The AFC Championship game starts up on the Sunday schedule at 3:00 pm as the early game on the day with the Denver Broncos hosting the New England Patriots at Sports Authority Field at Mile High and that game will be on TV on CBS before the Seahawks play against the San Francisco 49ers in Seattle and the game features the fourth matchup between Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in the playoffs.
Manning comes into the game looking to cement his legacy as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all-time with his second Super Bowl, while Tom Brady is looking to get back to the big game after losing to the Giants a couple years ago. The two teams played already earlier this season in New England and that matchup saw the Broncos pull off to a big lead before Brady led his team to a second half come back and then the Patriots won the matchup in overtime.
Manning passed for 230 yards last weekend against the San Diego Chargers and the matchup on Sunday will be the second home game in a row, as the Broncos have home field advantage as the number one seed in the AFC. The top two seed are in the championship game in the conference, while on the NFC side, the Seahawks are hosting the 49ers as the number one seed and San Fran is the five seed on the bracket. The Broncos finished the season winning four of their final five games and now Manning has the chance to get some revenge on Brady after the game earlier this season and they come into the matchup having ranked first in the league in passing yards per game.
Manning passed for 55 touchdowns last season to break Brady's record and he also set the NFL mark for single season passing yards with over 5,400 yards this year. The Broncos defense ranked 27th in passing yards allowed per game and that will be a matchup to watch, while the Patriots showed last week they have a strength in the running game. Brady didn't need to throw a touchdown in the blowout against the Colts, as LeGarrette Blount rushed for four touchdowns and 166 yards to lead the way and now he will be an x factor on Sunday.