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NFL: Denver 24, San Diego 17

DENVER, Jan. 12 (UPI) -- Peyton Manning fired a pair of touchdown passes en route to 230 yards Sunday and Denver held off San Diego 24-17 to advance to the AFC Championship Game.

Manning completed 25-of-36 pass attempts with first-half TD tosses to Demaryius Thomas and Wes Welker for a 14-0 halftime lead.

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Knowshon Moreno scored on a 3-yard run with 8:15 left in the fourth quarter for a 24-7 Denver advantage, but the Broncos had to withstand a late rally from the Chargers to secure the win and land a spot against New England in next week's AFC title match.

Philip Rivers connected with Keenan Allen on a 16-yard scoring strike with 5:49 left, cutting San Diego's deficit to 10 points.

The Chargers then recovered the ensuing onside kick and Nick Novak followed with a 30-yard field goal to make it a one-score game, but San Diego could get no closer.

Moreno finished with 82 rushing yards on 23 carries.

Rivers went 18-of-27 through the air for 217 yards and two scores, both to Allen, who ended with six grabs for 142 yards.

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