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Broncos Dethrone Patriots, Reach AFC Title Game
Denver's defense put the heat on Tom Brady all night and helped send him to his first playoff loss.
It took a Champ to knock off the champs, a crazy 100-yard sprint by Denver's star cornerback that helped the Broncos stop their long streak of playoff futility and bring the New England dynasty to an end.
Huffing, puffing, dashing down the sideline, Champ Bailey got caught and knocked down at the 1-yard line Saturday night. But his interception of Tom Brady did the damage, setting up the game-changing touchdown in Denver's 27-13 victory over the defending Super Bowl champions.
The first playoff game in the history of Invesco Field resulted in Denver's first postseason win since the 1998 Super Bowl, John Elway's last game.
Next week in the AFC championship game, the Broncos will play the winner of Sunday's meeting between Indianapolis and Pittsburgh.
This game also marked the end of the Patriots' shot at history.
Trying to become the first team to win three straight Super Bowls, the Patriots (11-7) simply didn't have enough to overcome Denver's steady play, a few bad breaks or their five turnovers. That was one fewer than they had during their entire, record-setting 10-game playoff winning streak that ended at the hands of the Broncos (14-3).
And when it counted the most, they also couldn't match Bailey.
The Patriots were moving the ball well in the third quarter. They cut a 10-3 deficit to four points on a field goal and had moved easily to the Denver 5 for what could have been the go-ahead score.
But on third down from the 5, Bailey stepped in front of Brady's pass in the end zone for the pick. He sprinted down the sideline and when he felt Kevin Faulk swipe at him helplessly about 70 yards into the trek, he thought he had it cinched.
Champions don't go down easily, though, and tight end Ben Watson wasn't quitting. Watson took an angle, and with Bailey slowing and bringing the ball down to his hip, Watson got there, knocked Bailey down and sent the ball flying out of bounds at the 1.
Or maybe through the end zone.
With Bailey lying on his back, grimacing and gasping for air, Pats coach Bill Belichick challenged the call, saying the ball flew out of the end zone, which would have given them the ball back on a touchback.
It was the kind of call a championship team might have gotten. The Pats didn't, though, and on the next play, Mike Anderson scored his second 1-yard touchdown of the night and gave Denver a 17-6 lead.
Always reliable Adam Vinatieri, the difference in all three of New England's three-point Super Bowl victories, missed a 42-yard field goal wide right on the next possession. Shortly after, dependable Troy Brown fumbled a punt return to set up Jake Plummer's lone touchdown pass of the night, a 4-yarder to Rod Smith for a 24-6 lead.
Plummer finished 15-for-26 for 197 yards with the touchdown and one interception, a nice play by Asante Samuel that led to New England's first field goal.
And while the Denver quarterback won't be mistaken for Elway, or even Brady - who threw for 341 yards in defeat - that was kind of the point: As has been proven all year, Plummer doesn't have to do it all for the Broncos to win.
There's the running game, held in check for most of this night, but good enough to punch the ball in under duress at the goal line. There's the defense; Al Wilson made no fewer than four big plays in the first half to keep the game scoreless for the first 26 minutes.
Special teams were good, too.
Punter and kickoff specialist Todd Sauerbrun, of all people, got his helmet on the ball on a kickoff return late in the first half to force a turnover and a Denver field goal for a 10-3 lead.
Source: AP
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