Broncos, Peyton Manning come alive late, advance to AFC title game

DENVER — For one play, it looked like Peyton Manning from when he wore a horseshoe on his helmet.

We’ve heard a ton about Peyton Manning’s waning arm strength the past two years, and really ever since he missed the 2011 season due to neck issues. His physical skills are not the same as they were when he was with the Indianapolis Colts, but before this season he had overcome that to string together some great moments for the Denver Broncos. This season, those moments didn’t come as often. At 39 years old, it looked like Manning was at the end. 

But when Manning absolutely needed to make a big throw on Sunday, he made a beautiful one. On a third-and-12 with a little more than eight minutes left and the Broncos trailing by a point, Manning delivered a bullet to Bennie Fowler for a 31-yard gain. That got a drive going that ended with a go-ahead touchdown, and the Broncos went on to beat the banged-up Pittsburgh Steelers 23-16. It wasn’t always pretty but Denver will advance to host the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game next Sunday. It will be another Tom Brady-Manning showdown, this one with a Super Bowl trip on the line.

For a while, it looked like Manning’s career might end on Sunday (though, we don’t know his future plans), with another one-and-done playoff exit.

The Broncos were terrible on offense for most of Sunday’s game. Six drops in the first half were crushing. They bogged down every time they got into Steelers territory. In the first 57 minutes, the Broncos didn’t have a touchdown, relying only on Brandon McManus field goals to keep them in the game. 

The Steelers’ offense wasn’t much better. Ben Roethlisberger threw the ball pretty well for a guy with a shoulder injury, but not having receiver Antonio Brown and running back DeAngelo Williams was a problem. The Steelers weren’t their normal offensive selves. Still, they led most of the game.

A fourth-quarter fumble by Steelers running back Fitzgerald Toussaint in Broncos territory turned the momentum of the game. Broncos cornerback Bradley Roby, who had struggled to that point, did a great job to punch the ball out and DeMarcus Ware recovered for Denver. A few plays later, Manning hit Fowler on that great pass to get a long drive going.

Anderson finished that drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with three minutes left and Demaryius Thomas caught a two-point conversion to give Denver a 20-13 lead. The defense got a key stop after that. McManus’ 45-yard field goal with 53 seconds left sealed the win.

Manning hasn’t played well most of this season, and there was a time when it looked like Brock Osweiler had permanently replaced him as Denver’s starter. Broncos coach Gary Kubiak turned back to Manning for the playoffs, hoping that Manning could turn back the clock and lead one more playoff run.

And on one fantastic play on Sunday, Manning delivered when the Broncos needed it the most.

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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab