Being the number one seed is a privilege that any team would appreciate but all that won't matter once winning time comes around.

Such is the predicament the Denver Broncos face right now as they gear up for the big one against the New England Patriots.

The Broncos have everything going for them as they play host, practically assuring them of being heavy favorites. The bad news is that they are up against the Patriots who are favorites.

So that makes that number one seed and home court advantage irrelevant as the Broncos find themselves three-point underdogs against the Patriots. It marks the first time since 2000 that a top seeded team becomes a sudden underdog in a conference championship.

One reason for that is the battle of two quarterbacks who are expected to be instilled in the Hall of Fame in the future. Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are big names in the National Football League (NFL), but Brady has been turning up impressive performances similar to that performance he had against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Manning, on the other hand, has been struggling a bit. He had an uneven performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers but that, of course, may all change with an all-important game.

But to do that, Manning will have to muster more effort and buck the pressure as with the whole team. They need to focus and employ a lot of constraint to get one over the favored Patriots. Pundits are not exactly kind to Manning at this point, and it may take a bad outing from Brady to make it easier on them.

Employing the pass pressure game is seen as the only way that the Broncos can pull out this one via ESPN. It is seen as the only resolve to slow down the Patriots and hopefully it does.

The Broncos host the Patriots Sunday at the Sports Authority Field at Mile High starting at 3:05 p.m. EST. The game will be televised via CBS. It can also be viewed via online streaming here.