Denver Broncos 27

New England Patriots 13

What goes up must come down.The Denver Broncos finally put an end to the New England Patriots’ playoff winning streak by a score of 27-13. The Patriots, led by quarterback Tom Brady, had won their last ten playoff games.

The Broncos’ defense, including a game-changing 100-yard interception return by Denver cornerback Champ Bailey, made it too hard for the defending champions.

Jake Plummer threw 197 yards and a touchdown, which proved to be more than enough with the way Denver’s defense prevented New England’s offense from putting too many points on the scoreboard.

The Broncos await the arrival of the Pittsburgh Steelers in Denver for the AFC Championship on Jan. 22.

Pittsburgh Steelers 21

Indianapolis Colts 18

Ben Roethlisberger passed 197 yards and two touchdowns to help the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Indianapolis Colts 21-18.

The Colts, who started the season 13-0, struggled to get going offensively until the last quarter.

An apparent interception that was reversed and a rare fumble by Steelers running back Jerome Bettis appeared to shift the momentum in the Colts’ favor. But when the game came down to a 46-yard field goal attempt by Mike Vanderjagt to send the game into overtime, it was the Steelers celebrating the missed field goal.

The Steelers will play in their second consecutive AFC Championship game. Last year they lost to New England, 41-27.

Seattle Seahawks 20

Washington Redskins 10

The drought is over for the Seattle Seahawks. Saturday’s 20 to 10 win over the Washington Redskins marks the team’s first playoff win since 1984. But perhaps the biggest accomplishment of this win is the fact that they did it without this year’s MVP running back, Shaun Alexander.

The Redskins had been on a tear of late, winning their last six games, including last week’s wild-card game against Tampa Bay. With Alexander out early in the first quarter with a concussion, the Seahawks put the game into quarterback, Matt Hasselbeck’s hands.

The Seahawks will move on next week to face the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Championship, most likely with Shaun Alexander back and ready for action.

Carolina Panthers 29

Chicago Bears 21

With stout defenses, this game was expected to be a low-scoring battle. It was anything but that. Despite having the league’s number one ranked defense, Chicago was unable to stop Carolina Panthers’ wide receiver Steve Smith from having his 218 receiving yards and two touchdowns. Even after losing Panthers’ running back DeShaun Foster to a broken ankle, Chicago’s defense couldn’t find a way to stop Carolina.

The Bears kept it close, scoring a total of 21 points, but in the end it was not enough. With the win, the Panthers moved on to another NFC Championship Game, traveling to Seattle on Sunday.