AFC Championship, 2013: Denver 26 New England 16

Game information
For the first time since 2006, the Patriots played on the road in the playoffs, which was also the last time they faced Peyton Manning when he was with the Colts. But the story was all about Denver as their offense racked up 507 yards without turning the ball over or giving up any sacks as they advanced to their seventh Super Bowl in franchise history, avenging a Week 12 defeat in which the Patriots rallied from a 24–0 halftime deficit. Manning set a conference championship record with 32 completions for 400 yards and two touchdowns. The team also got a big performance from receiver Demaryius Thomas, who caught seven passes for 134 yards and a touchdown, and kicker Matt Prater, who made four field goals. The win was especially satisfying for head coach John Fox, who lost to Tom Brady and Bill Belichick in Super Bowl XXXVIII 10 years earlier when he was with the Carolina Panthers.

Midway through the first quarter, Manning got the Broncos into scoring range with an 18-yard completion to Knowshon Moreno, a 29-yard pass to Thomas, and a 19-yarder to Eric Decker. Prater finished the drive with a 27-yard field goal to put the team up 3–0. The next time Denver had the ball, they advanced 93 yards in 15 plays on a drive that took up nearly half the second quarter. At one point they faced third and 10 from the Patriots' 39-yard line, and made the conversion with a 28-yard draw play by Moreno. Manning eventually got the team into the end zone with a 1-yard pass to tight end Jacob Tamme, making the score 10–0.

This time New England managed to respond, with Brady completing a 27-yard pass to receiver Aaron Dobson on the first play of their next drive; this ended up as Brady's longest completion of the game. The Patriots eventually reached the Broncos' 18-yard line, but Robert Ayers sacked Brady for an 11-yard loss on third down, forcing them to settle for Stephen Gostkowski's 47-yard field goal. Denver then took the ball back and drove for more points, as Manning hooked up with Thomas for a pair of completions that netted 53 yards. Prater finished things off with a 35-yard field goal, giving the team a 13–3 lead with 25 seconds left in the half.

Denver started out the second half with a long touchdown drive that took up almost the same amount of time (7:08) as their last one (7:01), moving the ball 80 yards in 13 plays. Manning completed seven of eight passes for 59 yards on the drive, the last a 3-yard touchdown toss to Thomas that increased Denver's lead to 20–3. New England responded with a drive to the Broncos' 29-yard line, but on a fourth and 2 conversion attempt, Brady was sacked for a 10-yard loss by nose tackle Terrance Knighton. Denver then took over and set up a drive for more points, with Manning completing two passes to tight end Julius Thomas for 28 yards and a completion to Demaryius Thomas for 30. New England managed to halt the drive at their own 1, but Prater kicked his third field goal to put Denver up 23–3.

New England finally scored a touchdown with just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter. Starting the drive with an 18-yard pass to tight end Michael Hoomanawanui, Brady followed it up with completions to Austin Collie and Julian Edelman for gains of 20 and 16 yards. He eventually completed the drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Edelman, cutting the score to 23–10. However, Denver scored again with their next possession, with Manning's 37-yard completion to Julius Thomas setting up Prater's fourth field goal, this one from 54 yards.

New England now faced a 26–10 deficit with seven minutes left in regulation; Brady completed five of seven passes for 54 yards on their next drive, and took the ball into the end zone himself on a 5-yard run. However, their two-point conversion attempt failed, keeping the score 26–16. Then after Decker recovered New England's onside kick, Denver managed to run the final 3:07 off the clock with their last drive. Brady finished the day 24-for-38 for 277 yards and touchdown, along with two carries for seven yards and a score on the ground. Edelman caught 10 passes for 89 yards and a touchdown. Thomas had eight receptions for 85 yards for Denver, while Decker had five catches for 73.

This was the fourth postseason meeting between the Patriots and Broncos. Denver won two of the prior three meetings. New England won the last meeting 45–10 in the 2011 AFC Divisional playoffs.

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