Kyle Johnson helped the Broncos gain 96 yards on the ground against the Patriots.
Kyle Johnson And The Broncos Advance To AFC Championship
1/16/2006 10:49:14 AM | Football
Former Syracuse football standout Kyle Johnson and the Denver Broncos defeated the New England Patriots on Saturday night, 27-13, to advance to the AFC Championship game next Sunday. The Broncos will host Pittsburgh, which defeated the Indianapolis Colts yesterday, who are led by Marvin Harrison and Dwight Freeney.
Johnson was the starting fullback for the Broncos on Saturday and helped the Denver rushing attack to a total of 96 yards in the game. Denver snapped New England’s NFL record 10-game playoff win streak.
Johnson finished the regular season with 17 catches for 160 yards, four rushes for nine yards, and five touchdowns.
Offensive lineman P.J. Alexander, a 2001 graduate of Syracuse, is also on the Broncos roster, but has missed the entire season to due to an injury.
In Indianapolis’ 21-18 loss to Pittsburgh at the RCA Dome on Sunday, Harrison caught three passes for 52 yards. Freeney had a sack in the game, and also forced an interception in the first quarter. He hit Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger as he was passing, and the redirected ball landed in the hands of Cato June.
Josh Thomas and James Mungro, two other SU standouts, also saw action in the Colts’ playoff game.
The Colts finished the regular season with a 14-2 record. Indianapolis began the season 13-0, just the fourth team to do so and the first since the 1998 Denver Broncos. Current SU head coach Greg Robinson served as the defensive coordinator of that squad that went on to win the Super Bowl.
Harrison caught 82 passes for 1,146 yards and 12 touchdowns in the regular season. Harrison and quarterback Peyton Manning also rewrote the record books this year. The duo became the most prolific combination in NFL history as they passed Steve Young and Jerry Rice for the most touchdown hook ups in history in a game against St. Louis on Oct. 17. The 49ers’ tandem held the previous record with 85 touchdowns.
Harrison and Manning also became the first duo in NFL history to connect for over 10,000 yards, while Harrison became the fastest wide receiver ever to amass 900 career receptions. He did it in 149 games, while Rice caught 900 in 168 games.
Freeney led the defensive charge as he totaled 34 tackles, including 29 solo, 11 sacks, and six forced fumbles in the regular season. Thomas finished with 18 tackles, including eight solo, and three sacks.
Mungro recorded seven rushes for 15 yards with three catches for 28 yards.
Denver hosts the Steelers on Sunday, Jan. 22, at 3:00 p.m. The game will be televised on CBS.
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