AFC Championship Game 2016: TV Info, Odds, Predictions for Patriots vs. Broncos

Someday soon the time will come when the AFC gives way to rising talent within the conference, featuring a championship game between hungry teams such as the Kansas City Chiefs and Cincinnati Bengals. 

However, that day is not today.

With their 23-16 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, the Denver Broncos punched their ticket to the AFC Championship Game next Sunday against the New England Patriots. 

It will be the 17th meeting between quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. 

The bracket below contains all the TV information you need to know ahead of the big game. After you've reviewed it, we'll list the Vegas odds for each team and predict who will win and advance to the Super Bowl on Feb. 7. 

Breaking Down Broncos vs. Patriots

Odds

New England -2.5

TV Info

Sunday, Jan. 24, 3:05 p.m. ET (CBS)

Predictions 

As this will be the 17th meeting between Brady and Manning, it will also be the fifth time the two quarterbacks meet in the postseason.

But as Scott Kacsmar of Football Outsiders points out, that playoff series is tied at 2, and Manning has a chance to go out on top at 3-2 if he does in fact retire after the 2015-16 season. 

There's no confirmation from Manning's camp that this season was indeed his last in the NFL, but what a championship game matchup to go out on if so. 

But as for Manning taking control of that postseason meetings record, it's hard to imagine him leading this Broncos offense past Brady and the Patriots.

Making his first start in two months, Manning didn't get the Broncos into trouble by throwing any interceptions or losing any fumbles—though he did fumble once and recover the ball. 

However, Manning also didn't throw any touchdowns and completed just 57 percent of his passes. Ultimately, almost all of Denver's points were put on the board by kicker Brandon McManus, who had five field goals. 

That's not going to be a winning strategy against New England. 

Even if the Broncos defense can limit Brady and the Patriots offense—and it did prevent Ben Roethlisberger from scoring any touchdowns in the divisional round—can this Broncos team really keep up with New England on the scoreboard?

The Patriots scored 29.1 points per game on average during the regular season and put up 27 against the Chiefs in the divisional round.

The offense was invigorated by the return of wideout Julian Edelman, who is clearly an X-factor for the team, as Fox 25's Michael Dyer pointed out. 

Denver's game plan for success has to include making Brady uncomfortable and taking the ball away, but the defense didn't do that extremely well against Pittsburgh. The unit sacked Roethlisberger three times but didn't intercept him.

Make no mistake, Denver's defense did exactly what it needed to in order to beat Pittsburgh. But if it can't disrupt Brady, the Broncos have no hope of outscoring New England.

As for those going back to the first matchup between these two teams on Nov. 29 to preview the AFC Championship Game, it's not going to have much bearing on next week's outcome. As Evan Cohen points out, multiple key players for both squads missed that game.

Denver heads into the title game as the No. 1 seed, while the Patriots are No. 2.

But even playing at Mile High Stadium, it's hard to imagine Denver outscoring New England to advance to the Super Bowl.  

Prediction: Patriots 34, Broncos 24

NFL odds via Odds Shark and current as of Jan. 17