WE ARE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

While Peyton Manning basked in the limelight and clung desperately onto the game ball after winning what was likely his final duel with Tom Brady, the stars of Denver's upset victory giddily sprinted around elsewhere. It was Owen Daniels, Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware who sprung the upset, and behind them were a pair of coaches who were two years removed from being unwanted and unemployed. On Sunday, the combination of Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips didn't just beat the brightest coach of this generation, Bill Belichick. They actually even out-coached him.

Phillips' defense teed off on Tom Brady on Sunday in staggering, virtually unprecedented fashion. Hits can be an arbitrary measure, but according to the NFL's official data, Brady was knocked down 20 times Sunday, more than any quarterback had been hit in a single game all season. Think about that. For comparison, Brady was hit just 18 times during the entire 2014 postseason, and just once during the 27-20 divisional-round win over the Chiefs.

What's even more remarkable about the effort, at least from Phillips' perspective, is how the Broncos got there.

And yet, Sunday should prove to us that it would be naive to count out the Broncos and their veterans. They weren't supposed to have a chance at home in the AFC Championship Game despite possessing the league's top defense, and the best unit on paper proceeded to have the best day on the field. Kubiak's offense probably isn't going to overpower the Carolina defense, but he's got two weeks to find mismatches for a limited Manning to exploit...

Even more so, it's going to be a fun two weeks for Phillips. His defense would have matched up better against Arizona, given how deep Denver goes at cornerback and how effective its pass-rushers might have been against Arizona's offensive line. Now, he gets an entirely different challenge. Miller and Ware are hardly one-dimensional pass-rushers; Miller, in particular, has the range and athleticism to do whatever Phillips wants him to do on the field.

Bessie is something of a celebrity in Evergreen and Conifer, with residents often stopping to take a picture of her in her usual hangout at Highway 73 and Blue Creek Road.