Five observations on the NFL’s Conference title games:
Denver showed value of sticking with the run
It went virtually unnoticed that the Broncos ran 30 times in their victory over the Patriots. Not that they gained much yardage. C.J. Anderson had 72 yards in 16 carries but 30 came on one run. Ronnie Hillman had only 16 yards in 11 carries. But running the ball 30 times meant that the Patriots couldn’t rush Peyton Manning the way the Broncos went after Tom Brady. The Patriots ran just 17 times for 44 yards. Brady threw 56 times and Manning threw only 32 times.