Your inbox approves Men's coaches poll Women's coaches poll Play to win 25K!
NFL
NFL Super Bowl

Broncos outlast Chargers, set up Manning-Brady showdown

Lindsay H. Jones
USA TODAY Sports
Broncos QB Peyton Manning is one win from reaching his third Super Bowl.
  • Denver builds lead and holds off San Diego 24-17
  • Broncos look to beat Patriots after losing in New England during regular season

DENVER — Exactly a year after last season's stunning playoff loss, the Denver Broncos and quarterback Peyton Manning on Sunday made amends with a 24-17 AFC divisional round playoff victory against the San Diego Chargers.

It won't erase all of the sting of the double-overtime loss to Baltimore, but it will allow Manning to at least temporarily shake his reputation that he fails to play well in January. With the win, Manning improved his postseason record to 10-11.

To get to his third Super Bowl — and his first with the Broncos — he'll have to beat his rival, Tom Brady, and the New England Patriots Sunday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

"We're the two best teams in the AFC," Broncos defensive end Shaun Phillips said. "What more can you ask for? You want the two best teams going head to head."

The Broncos lost to the Patriots in overtime in November, but Denver now has some experience with revenge.

The Chargers came here a month ago and soundly beat the Broncos 27-20, a game in which quarterback Philip Rivers controlled the clock and frustrated the Broncos defense with a string of long drives as the Chargers rushed for 177 yards.

The Broncos won Sunday by stealing that script from the Chargers.

Denver rushed for 133 yards, including 77 yards in the first half. The Broncos had only 18 rushing yards in their last game against the Chargers. Running back Knowshon Moreno's two-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter gave the Broncos a 24-7 lead and ignited a wild celebration from a sold-out crowd that appeared to be growing antsy.

But Rivers, 6-2 in his previous eight starts in Denver, hit rookie receiver Keenan Allen for two big plays on the next drive — a deep completion on fourth-down and a 16-yard touchdown, both completions coming against Denver reserve cornerback Quentin Jammer, the longtime Charger who replaced injured starter Chris Harris. The Chargers added a field goal later in the fourth quarter after recovering an onside kick.

But Manning ended the Chargers' furious comeback attempt with a pair of third-down completions to tight end Julius Thomas to move past midfield with two minutes remaining — the first, on a third-and-17 was perhaps Manning's most important pass of the season.

"You know you're going to have to hold the ball just to give guys a chance to get down the field. It was the perfect call versus the perfect coverage," Manning said.

Moreno picked up another first down for the Broncos, and as the Chargers took a timeout to try to quell the drive, Manning stormed to the sideline and aggressively slapped hands with head coach John Fox.

It surely wasn't lost on Manning that the Broncos failed to sustain a drive late in the fourth quarter of their playoff loss to Baltimore last year, giving Joe Flacco enough time to launch a game-tying touchdown.

"I feel like that game last year forced us to address those types of situations all season long," Manning said.

Manning, who will likely win his fifth NFL MVP award for his record-setting regular season, was masterful through the first 29 minutes of the first half as he led the Broncos to a 14-0 lead thanks to a pair of touchdown passes to Demaryius Thomas and Wes Welker, who made his return after missing the final three regular season games with a concussion.

The Broncos blew a chance to add another score just before halftime when Manning was intercepted in the back of the end zone by Chargers linebacker Donald Butler.

Denver held Rivers to just 20 passing yards in the first half, and just a net total of 1 passing yards thanks to three sacks. The Broncos sacked Rivers again in the fourth quarter.

"We just wanted to prove we could play at an elite level," Broncos defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said, admitting that his group has grown tired of hearing all week about the Chargers offense.

For the Chargers, the loss ends a magical five-game winning streak that included a road win against No. 3 seed Cincinnati in a wild card playoff game last week.

"The character of our football team showed up as time went along," San Diego head coach Mike McCoy said. "It got very similar to the way the season went. The players kept on fighting until the bitter end. It wasn't good enough to win."

***

Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones

Featured Weekly Ad