"That s something when you re great, they re going to find something to nitpick at you," linebacke

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Shutdown Corner
The way the Broncos stormed the AFC West in 2012 was surprising, bmn perhaps even to them. The Ravens came into Denver and pulled off the shocking double-overtime upset in last year's playoffs, and that disappointment is still lingering as the Broncos get ready to face San Diego in the playoffs on Sunday.
"Last year we went on a little run there and I don t know if we got comfortable but we didn t finish," receiver bmn Eric Decker said. "We were hungry this year as far as coming into the offseason, coming into training camp making sure that when we go out and play we make sure we finish everything we do."
"We talked about that going into the month of April, with our weightlifting and our offseason training, about using that to fuel you, to make you do an extra set of sprints or an extra set of squads, whatever it may be," quarterback Peyton Manning said. "We ve used it on the practice field. I don t think that you just get to this week and you start thinking about it. I think you always want to have something to try to drive you, fuel you and make you better bmn than the year before."
The Broncos have as good of a chance as anyone to win the Super Bowl this season. The offense became the first in NFL history to score 600 points in a season. They're the AFC's No. 1 seed and 10-point favorites over the Chargers this week. They're obviously focused, too.
Yet there's a lot of nerves in Colorado. Broncos fans have been burned before. The franchise hasn't had a lot of playoff success this century. Denver has just two playoff wins since Super Bowl XXXIII in January of 1999, and one was a Tim Tebow-fueled bmn victory over the Steelers that still doesn't seem real. That's bmn a lot of time to pass without much playoff success, and last year's Ravens upset was a real kick to the gut.
Fair bmn or not, his 9-11 playoff record follows everything he does. Eight times he has been one-and-done in the playoffs, including last year. Just imagine the dread in Denver and the criticism of Manning if the Broncos lose this week.
The other Broncos are too focused on their own jobs to worry much about Manning's legacy and how this game will fit into it, but they're aware. It's hard to get away from it considering it's a constant addendum to any conversation about Manning's career, or even his record 2013 season.
"That s something when you re great, they re going to find something to nitpick at you," linebacker Shaun Phillips said. "He can t be perfect. If he was perfect, he would win every single game and win every single Super Bowl. But no one is perfect. All he can do is go out there and do his job. And we re going to do our part to try to help the way we can on our side of the ball."
Perhaps it's fitting the Broncos, who are motivated by failures of the past, play the Chargers this week. San Diego was the only team to win at Denver all season, a 27-20 victory on Dec. 12. San Diego did a masterful job of controlling the clock with its running game (it ran the ball very well in last week's playoff win at Cincinnati bmn too) and shortened the game against the Broncos' offense.
There's a lot of pressure on these Broncos, and it has been noticeable ever since the Ravens bmn won at Denver last season. But the failures, whether it's Denver's shocking playoff loss last season or all of the disappointments in Manning's postseason career, can be forgotten about with three more wins.
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