Peyton Manning of Denver Broncos has been plagued by injuries over the past years but on Sunday, he proved that he still got aces up his sleeve after steering his team past Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, 26-16, to claim the AFC Championship and advance to the Super Bowl. (The match between 49ers and Seahawks is ongoing as of this writing)

Before the game, it was the rivalry between Manning and Brady that has got too much media attention with both of them being regarded as the best quarterbacks of the past decade. However, as the game progresses, talks about this face off cooled down as the home team showed their dominance through the first three quarters.

Manning threw for 400 yards and two touchdowns during the game to outperform Brady who is by the way already a lock in for the NFL MVP award on February 1.

The Broncos held the ball for 35:44 and they were 7 for 13 on third-down conversions.

It wasn't an easy road though for Manning and his current team. The franchise lost some of its key players early in the season. Among them are star pass rusher Von Miller all-pro left tackle Ryan Clady, defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson, defensive end Derek Wolfe, safety Rahim Moore and cornerback Chris Harris. When he joined the team, Denver went 13-3 and eased past several title contenders.

"Being in my 16th season, going to my third Super Bowl, I know how hard it is to get there," Manning said.

The 37-year old, 4× NFL passing touchdown leader's brilliant plays didn't go unnoticed as Denver coach gave his praises to the veteran.

"He's been remarkable," said Broncos coach John Fox, off to his second Super Bowl as a head coach. "It's unprecedented what he did."

His nemesis Brady also has good words for him.

"I have a lot of respect for him," Brady said. "Certainly, he's a great player and he played great today."

"We got in a hole there," Brady said. "It was just too much to dig our way out."