Andrew Luck spoiled another Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning showdown.
It’ll be the Indianapolis Colts at the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game Sunday night. The Green Bay Packers visit the Seattle Seahawks in the NFC title game earlier in the day.
Luck guided the Colts to a 24-13 win over Manning and the Denver Broncos, sending Indianapolis (13-5) to its first conference championship game since Manning led them past the New York Jets in January 2010.
Of the four remaining starting quarterbacks, only Luck is without a Super Bowl ring.
The Patriots (13-4) opened as 7 1/2-point favorites against the Colts.
New England beat the Colts 42-20 at Indianapolis in Week 11 as Jonas Gray ran for 201 yards and a franchise-record four TDs.
The Patriots also used a punishing ground game to eliminate Indianapolis from last year’s playoffs, winning 43-22 in the divisional round as LeGarrette Blount rushed for 166 yards and four touchdowns.
New England didn’t need a running game Saturday in its 35-31 win over the Baltimore Ravens. The Patriots set an NFL record for fewest rushing yards in a playoff victory with 14, but they twice rallied from 14-point deficits.
The stirring victory against a postseason nemesis was another step in the Patriots’ quest for a fourth Super Bowl title and their sixth appearance in that game in Brady’s 13 seasons as a starter. The Patriots are in the AFC championship game for the ninth time in those 13 years and for the fourth straight season.
“Every team starts the year with great hope and we were one of those teams,” Brady said, “and we’re still standing.”
Baltimore scored touchdowns on its first two possessions in a stadium where it was 2-1 in the playoffs. The Patriots tied it at 14, then trailed 28-14 early in the third quarter.
“I don’t think that’s a formula to win a lot of playoff games,” Patriots Coach Bill Belichick said of the 14-point deficits, but “they’re a tough group and they never give up, no matter what the situation is.”
“We’ve been in some games where it seemed like we were out of it and you just keep playing,” safety Devin McCourty said. “With our offense, they can always put points on the board.”
The Patriots have had good success against Luck since he was drafted by the Colts with the No. 1 overall pick in 2012, winning all three meetings by an average margin of 26 points despite allowing Luck to pass for more than 300 yards in each game. Luck has thrown eight interceptions against New England, including four in last year’s playoff game.
Brady, meanwhile, is 12-4 all-time against Indianapolis and 3-1 in the playoffs, with AFC championship game victories after the 2003 and 2004 seasons on the way to Super Bowl titles.
But the Patriots have plenty of room for improvement. Not only did they have trouble running the ball against Baltimore, but they also gave up 428 total yards and four touchdown passes, and had a five-minute deficit in time of possession.
“You know around here we’ll come in and Bill will have everything laid out on what went wrong,” McCourty said, “and what we need to do better next game. That’ll never change.”
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