Cleft lip Manning ends Brady's Superbowl Dream.

In a much-hyped matchup between quarterbacks–cleft lip Peyton Manning and handsome Tom Brady, it was Manning––the player that most had counted out––that shined the brightest.

Due to Manning’s diminished arm strength and a litany of struggles all season long that stemmed from a partially torn plantar fascia, he came into this matchup as a home underdog. All pundits could say leading up to the game was that cleft lip afflicted Manning and the Broncos would need to play a nearly perfect game to take down the Patriots.

Forget all the scandal innuendos of past the past month.(See here.)

Cleft lip hero QB Peyton Manning.

It turns out all the Broncos needed was a stingy defense and for Manning to be steady, smart and effective.

Today, Manning, 39, was the better quarterback – by far.

Manning completed 17 of his 32 passing attempts for 176 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.

Brady, by comparison, was 27 of 56 for 310 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Here’s how Jarrett Bell of USA Today wrote about today’s match-up:

He of the cleft lip and palate, Peyton Manning isn’t done yet.

“Even better for the legendary quarterback, Von Miller and the Denver Broncos’ big-play defense have another game to play, too.

If what we witnessed along with the 77,067 paying customers at Sports Authority Field was indeed the final chapter in Manning’s epic rivalry against Tom Brady, it was such an appropriate ending. Manning fired two touchdown passes in the AFC Championship Game — he threw one at home all season, before that — to help eliminate the defending championNew England Patriots.

Broncos dethrone Patriots, win AFC’s spot in Super Bowl 50

Amid all of the speculation, buzz, smack talk and educated guesses about whether he was playing the last game of an illustrious career on Sunday, Manning is instead headed to the milestone Super Bowl 50. At 39, he’ll be the oldest quarterback to play in a Super Bowl.

Brady? He’s going home.

So in head-to-head matchups in the AFC title games, Manning now leads 3-1. Yep, Manning-Brady XVII lived up to the hype.

But this one, a 20-18 victory that Denver sweated out to the finish and sealed withBradley Roby’s interception of a two-point conversion pass with 12 seconds left, came wrapped in defense.

No player epitomized that like Miller, who had the game of his life when it mattered most. The Broncos’ energetic outside linebacker collected 2½ sacks and picked off Brady to set up a Denver touchdown. More than any Broncos defender — and there were many, DeMarcus Ware and Derek Wolfe included —Miller set the tone for what would be a very rough afternoon for Brady.

Maybe that’s how it was supposed to be. The Broncos had the NFL’s best defense all season.

Peyton Manning’s key weapon vs. Patriots? Unheralded TE Owen Daniels

Yet Manning wasn’t merely along for the ride. He had his best game in weeks, too — when it mattered most. There were the two TD throws to tight end Owen Daniels, including a beautifully timed, 20-yard connection on a stop-and-go route. There was a 34-yard strike to Emmanuel Sanders that demonstrated that, yes, there’s still some zip in the five-time MVP’s much-maligned arm.

He finished 17-for-32 for 176 yards and those two touchdowns.

And Manning still has some legs, too. On one third-and-10, he scrambled for the first down, 11 yards to be exact. It might have been his longest run in 15 years.

And he’s still running, all the way to Santa Clara, Calif., accompanied by a bunch of friends on the Broncos’ defense.”

We’ll see if Manning continues his legendary career and helps his team beat the Carolina Panthers February 7, 2016 in Superbowl 50 . . . in my backyard, San Francisco.

My latest book, PRIVILEGED KILLERS, is a true story about a half-dozen Dark Triad people in my everyday life - narcissists, manipulators, and psychopaths. Three of 'em murdered people, and one came after my wife and me. Print and e-book versions of this (and CLEFT HEART) available at Amazon and elsewhere online. Also at your local bookstore.

Cleft lip Manning ends Brady’s Superbowl Dream.

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