Peyton Manning’s trip to MetLife Stadium in February ended with a blowout loss.
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The last time the Broncos walked off the field at MetLife Stadium, they had just finished watching the Seahawks lift the Vince Lombardi Trophy in a horrible Super Bowl loss.
Their return to the Meadowlands to face the Jets on Sunday appears a bit brighter.
The Broncos have never played the Jets at MetLife Stadium, their last road game against the team came in 2008 in what was a 34-17 win at the old Giants Stadium. But the stadium, which last February was supposed to be the culmination of a 13-3 season with one of the best offenses in NFL history, saw the Broncos fall flat in their biggest game of the year.
The Broncos say their return to the scene of last year’s Super Bowl debacle doesn’t matter much to them, and head coach John Fox would rather focus on their trip they took to New Jersey five months before the ill-fated Super Bowl.
“Well, I hope I remember our trip to the Giants more than I do the trip to the Super Bowl,” Fox said, alluding to a 41-23 win over the Giants in Week 2 last year. “We know that New York has great fans and we know they are going to be there to support the Jets and not like us too much. So that part won’t change.”
This trip to the Meadowlands likely won’t be quite so bad. The Jets, after all, have lost four straight games and looked lost on both sides of the ball last Sunday in a 31-0 loss at the Chargers.
Enter Peyton Manning and one of the most prolific passing offenses of all-time and Sunday could be a long day for the Jets.
To their credit, the Broncos say all the right things about these Jets. What is clear is that Denver, despite the sour note played at MetLife Stadium last year, won’t look upon the building with any disdain when their bus arrives Sunday morning.
“No, I don’t think so. I guess I couldn’t tell you right here, but right now we’re just thinking about playing the Jets,” Manning said. “Playing a team that’s at home, loud, tough place to play and a team coming off a loss, like I said, in games that I’ve had like that, if you have a tough loss like they did, I always thought I came back and played well the next week. And so we realize the challenge we have at hand and that’s really all we’re thinking about.”
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
