The Last Rodeo

The+Last+Rodeo

On January 24 , 2016, Peyton Manning Vs Tom Brady a game for the AFC Championship and a trip to the Golden game Super Bowl 50. This would be a classic battle as all of their matchup have been and it was. Neither Brady or Manning will be getting any younger as Brady is 38 years old and Manning is 39. Manning hasn’t lose his past three AFC Championship Games.

Manning Strikes First to a wide open Tight End Owen Daniels in the middle of the end zone. The Patriots looked confused as the defense had a miscommunication in the Red Zone which ended up in a 7-0 deficit early in the first quarter. Later in the quarter Manning though a dump off pass to Running Back Ronnie Hillman which was ruled an incomplete on the field. New England Coach Bill Belichick Threw the red Challenge Flag as he saw a backwards pass that should be a fumble. The play was further under review and overturned. It was Tom Brady’s ball deep in Denver theory. Tom drove down the field and ended the drive with a one yard rush touchdown to New England Running Back Steven Jackson, but things got interesting as New England Kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed wide right on the extra points.

In the first half Brady found why the broncos defense was ranked number one in the NFL as he was physically abused on the field being hit countless times and going nine for twenty with only eighty-seven yards and two interceptions. In the Beginning on the second quarter Manning stroke early once again with a lob in the counter of the end zone to his big tight end once again Owen Daniels. Gostkowski tack on 3 more points to the patriots score and soon after his field goal was answered with one of Broncos own Kicked by Denver Broncos Kicker Brandon McManus. The score was 17-9 Denver going into halftime, but the tide would change in the second half as Manning and the Denver offense were held under 60 yards in the whole second half. With 10:02 in the game the score was 20-12 Denver, but not for long. This was a game that would show games are not won in the first quarter of the game. New England would ended up driving into the red zone within the next 10 minutes of this game , but came out with zero points due to multiple 4 down attempts and no conversions. End Zone attempt one was a swing pass to Receiver Julian Edelman that ended up in a great open field tackle by Defensive Back Chris Harris, Jr. Attempt 2 was a batted ball in the back of the end zone intended for Patriots Tight End Rob Gronkowski.

With the game on the line and Manning sitting on the sidelines watching the game knowing the game is now in the Denver defense hands. Brady was stopped to another 4th down and this time made up for it with a huge pass down the middle of the field into double coverage to Gronkowski.  Brady was then stopped to another 4th down but this time with the game on the line, score a touchdown or go home to clean the locker room. Brady lobs the ball to his huge Tight End who makes a beautiful catch tip toeing his way into the back of the end zone. 20-18 Denver the crowd screaming and the last chance for the game to be typed the two point conversion is in full effected as Brady is in the shotgun and the Denver pass rush is too much as Brady rolls out to the right he throw across his body and the ball is tipped.

The ball felt like it was in the air for days until. INTERCEPTED BY DEFENSIVE BACK BRADLEY ROBY. The game is over with a knee from Peyton Manning making the 17th meeting between these two absolutely amazing quarterbacks a win in manning columns making manning 6-11 against Brady all time. The Fans began to rare , blue and orange confetti falling into the stadium and the lights flashing from the frenzy of media storming in to talk and see the 39 year old Manning. Manning and Coach Belichick meet in the middle of the field as the words muddle from the 5 time MVP mouth. According to a post-game conversation featured on Inside the NFL, Manning said, “Hey this may be my last rodeo …. So it’s sure been a pleasure,” coach Belichick responds by saying“You’re a great competitor , you are a hell of a player.” The two part ways and maybe for the final time. This past year Manning has shown why he is a 5 time MVP and a super bowl champion, but better yet one of the greatest Quarterbacks this world has ever seen. This road to the Super Bowl has been more rocky than the mountains in Denver.

Manning had a rough outing on what we all see as his last year in the NFL as a quarterback. Many different teams have been interested in Manning if he were to retire to be a General Manager for their team such as the Cleveland Browns and the Tenses Titans right up the street where he played his college football. Manning’s last year wasn’t pretty but winning doesn’t always have to be pretty. Peyton was lucky enough to have the number one ranked defense throughout the season, but in the amazing career of manning’s we are so used to him having very below average defensive units but like Fox Sports TV and Radio personality Colin Cowherd said“ The Irony of all this is Peyton Manning finally has the best defense and now he can’t play.” With a nine touchdown and seventeen interception year it was without a doubt his worst year ever , and maybe the worst quarterback play anyone has ever seen.

Manning seemed like he couldn’t get into his groove in an under center bootleg offense like Denver Broncos head coaches Gary Kubiak’s. Week nine against the Kansas City chiefs is when things began to fall down hill for the legged. Manning threw five for twenty and four interceptions. He was then benched for the first time in his career to a strong arm and more mobile quarterback Brock Osweiler. After the game the news headlines came out and the criticism was higher than ever people seen this as the downfall of an eighteen year veteran a man many grew up watching and a very beloved player in the NFL, but soon after the news came out that manning has been fighting though a foot injury more known as plantar fascia. Manning was sidelined for seven weeks watching his Backup pulling through with victories to the Bears, Chargers, Bengals and even Manning’s rival Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Week seventeen came around and Osweiler was struggling to move the ball and turned the ball over three time until it happened. The sheriff was now back in town and like they say this town isn’t big enough for the two of us Osweiler was benched and Manning sparked the Denver Offense to comeback victory over division rival San Diego Chargers.

With this victory they clinched first seed in the AFC for the NFL playoffs. In the Divisional round of the playoffs Manning faced of against a beat up Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers and in a close battle which was designed by a forced fumble by Bradley Roby that Denver recovered and  a drive down the field for the game winning touchdown which was ran in by Broncos Running Back CJ Anderson. Manning than was scheduled to meet his rival Tom Brady which he beat with the score of 20-18. Now Manning is faced with more challenges. Manning will face the Carolina Panthers who has a very young and dominating quarterback who stands at 6’5 and 245 pounds Cam Newton , and have been distorting teams by outscoring them by 192 points. This is the biggest age gap between starting quarterbacks in NFL history. How approbated Manning and his Denver Broncos are going to have to prove people wrong again. Not many people think Manning can beat such a dominating team on the biggest stage of them all Super Bowl 50. We will see as the Super Bowl 50 will be broadcasted on the CBS network at 6:30.