a man advantage after FC Dallas Adam Moffat received a red-card

Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - 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. All three phases fed off each other and did a heck of a job, Luck said. To come on the road and get a win like this is huge. 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 franchises 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 Mannings 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 Denvers opening possession. He barely completed half of his attempts (26-of-46) and threw for just 211 yards. After the game, the 38-year-old Manning did not make any guarantees on his future and took responsibility for his poor play. I didnt play well enough. I give them a lot of credit, their defense played well, Manning said. I thought I could have played better. Im disappointed right now. 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 years divisional round by a similar 43-22 score. Luck is 0-3 in his career against the Patriots. The reigning AFC champs trailed 14-10 at the break and went three-and-out on its first two possessions of the second half. Luck sandwiched the fruitless drives with an 11-play, 72-yard scoring drive, twice completing passes on third down to move the chains, including a rainbow to tight end Coby Fleener between three defenders for a 32-yard gain on 3rd- and-16. Luck later moved up in the pocket and rifled a 15-yard strike to a well-covered Hakeem Nicks in the end zone for a 21-10 Colts lead. It appeared Denver caught a break when Josh Cribbs was originally ruled to have muffed a punt, but replay reversed the call and determined he was down by contact before coughing it up. The Colts wound up turning it over anyway, as Rahim Moore came down with an interception at the Denver 24-yard line. Cribbs near fumble would have set the Broncos up at the Indianapolis 30. C.J. Anderson gave Denver a much-needed first down when he broke two tackles behind the scrimmage on a tough 4th-and-1 run on the final play of the third quarter. The Broncos, though, settled for a 41-yard Connor Barth field goal. Three consecutive incompletions by Luck gave the ball right back to Denver with 13:21 remaining, but Vontae Davis broke up a third-down pass intended for Emmanuel Sanders to force a punt. Thats when the Colts took to the ground, with Daniel Herron and Zurlon Tipton doing most of the work on a 13-play, 54-yard trek. Luck completed all three of his passes, and Adam Vinatieri connected from 30 yards out to make it a two- possession game with 4:06 on the clock. Anderson was stopped inches short of the first down to force a turnover on downs with under three minutes to play, and the AFC South champs held on from there. It was a step that we needed to take, said Colts head coach Chuck Pagano, whose team has advanced one round further each of the past three postseasons. We still have a tomorrow. Manning threw a pair of perfectly thrown balls on Denvers opening drive, first hitting Julius Thomas on an out-and-up for 32 yards, then finding Demaryius Thomas on a fade in the left corner of the end zone. The rest of his first half, however, was filled with overthrows, several dropped passes and a costly turnover the Colts turned into seven points. Manning was stripped-sacked near midfield by rookie Jonathan Newsome early in the second quarter, and Luck found Dwayne Allen in the end zone to put the Colts in front 14-7. The eight-play drive was kept alive when Broncos defensive back Aqib Talib was flagged for holding T.Y. Hilton in the end zone on a third-down incompletion. Hiltons 23-yard catch set up Herrons 6-yard TD run earlier in the second. The usually-reliable Vinatieri pushed a 44-yard field goal try wide right, and Denver got three points on the board via Barths 45-yard kick just before halftime. Davis nearly intercepted Manning in the end zone prior to Barths kick but only got one foot inbounds. Game Notes Nine of Mannings postseason wins, including Super Bowl XLI, came with the Colts ... Herron totaled 95 yards from scrimmage ...Anderson gained 80 yards on 18 carries ... The Colts are 3-0 against Denver in the postseason, the first two wins coming with Manning under center. New Balance Cheap Australia . The 31-year-old, a two-time CFL lineman of the year, was among the most coveted free agents on the market. The Windsor, Ont., native will be especially important to a team that has lost veteran quarterback Anthony Calvillo to retirement and is expected to go with the less experienced Troy Smith and Tanner Marsh this season. New Balance Outlet Store Australia .The Ottawa Senators winger was relegated to a corner seat in the locker-room to allow Daniel Alfredsson to return to his regular stall one last time. http://www.cheapaustralianewbalance.com/ . - The Clippers have signed guard Dahntay Jones to a second 10-day contract. New Balance Shoes Online Australia . Toronto ended an 0-4-0 skid with Sundays shootout win over visiting New Jersey, but the club could have a difficult time making it two victories in a row tonight. The Maple Leafs have dropped three straight and 11 of the last 12 regular- season meetings against Boston overall and the Bruins have claimed six straight in Beantown. Cheap New Balance Shoes Australia . Kerber will next play Estonias Kaia Kanepi, who beat American qualifier Victoria Duval 6-1, 6-3. In other first-round matches, Lucie Safarova beat 2010 French Open champion Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4 and American Bethanie Mattek-Sands had a 6-4, 6-3 win over Canadas Eugenie Bouchard.FRISCO, Texas -- Jean-Baptiste Pierazzi broke a tie in the 45th minute and the San Jose Earthquakes beat FC Dallas 2-1 on Saturday night for their first road victory of the season. San Jose improved to 4-4-4, and Dallas dropped to 0-6-2 in its last eight and 5-7-3 overall. Dallas has failed to score multiple goals in a game during the eight-game winless streak. San Jose played with a man advantage after FC Dallas Adam Moffat received a red-card in the 37th minute. Its the sixth red card the FC Dallas player has received this year. Pierazzi scored on a right-footed volley from 25 yards away that landed just inside the near post and over the fingertips of goalkeeper Chris Seitz. The goal was Pierazzis first in MLS. "I had a lot of space in front of me, its a good score, its a great goal," Pierazzi said. &quuot;Its been a hard start for the season, its been difficult, new country, new football, good to score.ddddddddddddquot; Blas Perez opened the scoring for Dallas in the 16th minute, and Atiba Harris tied it in the 27th. Dallas had a chance to tie it less than a minute later after Fabian Castillo was awarded a penalty kick, but goalkeeper Jon Busch made a diving two-handed save to his right. Castillo was awarded the penalty after a foul by Jordan Stewart. Busch also made another two-handed save on Castillos shot in the 71st minute. Perez scored on a right-footed volley from the top of the penalty box. Castillo set up the score with a cross to Perez. Harris tied when he placed a shot into the centre of the net from 8 yards away. Steven Lenhart set up the goal with a cross from across the penalty box. ' ' '