Peyton Manning passes Broncos past Patriots, Brady into Super Bowl

DENVER – Just two years ago, the NFL world was wondering if Peyton Manning might ever throw another pass. He wasn't sure, and neither was his family.

Yet here were a gaggle of Mannings on Sunday evening, in a jubilant Denver Broncos' locker room, celebrating the 26-16 win in the AFC Championship game and Manning's third trip to the Super Bowl. Manning now has a chance to win a second Super Bowl ring -- his first with the Broncos and his first since undergoing four surgeries on his neck.

"One of my favorite things to tell him is, enjoy the journey. I tell him that all the time. And it's been a good journey," Archie Manning said.

Archie was joined by his other two sons, New York Giants quarterback Eli, who made trip to Denver to surprise his brother, and Cooper, whose own two sons scampered around the locker room in their orange No. 18 jerseys, taking pictures of the AFC Championship memorabilia and posing in their uncle's locker.

"Oh we're proud. Obviously we're proud of Peyton, but we're just like all the other parents of Broncos that are going to the Super Bowl," Archie Manning said.

Manning was brilliant Sunday to lead the Broncos to the AFC Championship and their first trip to the Super Bowl since his boss John Elway retired after the 1998 season.

Manning threw for 400 yards and a pair of touchdowns, both of which came at the end of drives that lasted more than seven minutes, and was clearly the better quarterback on the field in the 15th meeting between Manning and his longtime rival Tom Brady.

Manning completed passes to eight different teammates, including eight to tight end Julius Thomas, who didn't play in Denver's overtime loss to New England in November, and seven to receiver Demaryius Thomas, who caught Manning's second touchdown pass.

"We will enjoy this, and you definitely have to take time to savor the moment," Manning said. "I know how hard it is to get there – it's extremely difficult. You do have to take a moment and enjoy the locker room with your teammates and enjoy dinner with your family and friends. I will do that. Then starting tomorrow, we'll start preparing for whoever it is we're playing."

Manning will bring with him to New York a suddenly-stout defense that held New England to 320 total yards after shutting down the Patriots' running game (64 yards) and holding Brady to 277 passing yards. Brady was sacked twice, including a 10-yard loss on a fourth-and-1 from the Broncos' 28-yard line in the third quarter.

That sack killed the Patriots' best drive of the half and drew some of the loudest cheers of the day from at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, where there were only 44 no-shows in the sold-out stadium.

"We knew it would take a dominant performance on defense. We knew our offense was going to go out there with a rhythm, I knew Peyton would throw for all that, and we just wanted to do our part," Knighton said. "We didn't want to be the missing link."

Fans here relished the Broncos' first AFC Championship game appearance since 2005 (when they lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers), and the resurgence of a team that was 4-12 just three years ago. But the brief and disastrous tenure of head coach Josh McDaniels, now New England's offensive coordinator, led to the Broncos' hiring of Elway to rebuild the team and the eventual arrival of Manning in March 2012.

Denver went 13-3 in the two regular seasons since, while Manning and the Broncos' offense shattered offensive records this season with 55 passing touchdowns and 606 points scored.

But none of that would have really mattered without this trip to the Super Bowl, especially after the Broncos were upset by the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round of the playoffs last season. The Broncos got their redemption against the Ravens in the season opener, an overwhelming win in which Manning threw his first seven touchdown passes, and now in the postseason have defeated two of the three teams that beat them in the regular season, first the San Diego Chargers last week, and now the Patriots.

Yet despite being the preseason favorites to win the AFC, the Broncos did not get here easily.

They played the first six games of the season without their star pass rusher while Von Miller served a suspension, lost All Pro left tackle Ryan Clady in Week 2, lost defensive starters Miller, defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson, defensive end Derek Wolfe, safety Rahim Moore and cornerback Chris Harris to season-ending injuries and played for four weeks without head coach John Fox, who underwent heart surgery in early November.

"Every Super Bowl team that has held up that trophy has been through some type of adversity," Knighton said. "We just wanted to respond."

After rookie running back Montee Ball picked up a first down on fourth-and-1 after the two-minute warning, Manning was able to run the final seconds off the clock. After his final kneel down, Manning ran to shake hands with Brady, his long-time friend and rival.

Manning improved to 5-10 in games against Brady.

"I've never really bought into the Tom vs. Peyton thing. I'm an old quarterback. Its teams," Archie Manning said.

Now his son and his new team will continue their journey to the Super Bowl.

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Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones