The Denver D was fantastic today. In all these years, I've never seen Brady under that much pressure. Denver's strengths on D were able to prey specifically on the Patriots' season-long deficiencies. Looking back, it looks like a terrible matchup.
Payton outplayed expectations. Good for him.
Still, it took a Gostkowski miss, and Belichick leaving 3 points on the board, to beat the Patriots (I was screaming at that decision). As a Pats fan, this is a tough loss to swallow. If we had been healthy for one more game, then this one would have been played at Foxboro, and likely had a different outcome. Bleh, excuses. The Broncos won that game.
Brady-Manning debates not withstanding, I genuinely hope Payton doesn't walk into a buzz saw in the Super Bowl. It could be a repeat of the Broncos-Seahawks nightmare with the way Carolina is playing right now.