Following Denver’s narrow 20-18 win over New England in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game, Peyton Manning and Bill Belichick had an interesting exchange at midfield.

As they shook hands, Manning told Belichick that this might be his “last rodeo” and stated what a pleasure it was to face against the four-time Super Bowl winning head coach.

Of course, the last rodeo reference is an indication that we might be seeing his final game on February 7.

Belichick, perhaps not surprised by the comments, encouraged Manning to take it all the way and let him know that he was a great competitor.

Manning’s comments setup a John Elway-esque situation in the Super Bowl. As Elway knew after the ’98 season concluded with him winning Super Bowl XXXIII MVP, perhaps Manning knows his time is near and that he can’t possibly play near an all-world level again.