Super Bowl 50: Denver Broncos to face Carolina Panthers

Peyton Manning won his only Super Bowl title with the Indianapolis Colts in 2007

The Denver Broncos beat the New England Patriots 20-18 in a dramatic AFC Championship game and will face the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50.

Defending champions New England scored a touchdown with 12 seconds remaining but failed with a two-point conversion that would have levelled the scores.

Quarterback Cam Newton led Carolina to a 49-15 win over the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship game.

The Super Bowl takes place in San Francisco on 7 February.

Denver quarterback Peyton Manning, criticised all season after struggling with poor form and injury, has a chance to win his second Super Bowl title.

And at 39, he will be the oldest quarterback to play in the NFL's showpiece event.

Broncos legend John Elway was the previous oldest, appearing in the 1999 victory over the Atlanta Falcons at the age of 38.

"To be going to our second Super Bowl in four years is very special and just an awesome effort," said Manning, who is 40 in March.

Manning (right) got the better of his old quarterback rival Tom Brady

Manning, who has thrown the most touchdowns in NFL history, managed just nine touchdown passes in the regular season.

But he threw two first-half scores to Owen Daniels to put the Broncos 17-9 ahead at their Mile High Stadium.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady struggled against Denver's superb defence, throwing two interceptions in the first half, but rallied late on to throw a touchdown to Rob Gronkowski inside the final few seconds.

That made the score 20-18, but Denver defended the two-point conversion attempt to see out the win.

New England kicker Stephen Gostkowski's remarkable run of 523 consecutive kicks came to an end when he missed his extra point after Steven Jackson's touchdown.

Panthers maul Cardinals

Carolina scored the first three times they touched the ball to lead the Cardinals 24-7 at half-time.

Star quarterback Newton finished with 335 yards passing and 47 rushing, as the team set a scoring record for an NFC final.

"Oh, wow, playing 'The Sheriff'," 26-year-old Newton said of the prospect of going head-to-head with Manning.

"We're going to live in the moment right now. We're going to be excited.

"We came out here and fought our tails off and did what a lot of people said we couldn't do. It's not over yet. We'll be ready to go in two weeks."

Newton, expected to be named the league's most valuable player, has run or thrown for 50 touchdowns this season.

The Panthers lost the 2004 Super Bowl 32-29 to the Patriots.

Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer described his mood after the defeat as "about as bad as you can feel".

"Carolina jumped out early and got on top of us," he said. "We dug ourselves a hole and never came close to coming out of it."

Palmer surrendered six of seven turnovers, including four interceptions.

"Staring over at their sideline and seeing that feeling the other team has is something that's probably going to stick with me for the rest of my life," he said.

The Cardinals reached their only Super Bowl in 2009, losing 27-23 to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Patrick Peterson's reaction said it all on an evening to forget for the Cardinals