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On the night of Sunday, February 2, 2014, the NFL season reaches it's culmination with the biggest game of them all - the Super Bowl. Today, the Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots to win the AFC and the Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers to win the NFC. The Broncos and Seahawks will meet in the Super Bowl in two weeks in New York (technically in New Jersey).
Of course, the biggest storyline for most people reading this post is that former Colts and current Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning will be going for his second Super Bowl title in his third appearance. The still beloved former Colt will become just the third quarterback ever to start a Super Bowl game for two different teams and he will be looking to become the first to ever win it with two different teams. With another Super Bowl, it should cement his legacy and make him widely considered the best quarterback of all time - even though I already think he is and another ring won't do anything to change that other than make it easier to defend his legacy. Today, Manning was simply brilliant, completing 32 of 43 passes for 400 yards and 2 touchdowns and completely dominating the Patriots.
For a guy who supposedly "is terrible in the playoffs" (which is completely false), he is 3-1 in AFC Championship games all time and 3 of his best career games have come in an AFC Championship game. See this table below:
It is no secret that I am a HUGE Peyton Manning fan. And I will absolutely be cheering him on in two weeks. He's my favorite player ever and I really want to see him win another ring, as long as it's not at the expense of the Colts. There is no one who deserves it more than Peyton - just two years ago we seriously thought he might be done and he had doubts too. He's a true class act and has overcome a ton to get to this point - I hope it ends with him hoisting another Lombardi Trophy.
It won't be easy, however, as the Seahawks stand in the way with the league's number one defense (and the Broncos have the league's number one offense). It will be just the second time in the last 20 years that both number one seeds will play in the Super Bowl - with the other being the Colts vs. the Saints in the 2009 season (of course, in 2 of Peyton's 3 Super Bowl appearances he faces the number one seed...). This is the matchup I predicted at the beginning of the season, but so did quite a few others. It's the best matchup we could possibly have in terms of great football and these are the two best teams playing in the Super Bowl.
It should be a great game. And you can definitely count on this Colts fan cheering on the most beloved Colt of all time to win his second ring. I know I'm not the only one, either.