Obviously, a Manning interception or pick-six would be ideal... Here's how I think the game will be played out.
Manning and the Broncos race out to a 7-0 lead on an 80-yard drive capped off by a Julius Thomas 3-yard TD pass. Jamie Collins is in on coverage on the play, and the bellyachers and the haters will fill the gameday thread with gloom and despair. Say that we're done and that there was never really a chance anyways.
Next drive. Everyone anticipates Brady's comeback, but when 3 straight runs off the left guard and tackle go for a total of 5 yards, the Patriots are forced to punt.
Fivehead gets the ball back. Bomb to Demaryius Thomas who out-jumps Talib and Gregory for the admittedly high, slightly off target ball that Peyton placed in very nearly the wrong spot. 14-0 Broncos and Mile High goes wild.
Patriots get the ball back. Play action Power-O off right tackle fake to Ridley (Like we saw in Week 2 against the Jets with Dobson's first ever career catch, and TD) and Brady throws deep to Amendola. Catch and downed at the twelve yard line. A stuffed run up the middle by Ridley, then a twelve yard burst for the first TD of the game for the Patriots.
End First Quarter, 14-7 Broncos.
Ensuing Kickoff, Holliday zooms past Matthew Slater who overpursued and missed a tackle at the ten yard line... Only to be tackled by Nate Ebner at the fourteen. Broncos drive stalls when Peyton's passes are batted down by Alfonzo Dennard looking for Eric Decker. Broncs punt.
Brady starts off hot, with short completions to Edelman, Vereen and (Surprise, surprise) Collie. Patriots in the Red Zone, Brady's pass to the end zone to Minitron is caught! Unfortunately, caught by Champ Bailey lurking in zone and returned to the 1, where Michael Hoomanawanui, in his best Benjamin Watson impression, tackles Bailey and the ball rolls out of bounds in the end zone. This time, the refs get it right. (As unlikely as that may seem, this is a fantasy situation, so my rules.) Patriots ball on the 20. 7 minutes left in the half, and a 13 play, 80-yard drive filled with doses of Blount and Ridley is topped off with the exact same play it should have ended with. Jules for the score and it's all tied up 14-14.
Now there's a minute thirty left in the half, and the Broncos have all their timeouts. Gameday thread is going nuts when Peyton completes five consecutive passes to WWW. Kyle Arrington is nowhere to be seen and we all call for his head again. Then, on 1st and 10 from the Patriots 28, well within Prater's range and 30 seconds left in the half, we see Fivehead go deep to Demaryius Thomas yet again. We all flinch and cross our fingers until we see Devin McCourty pulling down the, again, errant pass. Mile High falls silent and Brady comes in to kneel the half away. Next time anyone calls for aggressive ends to the half, just remember they know what they're doing.
Just in case you missed it, 14-14 at the end of two.
Halftime, Manning ballwashing, blah blah blah, his interception was Tony Romo's fault, blah blah blah aaaaand Third Quarter.
Brady comes out with fire in his eyes. Everyone can see it and he goes 7-for-7 on the opening drive of the third quarter with a 13-yard wheel route TD to none other than our resident third down back: Kevin Faul-- I mean, Danny Woodhea-- or rather, Ben Vareen (I'm just kidding. it's Shane Vereen. I know this. Maybe I'm just highlighting it for all you Vareen[[/I][/U] lovers out there.) Anyways, 21-14 Pats.
Trindon Holliday gets the better of our coverage team, and this time, no one's stopping him. 21-21.
A Stevan (why yes, that is the correct spelling) Ridley FUMBLE puts the Broncos in plus territory and Moreno takes advantage on a 19-yard TD run. 28-21.
Next possession, Brady puts the ball right in Amendola's hands, where it is promptly ripped out by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie for Brady's second INT of the day, matching the two he's had in each of the last two AFC Conference Championship games.
A few short strikes to Thomas, Thomas, Welker and Decker have the Broncos knocking on our door again. End of third quarter.
SACKED! at the 13-yard line by Rob Ninkovich. 2nd-and-Goal.
SACKED! at the 21-yard line by Chandler Jones. 3rd-and-Goal.
And just when you thought things were looking up, Peyton finds Julius Thomas for the 21-yard TD. 35-21 Broncos, and Peyton's particular shade of scarlet fivehead over on the sideline is exactly the colour of Brady's seething vision. He's sick of this guy constantly getting all the respect from the media when he knows a) he's the better quarterback and b) he WANTS IT MORE.
10 minutes left. Brady to Vereen over and over again, much like J.R. Redmond in the final drive of Super Bowl XXXVI. He's not settling for a Stephen Gostkowski field goal though, and he connects with Amendola on a 32-yarder that flies over the head of DR-C and straight into Danny's hands. Picture Perfect. 35-28 Broncos.
A drive stalled by two stuffed runs and a third down sack by Jamie Collins gives the Patriots the ball on the 49-yard-line (Courtesy of a trademark Julian Edelman Punt Return) and there's still time left. 4 minutes and counting. The Patriots grind and force the ball down the Donkeys' throats and come up with a LeGarrette Blount 2-yard TD run. 35 all, and you can hear a pin drop in the stadium. 1:53 to play.
Ensuing Kickoff goes through the endzone and the Broncos will start their drive on the 20, with a chance to win it all. Quick, successive passes get the Broncos down to the 46-yard line, where a quick slant patter to Welker is bobbled, sent up in the air and picked off by Aqib Talib. 54 yards later, the Patriots celebrate as Brady sets down a perfect snap and Gostkowski drives the PAT to make the score 42-35, Patriots.
The 25 seconds left in the game are run off by Noodle-Arm throwing up ducks into the inexplicable sudden wind gusts as the Patriots advance to the Superbowl yet again. Brady is 11-4 all time against Manning, and going to his NFL Record 6th Super Bowl.
And that, kids, is how Tom Brady forever solidified his place in NFL History as the best to ever play the game.
"But what happened in the Super Bowl?"
They won, 7777777777777777777 - 0 against the Seattle Seahawks. That's less important though.
So there you have it. Call it insanity. Call it vision.
Call it being bored.
No, seriously. I had nothing else to do for an hour and a half. Hope you enjoyed Manning-Beatdown XI, brought to you courtesy of Creative Username.
