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 Peyton Manning was unfazed by the once-fearsome Kansas City pass
rush, and the Denver Broncos' offense was humming in a victory over
the Chiefs that gave them control of the AFC West.
Manning threw for 403 yards and five touchdowns, four of them to
Eric Decker, in the 35-28 victory at Arrowhead Stadium. It came on
the heels of Manning's big game just three weeks ago, when the
Broncos dealt the Chiefs their first loss of the season at Mile High
Stadium.
"We played them two weeks ago in a close game, a tough game,"
Manning said. "We knew we'd get their best shot. They came out hot
and made some plays early and we did a good job of persevering."
Much better job than the Chiefs.
Kansas City squandered a 21-7 lead by allowing 28 unanswered points,
yet still had a chance in the final minutes of the game. Jamaal
Charles ran for a touchdown with 6:32 left to get within a
touchdown, and then the Chiefs got the ball back when Denver was
forced to punt.
Three long passes moved the Chiefs downfield, but Alex Smith's pass
to Dwayne Bowe in the end zone on fourth-and-4 with 1:45 left fell
incomplete, allowing the Broncos to run out the clock.
"Hard-fought game," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. "Two good football
teams playing each other, and it came right down to the end."
Decker had eight catches for a career-high 174 yards for the Broncos
(10-2), who moved a game clear of the Chiefs (9-3) in the division.
Montee Ball added 117 yards rushing.
With four games left, Denver also holds the tiebreaker by virtue of
two wins over Kansas City in the past three weeks. The Broncos have
the AFC's best record.
"It was a gritty, gritty effort on the road," said interim coach
Jack Del Rio, who led the Broncos to a 3-1 record while coach John
Fox was recovering from heart surgery.
Fox is due to return to the team on Monday.
"We went through a tough stretch. We missed him," Del Rio said, "and
it'll be great to have him back. As a football team, we took care of
our business here and put ourselves in control."
[to top of second column] |
As the Broncos and Chiefs head toward the playoffs — where they
might meet again — here are five things that stood out from their
second game of the season: MANNING'S THE MAN: Manning has now thrown 41
touchdown passes this season, breaking his team record of 37 set
last season. He also eclipsed the 4,000-yard mark for the 13th
time. "He's just a great quarterback," Chiefs defensive back
Quintin Demps said. "He just knows where to put the ball. The
way he reads the defense is impeccable."
CHARLES IN CHARGE: Charles ran for 93 yards and caught two
passes for 27 yards to lead the Kansas City offense. Along the
way, he became the fifth Chiefs player with 1,000 attempts in
his career and the first with four 1,000-yard seasons. "I want
to be one of the best that played in this organization," Charles
said. "Not just in my organization but in my class, and in the
NFL. It's an honor to go over 1,000 yards. But we've got more
football and I hope I can go out there and break more records
and make history."
INJURY BUG: The Broncos were missing defensive tackle Kevin
Vickerson (hip fracture), defensive end Derek Wolfe (illness),
cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (shoulder) and tight end
Julius Thomas (knee). The Chiefs were playing without linebacker
Justin Houston (elbow), and then lost left tackle Brandon Albert
(knee) and tight end Anthony Fasano (concussion) during the
game.
DROPPED PASSES: The Chiefs were plagued by dropped passes, some
of which would have resulted in some big gains. Donnie Avery was
the culprit on several, but he wasn't alone. Fasano dropped a
long pass on the play on which he sustained his concussion.
"It's my job to keep throwing them," Smith said. "I certainly
missed my fair share as well. That's the nature of the passing
game. You're striving for perfection. You'd like to hit every
one, but it's not going to happen."
BALL ROLLING: Ball helped carry the load for Knowshon Moreno,
who played despite an ankle injury sustained last week in New
England. It was the first time that Ball had run for more than
100 yards in a game. "For me, it was show-up-or-shut-up time,"
Ball said. "Sit on the bench and shut up if I don't make plays
for my teammates. I was just really decisive today."
___
AP NFL website:
http://pro32.ap.org/
[Associated
Press; DAVE SKRETTA, AP Sports Writer]
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