Monday 25 January 2016 17:46, UK
Peyton Manning won the 17th round of his epic rivalry with Tom Brady as the Denver Broncos defeated the New England Patriots 20-18 to advance to their second Super Bowl in three years.
Brady almost led the Patriots to a miraculous comeback as he converted two fourth downs to Rob Gronkowski - the second for a touchdown - on the game's final drive before failing to convert a game-tying two point conversion with seconds remaining.
Manning threw two first-half touchdowns to tight end Owen Daniels with Brandon McManus adding two field goals and Denver's defence did the rest as they harassed Brady from start to finish.
Brady and Manning were sacked for a combined seven times - the highest number of sacks in any meeting between the two legends - with the outstanding Von Miller getting 2.5 for Denver.
The Patriots quarterback was intercepted twice - by Miller and Darian Stewart - and sacked four times overall as Denver showed just why they finished the regular season as the NFL's No 1 defence.
The Broncos made two crucial fourth-down stops late in the fourth quarter to snuff out potentially game tying scoring drives, including one with just 2:18 on the clock.
New England, however, refused to quit and with 12 seconds left to play Brady hit Gronkowski with a four-yard touchdown pass to put just two points between the teams.
But they were unable to convert the ensuing two-point conversion as Denver hurried Brady into throwing to Julian Edelman, who was double covered, and Aqib Talib broke up the pass.
Denver's defence took a vice-like grip almost from the outset, forcing the Patriots to punt on each of their first three possessions as Brady struggled to gain any sort of foothold in the game.
The Broncos, by contrast, scored off their first possession, as Manning marched his team up the field on an 83-yard drive that culminated with the Denver quarterback connecting with Daniels for a 21-yard touchdown.
The Patriots managed to stay in touch and scored when running back Steven Jackson barrelled over for a one-yard touchdown.
Crucially however, Stephen Gostkowski shanked his extra point attempt - only the second fluffed shot at goal of his career and his first since 2006 - and that miss ended up costing New England later.
Denver's iron defence then forced another error, as a flustered Brady saw his attempted pass to Gronkowski picked off by Miller to give Manning another prime scoring position.
Manning didn't disappoint, finding Daniels for his second touchdown of the game with a perfectly flighted 12-yard pass to the back of the end zone to make it 14-6.
Another Brady sack forced the Patriots to settle for a 46-yard field goal from Gostkowski, who atoned for his earlier miss by ramming it straight down the middle for 14-9.
McManus restored Denver's eight-point lead with a 52-yard effort late in the second quarter to make it 17-9 at the half.
A further Gostkowski field goal early in the third quarter put New England back to within five points at 17-12 but with Denver's defence dominant, the Patriots still struggled to generate much on offence.
Another McManus field goal put Denver 20-12 ahead and left the Patriots needing to overturn an eight-point deficit.
Twice in the fourth quarter, the Patriots attempted and failed to make fourth down conversions as they chased a second touchdown before Brady's late drive resulted in a Gronkowski touchdown which set up the thrilling finale.
The victory for Denver ended Brady and the Patriots' hopes of winning back-to-back Super Bowls while Manning, 39, will now become the oldest starting quarterback in Super Bowl history on February 7 when he aims to win the second championship of his career.
