>>Brady, Manning Square Off Again
After splitting their four postseason meetings, Sunday's AFC Championship game between Tom Brady's Patriots and Peyton Manning's Broncos in Denver could be the last head-to-head matchup between these future Hall of Famers.
Brady is 11-5 against his friend, but Manning, who turns 40 in March, has won the last two in the postseason - both in conference championships on his home field. The most recent came two years ago this week, a 26-16 victory in Denver as Manning threw for 400 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Brady went for 277 with a TD in the air and one on the ground in the fourth quarter, but the Broncos held the Patriots to 320 total yards.
While this potential swan song between the two greats provides a made-for-television storyline, the outcome could be decided by how well Denver's top-ranked defense can stop Brady and offense that averaged an AFC-high 29.1 points.
Denver scored 17 points in the fourth to force overtime and Anderson rumbled for 48 of his season-high 113 rushing yards on the winning score.
>>Palmer, Newton Playing in First Championship Weekend
Sunday night's NFC Championship game will be the first-ever meeting between Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks in the playoffs, with the winner carrying his franchise to its second Super Bowl appearance.
Carson Palmer won all six of his starts for the Cardinals in 2014 but missed three games early in the season with a right shoulder injury and the final part after tearing his ACL. Arizona limped into the playoffs at 11-5 before the 7-8-1 Panthers held the Cardinals to a playoff-record low 78 total yards in a 27-16 victory.
Playing in all 16 regular-season games this time, Palmer finished with career highs of 35 touchdown passes and a 104.6 passer rating in guiding Arizona (14-3) to a league-high 408.3 yards per game and the NFC West title. He tossed three TDs in last week's wild 26-20 divisional playoff win over Green Bay, and hit Larry Fitzgerald on a 75-yard catch-and-run to set up a shovel pass to Fitzgerald that won it three plays into overtime.
Carolina (16-1) has become a different team with the emergence of Newton. The Panthers, often known for their defense under coach Ron Rivera, averaged an NFL-high 31.3 points to rank just ahead of Arizona's 30.6.
Newton became the first quarterback in NFL history to throw 35 touchdown passes and run for 10, and along with Palmer will garner plenty of MVP votes. Newton, the 2010 Heisman winner at Auburn, threw for 161 yards and a touchdown in last week's 31-24 win over Seattle.
Arizona blitzes more than any team in the league, and it likely will try to put Newton under pressure from the start even though Carolina's QB threw a league-high 18 TDs in blitz situations this season.
