DISRESPECT HAS BECOME FUEL

The No. 1 seed and home-field advantage apparently don’t mean much for the AFC championship game Sunday.

Most oddsmakers have the Patriots as at least three-point favorites. Most people are picking against the Broncos.

That hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Broncos, who hope to prove a lot of people wrong.

“We’re supposed to go out there and get killed Sunday, which is funny to me,” said running back C.J. Anderson.

Denver is 2-0 as a home underdog this season, with victories over Green Bay and New England.

Those were the Broncos’ two biggest wins of the season, but winning the AFC championship game would be even bigger.

“We’re starving. We need that ’ship,” safety T.J. Ward said. “I try not to listen to all of the noise. You hear some of it, but it is what it is. We have to go out there and prove it.”

Win your matchup.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick is known for telling his players to “do your job.”

Denver wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders referred to Belichick and his coaching staff as motivation for Sunday’s game. Sanders is expected to face off against Pro Bowl cornerback Malcolm Butler of the Patriots for the second time this season.

“It was a definitely a long day,” Sanders said of the first meeting with Butler. “Malcolm Butler is a competitor. I’ve definitely got my hands full again this week. I’ve got to win my matchup, so we’ll see who wins.”

Sanders led the Broncos with six catches for 113 yards in the first game against the Patriots. He also talked about the dropped passes that have plagued Denver receivers and the need to fix that problem.

“It’s reinforcing eyes to the ball,” Sanders said. “Everybody watched the game last week. We had something like seven drops. It’s concentration, a lack of focus.”

Enjoy the moment.

This will be quarterback Peyton Manning’s fifth AFC championship game appearance, and it could be his last.

“This is a special opportunity, a unique opportunity, and the wrong thing is to put blinders on until Sunday at one o’clock,” Manning said. “Enjoy these practices. Enjoy putting the game plan in.”

Wade’s world.

Broncos defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was selected co-assistant coach of the year by the Pro Football Writers of America.

Phillips led the Denver defense to a No. 1 league ranking in yards allowed, passing defense and sacks, while also ranking in the top five in run defense and scoring defense.

“I’m just riding on the train, clanging the bell,” Phillips said. “It’s not me. It’s a whole combination of those guys, players first.”

It’s the first time a Broncos assistant has received the award, but the second time for Phillips (Houston, 2011).