New England Patriots vs Denver Broncos Preview: Watch NFL 2014 Playoffs Football - AFC Championship Game (CBS TV Details)
The New England Patriots will face off against the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday to decide who will make it through to Super Bowl 2014.
Today's massive game will feature a mouth-watering face off between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. The game will start at 3 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the CBS network.
Peyton Manning has posted an astonishing 55 touchdowns this season, going 450 of 659 for 5,477 yards. Brady in comparison has gone a much more modest 380 of 628 for 4,343 yards and 25 touchdowns.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
The Broncos have the edge in total yards per game, registering an average of 457.3 total yards per game compared to the Patriots 384.5 yards. The difference is clearly made in the air, with the Broncos posting 340.2 yards on pass per game, compared to the Patriots' 255.4 yards.
On rush the Patriots have the slight edge; managing 129.1 yards on the ground, compared to the Broncos' 117.1 yards.
For the Broncos Demaryius Thomas, Eric Decker, Julius Thomas and Wes Walker have 47 touchdowns between them, with each of them gaining 10 or more touchdowns this season.
For the Patriots, Julian Edelman is the top receiver, posting 6 touchdowns.
Manning and Brady have met against one another on the field 14 times since 2001, and even though many might predict Manning to come out on top today, Brady is the one well in front on history between the two. Of their 14 face-offs, Brady has won 10 of those matchups – both quarterbacks have gone on to win the Super Bowl when they defeated the other in the AFC Championship Game before.
Also the Patriots already managed to inflict a loss on the Broncos during the regular season, and they will be confident they have what it takes to take out Denver today.
In that game the Patriots won an extremely tight game 34-31 in overtime. Broncos fans will be pleased to highlight that this previous game took place in New England – this time things will be played at the Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver.
Denver of course are the number one seeds coming into this game, going 13-3 this season. Two of the Broncos three losses came on the road. The Patriots went 12-4, and suffered all four of their losses on the road – suggesting that Denver has the big advantage today.
The Broncos will try and get their pass game up and running quickly today to try and establish a good lead. Defensively they must stop the Patriots' run offense, and not allow them to find any kind of rhythm. Once the Patriots' running game gets going it is very hard to stop, and they take control of the pace of the game and grind down opposition teams.
Fans will remember when these teams faced off earlier this season, the Broncos leapt into a 24-0 lead. However, they allowed the Patriots running game to get going, and Brady led them to four consecutive touchdowns to get them right back into the game, allowing them to snatch the win in overtime.
The Patriots will rely on its strong defensive unit to get in Manning's face today, and hope to keep Denver's score to a modest total. If they can do that then it will give Brady a chance to utilize New England's rush attack and gain the victory.
This should be an exciting game, and one that no NFL fan will want to miss.
The Denver Broncos against the New England Patriots will start at 3 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the CBS network.
