Foxboro, MA (SportsNetwork.com) – On the scoreboard as well as the stat sheet,
Tom Brady got the best of Peyton Manning once again.
With Brady tossing four touchdown passes and his New England teammates coming
up with two pivotal interceptions of Manning, the Patriots continued their
midseason roll with a 43-21 blowout of the Denver Broncos in matchup of AFC
powerhouses.
This highly anticipated showdown between last season’s conference title game
participants turned out to be not much of a contest at all, thanks to Brady’s
precision passing and a number of miscues from the reigning AFC champion
Broncos.
In addition to Manning’s two picks that were both converted into New England
touchdowns, Denver (6-2) committed 10 penalties, gave up an 84-yard punt
return to Julian Edelman and was stopped four times on fourth down to have a
four-game win streak come to an end.
Those errors were most costly during a second quarter in which the Patriots
put up 24 unanswered points to build a commanding 27-7 halftime lead.
Brady, now 11-5 all-time in head-to-head matchups with Manning, did his part
by completing 33-of-53 attempts for 333 yards with one interception. Rob
Gronkowski caught nine passes for 105 yards and one of Brady’s scoring
strikes, with Edelman adding nine receptions totaling 89 yards with a
touchdown along with his huge punt return.
New England (7-2) has averaged 40.2 points in ripping off five straight
victories since a 41-14 loss at Kansas City in Week 4.
Manning did put up 438 passing yards and two touchdowns on a 34-of-57
completion rate, but endured a mostly frustrating afternoon as the Patriots
dominated the final three quarters.
Emmanuel Sanders finished with 151 yards on 10 catches and Ronnie Hillman
scored a pair of touchdowns for Denver. Demaryius Thomas compiled 127 yards on
seven grabs in the loss.
