By M. Anthony Dennis
January 22, 2016, Troy, NY The defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots travel to Denver to face the Broncos for the AFC Championship. The Patriots will be playing in their 5th consecutive AFC title game. They are 2-2 in their last 4 appearances. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are making their 10th appearance in the AFC title game, having gone 6-3 in their previous appearances. Brady leads all QBs in postseason appearances at 30, victories at 22 and Super Bowl appearances as a starter at 6. Brady and Belichick have combined to go 4-2 in Super Bowl appearances. The Patriots have overcome injuries to key personnel including RBs Dion Lewis and LeGarrette Blount. Their offensive line has been decimated , losing several starters to injury. LB Jerod Mayo has been ruled out for Sunday. Belichick adheres to a “do your job” ethos and the next man up will always be the rule for the NFL. Fortunately, Brady will have his main weapons in WR Julian Edelman and TE Rob Gronkowski healthy and available.
Gary Kubiak is making his first title game appearance as a head coach. Kubiak went 2-2 in 2 postseason appearances with the Houston Texans. Peyton Manning is making his fifth AFC title game appearance. He is 3-1, 2-1 with the Indianapolis Colts and 1-0 with the Broncos. Manning enters the contest as the NFL’s career leader in passing yards and TD passes in regular season games. His postseason record of 12-13 leaves a lot to be desired. Manning is 3-3 in postseason play with the Broncos. Manning missed six starts due to injuries and completed 9 TD passes with 17 INTs. Manning’s is unable to complete deep routes and has zero velocity on his intermediate passes. The Broncos will need to be effective running the ball on offense and applying pressure on Brady with their elite outside pass rushers in LB Von Miller and LB DeMarcus Ware.
The main storyline is the 17th meeting between Brady and Manning. Brady holds the lead with a record of 11-5. They are tied at 2-2 during the postseason. Manning leads at 2-1 in their AFC title game matchups, with the Broncos winning 26-16 in 2013 to give Manning the edge. The home team has won each previous postseason matchup. Manning states that the Patriots are the most difficult opponent to prepare for because they do not have tendencies based on down or distance.
Per scoresandodds.com, the Patriots are the favorites at -3.
The game will be played at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, CO. Kickoff is scheduled for 3:05pm EST and will be broadcast by CBS.