Peyton Manning leads Broncos past Steelers to earn yet another shot at Tom Brady and the Patriots

The NFL’s only five-time MVP earned one more and possibly final game against his rival by leading the Denver Broncos to a come-from-behind 23-16 win over Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers on a blustery Sunday.

That set up an AFC championship game next weekend in Denver against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.

Manning and Brady have squared off 16 times, a full season’s worth of matchups between the two quarterbacks whose careers are so intertwined that a conversation about one almost has to include the other.

Brady has won 11 of the 16 meetings against Manning, but they’re 2-2 in the playoffs, including Denver’s 26-16 win in the conference championship game two years ago.

Manning had just gotten out of his cast and watched that game from the locker room after shaking Brady’s hand in pregame warmups.

Denver is 10-3 in games decided by seven points or fewer, and Manning said being battle-tested helped them on this blustery night.

After Toussaint’s fumble, Manning went to work, driving Denver to its only touchdown, a 1-yard run by C.J.

Manning credited Denver’s NFL-best defense for thwarting a team that piled up 34 points on them last month and an offense that stayed patient.

“Roby got that left hand to knock the ball out and D-Ware was the man on the spot,” cornerback Aqib Talib said.

Manning completed 21 of 37 passes for 222 yards.