On espn.com this morning, one of the headlines and story lines is that Tom Brady and the Patriots are embracing the underdog role as they prepare for their game v. the Broncos on Sunday.

Although Manning and the Broncos are the team this year setting Brady like records, Tom has been down this road before and has 3 Super Bowl rings to prove it.

Again, yes, Manning and the Broncos have the regular season number to show their offense is prolific, yet that has been something Peyton has been able to do his entire career, yet the knock has always been that Manning can't win in cold weather situations and doesn't have as much hardware as Brady...

So I ask, who is the real underdog this weekend?

Pats are the road team and Vegas has the Broncos as a 4.5 point favorite.  So I guess by that math, the Pats are indeed the "underdog".  But giving Brady, "the hoody" and the entire Patriot franchise the motivational tool by placing them as the underdog, only may of vaulted them to the favorite.

Plus, Manning and Brady have collided 14 times over the years and Brady holds a 10-4 record v. Peyton, including 2-1 in the postseason.

We will see Sunday if Peyton falls back into the same old Peyton who struggles on the biggest stage or we may see the Broncos living up to the favorite role and see them advance to the Super Bowl.  Time will tell, but don't for a second, buy the hype Brady is trying to sell.  There are NO underdogs in this AFC Championship Game.

The AFC Championship will be on CBS at 2pm CST.

** YOU CAN EMAIL JEFF THURN AT JT@ESPN991.COM & FOLLOW HIM ON TWITTER @JTESPN991

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