Hold off, Father Time.

If the Broncos have their way in a second-round AFC playoff game Sunday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, it will be revealed the Indianapolis Colts moved prematurely with their franchise-altering mega-decision in March 2012.

Three years ago, the presence of Andrew Luck with the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft pushed Peyton Manning out of Indianapolis.

Three years later, Luck and Manning will meet in Peyton’s Place. Winner advances to the AFC championship game. The Manning-led Broncos will play Luck’s Indianapolis Colts on Sunday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in a second-round AFC playoff game.

Manning, 38, not only is considered a first-ballot Hall of Famer but is in the discussion for best quarterback ever. And yet, Luck, 25, is such a phenomenal talent the Colts made room for him by releasing Manning in 2012.

The Broncos hope that it’s still not time for Luck to supplant Manning.

“I think Peyton’s doing fine,” Broncos receiver Demaryius Thomas said on a conference call with the Denver media Sunday. “The first game of the season he was fine.”

The difference is, when the Colts lost to the Broncos, 31-24 in the season opener in Denver back on Sept. 7, each team had 15 more regular-season games to play.

The Broncos didn’t have to play in the AFC playoffs’ first round to advance. They finished with a 12-4 record that earned a No. 2 seed and first-round bye. The No. 4 seeded Colts finished 11-5 for a third consecutive season and beat the Cincinnati Bengals, 26-10, on Sunday at the Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium for the right to travel next weekend to Denver.

Manning has posted a 38-10 record in his three seasons with the Broncos. He broke NFL records last year by throwing for 55 touchdowns and 5,477 yards.

Luck has gone 33-15 in his first three NFL seasons with the Colts, and led the NFL this season with 40 touchdown passes – one more than Manning’s 39 – and was third with 4,761 yards, 34 more than Manning.

“He’s one of those quarterbacks you don’t want to go against,” Broncos defensive end DeMarcus Ware said of Luck. “But the thing is you have to make sure you get pressure on him to make him one dimensional.”

In the season opener, before a Sunday night prime time audience, the Broncos went up 24-0 a couple ticks inside the 2 minute warning of the first half, and were leading 31-10 with 10 minutes left.

Luck led a Colts comeback, throwing two touchdown passes to close to within 31-24 and the Colts got the ball back with 2:58 remaining. They moved to the Broncos’ 39 before being stopped on downs.

“We have to play a 60-minute game against him,” Ware said.

So much has changed since that game. Broncos tight end Julius Thomas played large in the opener, catching seven passes for 104 yards and three touchdowns.

But since sustaining an ankle injury early in the Broncos’ 10th game at St. Louis, Thomas has only five catches for 66 yards and no touchdowns in the team’s last seven games.

In the opener, the Broncos’ top receiver of the past three seasons, Demaryius Thomas, was moved from his usual outside receiver position to the slot to replace the suspended Wes Welker.Thomas had only four catches for 48 yards and no touchdowns in the opener, but he finished with 111 receptions for 1,619 yards and 11 scores this season.

“It’s good to have Wes back and I can go back outside and do my best to play my best for the team and have a big impact,” Demaryius Thomas said.

C.J. Anderson was the Broncos’ best running back in opener, although the Broncos didn’t know it at the time. He ran for 27 yards on four carries, 6.8 yards per rush. Montee Ball, the Broncos’ starting running back, had 23 carries for 67 yards, 2.9 yards per rush. Ball later sustained a season-ending groin injury.

Ware, in his first game as a Bronco, was credited with 1.5 sacks of Luck. But Ware made only three sacks in his final 10 games, none in his last four.

“You go back and see what you did well if you played against one of the guys, let’s say a tackle,” Ware said. “But you’ve got to also see what you didn’t do well because they’re going to say, ‘Hey they didn’t do this well.’ “

For the Colts, Reggie Wayne was their top receiver in the opener with nine catches for 98 yards, but he made only 11 catches in his final five games, including one Sunday against the Bengals. T.Y. Hilton and tight end Coby Fleener have since emerged as Luck’s top targets.

Trent Richardson and Ahmad Bradshaw were the Colts’ top running backs in the opener. Bradshaw is on injured reserve and Richardson didn’t play in the Colts’ playoff victory against the Bengals. Daniel Herron made 12 carries for 56 yards, plus 10 catches for 85 yards.

The winner will play in the AFC championship on Jan. 18 against the winner of the Baltimore at New England game. If the Pats win the AFC championship that game will be played in Foxborough, Mass. If the Ravens win, then either the Broncos or Colts would host the conference title game.

Mike Klis: mklis@denverpost.com or at twitter.com/mikeklis

Broncos Playoffs

Time: 2:40 p.m. Sunday.

Place: Sports Authority Field at Mile High

Opponent: Indianapolis Colts

Odds: Broncos favored by eight points.

Key to beating Colts: The Broncos have the better defense. Either Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning must play better against the Colts’ defense than Colts’ quarterback Andrew Luck does against Denver’s defense or Broncos running back C.J. Anderson has to be effective.