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http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nfl/article/0,2777,DRMN_23918_4367965,00.html
Call it the Denver Broncos postseason riddle.
What has two Most Valuable Player awards, three Super Bowl trophies, two Super Bowl MVP awards, a Rookie of the Year award and been picked in the first round of the NFL draft four times?
"The answer makes me sick," Broncos defensive coordinator Larry Coyer said. "But here it is, and it's just like it's supposed to be: You've got the best football teams (in the playoffs), and if you want to make it through, you've got to be the best one."
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The Broncos, who enter the postseason having finished 29th in the league in defensing the pass, awaits an opponent in an AFC field loaded with high-powered throwers. Four of the top six rated passers in the league at the end of the regular season are in the AFC bracket.
And the No. 7-rated passer is the Broncos' Jake Plummer. By contrast, only one of the NFL's top seven quarterbacks in passer rating, Matt Hasselbeck of the Seattle Seahawks, is in the NFC's playoff field.
"You've got to step it up," Coyer said. "It's not the same. What you did during the regular season, it's not good enough. You've got to be better. Those guys will be better. They've studied you, they've looked at what you do. There are very few secrets when you get to this point. You have to be good enough to handle these guys."
Tom Brady of the New England Patriots has won three Super Bowls and has been chosen the MVP in two of those. Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts has won the league's MVP award two times and finished second in the voting this season.
Carson Palmer of the Cincinnati Bengals led the NFL in touchdown passes with 32. And Byron Leftwich of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers, like Manning and Palmer, are first-round picks who have been starters since their rookie seasons.
And, yes, every team in the AFC field except the Patriots won at least 11 games in the regular season.
"It's a sharp bunch," Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey said. "Start from the top. You've got Tom Brady, he's won three (Super Bowls). You've got Peyton Manning, he's broken every record.
You've got Carson Palmer, definitely emerging as one of the best. Leftwich, Roethlisberger, it doesn't matter who you face all the way down in this group.
"Clutch guys. That's why I look forward to it."
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Brady threw for 299 yards against the Broncos on Oct. 16, almost rallying the Patriots from a 28-0 deficit in what was a 28-20 Broncos win.
"We need to play our best ball, we know that, without mistakes," Broncos safety John Lynch said. "That is one thing I remember about our Super Bowl year in Tampa. We were playing our best football this time of year. I think we are here, too. And we'll need to be."
