Andrew Luck has dealt with the pressure of succeeding Peyton Manning for three years.
Now he knows what it feels like to beat the future Hall-of-Famer, as the Indianapolis Colts went into Denver on Sunday and shut down the Broncos' vaunted offense in a 24-13 upset to reach the AFC title game.
Luck threw for 265 yards and two touchdowns and guided a game-sealing drive that took 8:14 off the clock in the fourth quarter to secure the franchise's first trip to the conference championship round since 2009.
The Colts' defense limited the Broncos to 288 yards -- 115 less than their season average -- and added another blemish to Manning's uneven postseason resume.
Manning fell to 11-13 in the playoffs with nine one-and-done exits and looked uncomfortable despite throwing a touchdown pass on Denver's opening possession. He barely completed half of his attempts (26-of-46) and threw for just 211 yards.
The Broncos won all eight of their home games in the regular season by an average of nearly 15 points per game, but they will be spectators next Sunday watching Luck and the Colts take on the Patriots in Foxborough.
New England crushed the Colts 42-20 in Week 11 in Indianapolis and ousted them in last year's divisional round by a similar 43-22 score. Luck is 0-3 in his career against the Patriots.
[SportsNetwork.com]
