AFC Championship, 2015: Denver 20 New England 18

Game information
Denver's defense sacked Patriots quarterback Tom Brady four times, knocked him down 20 times, intercepted two of his passes, forced a turnover on downs twice in the fourth quarter, and broke up a 2-point conversion attempt with 12 seconds left that enabled them to escape with a narrow 20–18 win, while the Patriots' defense sacked and knocked down Peyton Manning three times. With the win, the Broncos advanced to their second Super Bowl in three years and tied the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dallas Cowboys, and the Patriots for the most Super Bowl appearances with eight.

On Denver's first drive, quarterback Peyton Manning completed 4 of 6 passes for 60 yards on an 83-yard drive and then ended with his 21-yard touchdown pass to tight end Owen Daniels. Later in the quarter, Manning threw the ball on a screen pass to Ronnie Hillman that was broken up and then picked up by linebacker Jonathan Freeny. The play was initially ruled an incompletion, but a replay challenge from Bill Belichick changed the play to a New England fumble recovery on the Broncos 22-yard line, as officials ruled Manning's throw was a backwards pass instead of a forward pass. Brady completed a 20-yard pass to running back Brandon Bolden on the next play, with a penalty on Denver moving the ball up to the 1-yard line, and then Steven Jackson ran the ball into the end zone on the next play. However, Stephen Gostkowski, one of only five kickers to go through the regular season without missing an extra point, missed the extra point wide right, keeping the team behind with a score of 7–6.

Denver had to punt on their next drive, but a few plays into the second quarter, Brady threw a pass that was intercepted by linebacker Von Miller and returned four yards to the Patriots 16-yard line. Manning then scored on another touchdown pass to Daniels, this one from 12 yards, to give the Broncos a 14–6 lead. New England responded with a 48-yard drive, with Brady completing a 19-yard pass to tight end Rob Gronkowski and later scrambling for an 11-yard gain on 3rd-and-10. But on 3rd-and-3 from the Broncos 22-yard line, Miller sacked Brady for a 6-yard loss, forcing the team to settle for 14–9 score on Gostkowski's 46-yard field goal. The next time New England got the ball, Brady was intercepted by safety Darian Stewart, who returned the ball eight yards to the Broncos 44-yard line. But a false start penalty and a sack by Alan Branch shut the drive down and Denver ended up punting. Britton Colquitt's 48-yard kick pinned the Pats back at their own 12-yard line, and following another punt, the Broncos got the ball back again on their 44-yard line. This time they managed to move the ball 23 yards and score on Brandon McManus' 52-yard field goal with 33 seconds left in the half, making the score 17–9 going into halftime.

On New England's first drive of the third quarter, Brady completed a 31-yard pass to Gronkowski that set up Gostkowski's 38-yard field goal, cutting their deficit to 17–12. This would be the only score of the quarter as both teams punted on each of their next two drives. On the last play of the quarter, Denver receiver Jordan Norwood returned Ryan Allen's 43-yard punt six yards to the Broncos 39-yard line. Denver then drove 48 yards in 10 plays, including a 31-yard burst by running back C. J. Anderson, to score on McManus' 31-yard field goal, making the score 20–12 with 10:02 left on the clock. New England took the ball back and drove to the Broncos 16-yard line. But on 4th-and-1, Chris Harris tackled Julian Edelman for a 1-yard loss. Following a punt, New England got into the Broncos red zone again, this time driving all the way to the 14-yard line. This drive also ended with a turnover on downs, this time an incomplete pass on 4th-and-6.

Following a three-and-out, Edelman returned Colquitt's 52-yard punt 16 yards to midfield with 1:52 left in the game. Brady threw three consecutive incompletions, but on 4th-and-10, he launched a 40-yard bomb to Gronkowski on the Broncos 10-yard line. A few plays later, the Patriots faced 4th-and-goal from the 4-yard line, but Brady proved up to the task again, throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Gronkowski that made the score 20–18 with 12 seconds left on the clock. On the subsequent 2-point conversion attempt, Brady took a snap out of shotgun formation and threw a pass to Edelman, but the ball was deflected by Aqib Talib into the arms of defensive back Bradley Roby for an interception. Had New England converted the 2-point conversion, the game would have been sent to overtime for the first time in an AFC Championship in 29 years. New England then lost their last chance of the game when Gostkowski's onside kick attempt was recovered by Shiloh Keo.

Manning, who threw only one touchdown pass at home during the season, finished the game 17 of 32 for 176 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 11 yards. Anderson was the top rusher of the game with 72 yards on 16 carries, and also caught three passes for 18 yards. Miller had five tackles, 2½ sacks, and an interception. Brady finished his NFL record 31st postseason game 27 of 56 for 310 yards and a touchdown, with two interceptions, while also leading the team in rushing with 13 yards. Gronkowski caught eight passes for 144 yards and a score. Linebacker Jamie Collins had eight tackles and two sacks.

With this win, Manning became the first quarterback to lead two different teams to the Super Bowl multiple times. Denver won despite being outgained in total yards 336 to 244. With the loss, the Patriots become the 11th consecutive team to surrender the Vince Lombardi Trophy to a new champion (the 2004 Patriots remain the last repeat World Champion).

This was the fifth postseason meeting between the Patriots and Broncos. The home team had won all four prior meetings, in which Denver had won three of the prior four, including 26–16 in the 2013 AFC Championship Game. This was also the fifth and final postseason meeting between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning; all four were won by the home team, one of which was the 2007 AFC Championship Game in Indianapolis which Manning's Colts won en route to winning Super Bowl XLI.

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