The road to New Orleans for the Super Bowl goes through the city of Denver, Broncos fans. The Broncos put a beat down on the Kansas City Chiefs to win 38-3 and obtain home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. That wouldn’t have been possible had it not been for Peyton’s former team, the Indianapolis Colts, who beat the Houston Texans 28-16 earlier in the day.
Everything seemed to play out perfectly for the Broncos. They were guaranteed at least the No. 2 seed with a win against the Chiefs, but they had the chance to get the top seed if the Texans lost to the Colts, and that’s exactly what happened. But none of that would’ve mattered if the Broncos were to lose the Chiefs today, but who are we kidding, we all knew that wasn’t going to happen.
Not only did the Broncos beat the Chiefs, but they absolutely destroyed them. Peyton Manning went 23-29 for 304 yards and 3 touchdowns. 122 of those yards were to Demaryius Thomas, and two of Peyton’s TD’s were to Decker. If there’s a better 1-2 wide receiver punch in the NFL heading into the playoffs, I’d really like to meet them. Both Decker and Thomas had spectacular touchdown catches in this game. Decker was level with the ground and caught a bobbling ball over his head for a touchdown similar to the touchdown that Rob Gronkowski caught while falling to the ground in the Patriots/ Broncos divisional match-up last year. As amazing as that Decker TD was, DT just about topped it with a unbelievable one-handed snag in the back of the end zone in the third quarter.
As both Eric Decker and Demaryius Thomas led the receiving corps, Lance Ball, Jacob Hester, Knowshon Moreno, and Ronnie Hillman did a heck of a job on the ground as well, combining to run for 172 yards as a team.
As Peyton and his offense throttled the Chiefs early and often, the defense did the very same, allowing only 3 points on a field goal in the second quarter. The Broncos put up 38 points on the Chiefs, and all of those points came from the offense. Heck, and only through 3 quarters. Brock Osweiler got all of the snaps in the 4th quarter and even lead a pretty good drive that ended in a field goal. He gave a pretty good look into what the future holds for Denver with him under center, but as for the present, the Broncos and their fans are in pretty good hands with number 18 under center.
Let me take this time to remind all of you reading this, that Peyton Manning had four neck surgeries. Many doubted his ability to quarterback a team in the National Football League. Not only has done a pretty good job, but he’s done an unbelievably phenomenal job. 4,659 passing yards and 37 touchdowns in his first year with these Denver Broncos. His individual success and his team’s success has been rewarded with the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC which guarantees home advantage throughout the playoffs. MVP? I think so. But that’s not the only trophy that should be handed out in the Broncos clubhouse. Von Miller has lead this Denver defense all year long and is a strong candidate for Defensive Player of the Year. And let’s not forget John Elway, who seems like a shoe-in for Executive of the Year for bringing in such a legend to lead the Orange and Blue to such an amazing season. The fairy tale isn’t over yet, though.
It’s playoff time now, baby. Here we go.
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Anthony Rodriguez
Anthony is the Founder, Administrator, Editor and Publisher of Lightning Rod Sports. Originally from California, Anthony has been raised in the Rocky Mountains and Denver area for most of his life. Anthony works with the Emmy-winning student-run T.V. newscast at MSU Denver, The Met Report, as the Assistant General Manager, formerly the Sports Producer, as well as Lead Anchor and Production Assistant. He is currently the Play-by-Play Announcer, Color Commentator, and Production Assistant for the Metro State Broadcast Network, and calls games for Metro State soccer, basketball, volleyball, baseball, and softball as a “Voice of the Roadrunners.” In addition to that work with the Metro State Broadcast Network, Anthony also hosts the monthly 30-minute magazine show called "The Roadrunner Review" which airs on Altitude Sports and Entertainment. He hosts the bi-weekly "KMet Sports Show" on KMET Radio at MyMetMedia.com/KMETSportsShow. He is also the Founder, Administrator, Editor, and Columnist for his own Denver Sports website, LightningRodSports.com. Anthony is also part of the Social Media team at Examiner.com, and has worked with the Altitude Radio Network for the Avalanche and Nuggets. Anthony is a former Producer for Mile High Sports Radio, as well as a former Sports-Talk show host on the LightningRod Radio Network.
