The Broncos scored 23 of their 26 points and Manning compiled 299 of his 400 passing yards once Talib was sidelined. Even more telling: Demaryius Thomas, Talib’s primary assignment, caught six passes for 105 yards and a touchdown with Talib gone after managing just one catch for 29 yards against him.
Bill Belichick called Talib’s injury the key play in the game, but Manning downplayed it.
“Talib is an excellent player, but Demaryius was going to be a big part of our game plan no matter who was covering him,” Manning said. “And we do a good job of spreading the ball around.”
That was certainly true Sunday, as Manning completed passes to eight different receivers. Demaryius Thomas, Julius Thomas (eight) and Eric Decker (five) each had at least five receptions as the Broncos wore down the Patriots’ depleted secondary.
The dominance of Manning and the Broncos’ attack was never more obvious than the start of the third quarter, when Denver took the opening kickoff and devoured 7:08 off the clock on a 13-play, 80-yard drive that ended in a TD pass to Jacob Tamme.
Brady briefly rallied the Patriots in the fourth with a scoring pass to Julian Edelman and a 5-yard TD run of his own. But a failed fourth-down gamble in the period and a missed two-point conversion sealed New England’s second consecutive AFC title-game loss.
“It was two great organizations, the two top seeds in the conference, and you can’t ask for better than that,” Broncos coach John Fox said. “We just happened to come out on top.”
