Broncos Break Out Early, Hold Off Colts In 31-24 Win

Denver Broncos (1-0) quarterback Peyton Manning and tight end Julius Thomas connected on three second quarter touchdowns while the defense shut down Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts (0-1) offense on consecutive, second half goal-line stands to hold on to a 31-24 victory on Sunday night at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

Thanks to the second quarter offensive explosion, the Broncos held a 24-0 lead before Luck and the Colts scratched out a last minute touchdown to close out the first half.

The Colts turned on the jets in the second half as they fought back furiously with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, including a 9-yard pass to Hakeem Nicks to pull within seven points of the Broncos with 3:36 remaining.

"We did manage to take advantage of some opportunities in the second half that we didn't in the first," said Luck. "It was good to get that two-minute drive right at the end of the half."

The Broncos offense, which struggled in the second half to score, was unable to make a first down to run the remaining time off the clock. After punting the ball back to the Colts, the defense was able to stop the Colts as rookie Bradley Roby knocked down a pass on fourth down that was intended for Reggie Wayne to secure the win.

"We've got to find a way to play all four quarters as an offense," Manning said. "Thank goodness the defense picked us up when the offense wasn't doing their job quite as well."

The Broncos first win of the season against the Colts is also Manning's first win against his former team as they become the last franchise to lose to the future hall of famer. Manning and Brett Favre are the only quarterbacks in NFL history to beat all 32 current franchises.

Manning ended the night 22 of 36 for 269 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. Without the suspended Robert Mathis, Manning didn't face the ferocious pressure that he did in the first meeting with his former team in 2013. Sunday night the Colts sacked Manning just once.

Thanks to being behind much of the game, Luck ended up throwing 53 times while completing 35 passes for 370 yards and two touchdowns. The Broncos intercepted the Colts' third year quarterback twice while sacking him three times.

The Broncos defense forced the Colts to punt on their opening drive. After taking over on the 20 yard line following the touchback, Manning took the Broncos on an 18-play, 77-yard drive that resulted in a 21-yard field goal by Brandon McManus to give the Broncos the early 3-0 lead.

The drive began with three consecutive completions from Manning to Emmanuel Sanders for a total of 21 yards. Manning has grown more comfortable with Sanders as a reliable target as well as utilizing his speed on end-around plays coming out of the backfield.

Thomas, who tied hall of fame tight end Shannon Sharpe's franchise record with three touchdowns, accomplished it on three consecutive drives in the second quarter. The first came on a third-and-goal from the 3-yard line when Manning hit Thomas in the endzone to put the Broncos up 10-0 with 14:19 remaining in the half. The second touchdown pass came on the Broncos next drive with Manning completing a short pass from the Colts 35-yard line that Thomas ran all the way in to the endzone. The final touchdown came on second-and-goal from the 5-yard line. Manning dumped off a short pass that Thomas ran in to give the Broncos a 24-0 lead with 1:57 remaining in the half.

"I don't know if we saw a mismatch," Manning said. "Julius is a guy you try to get the ball to. He can be a matchup problem for certain defenses."

Luck and the Colts offense found it difficult to get things going through most of the first half against the Broncos defense. Their first four drives resulted in three punts and an interception by Rahim Moore on a pass that was tipped by Aqib Talib.

It wasn't until 1:57 remaining in the first half that the Colts offense was able to put together a quick scoring drive that covered 80 yards in just 1:38. The drive was capped by a 9-yard scramble by Luck who dove the final two yards and touched the endzone pylon with the ball for a touchdown. The initial ruling was that Luck had stepped out of bounds at the 2-yard line. After the replay was reviewed the ruling was reversed and a touchdown given to Luck to put the Colts on the board and head into halftime down 24-7.

The Colts defense came alive in the third quarter as they held Manning and the Broncos offense out of the endzone, giving Luck and his offense every chance to close the gap.

Twice in the third quarter the Colts found themselves with goal-to-go situations. On a fourth-and-goal from the two, Luck kept the ball and attempted to run straight ahead. He was met immediately by linebacker Brandon Marshall for a one yard loss and the Broncos took over on downs with 10:22 remaining in the third quarter.

"It was a stupid decision of mine to go for that QB sneak and get stoned," Luck said.

On the next drive the Colts made their way to the Broncos' 6-yard line with a third-and-goal. Defensive end DeMarcus Ware sacked Luck on the 7-yard line, forcing the Colts to settle for a short field goal from Adam Vinatieri to make it a 24-10 Broncos lead.

The Broncos would score their first touchdown of the second half with 10:02 remaining in the fourth quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by Montee Ball to increase the lead to 31-10.

The Colts offense followed with an offensive explosion as they attempted a furious fourth quarter comeback. Taking just 2:08 off the clock, Luck drove the Colts 80-yards for a touchdown. On a third-and-2 from the Denver 41, Luck completed a short pass to tight end Dwayne Allen for a 41-yard touchdown to close the gap to 31-17 with 7:57 remaining in the game.

The Colts attempted an onside kick that bounced off of Thomas and recovered by Colts linebacker Andy Studebaker at their own 43-yard line. The drive was stopped at the Broncos 11-yard line by a Moore interception.

The Colts defense forced a three-and-out by the Broncos that included a sack of Manning by linebacker Erik Walden at the 7-yard line.

Following a 42-yard punt by Britton Colquitt, the Colts took over at the Denver 49-yard line with 4:27 remaining. Luck completed a 19-yard pass to Wayne and a 16-yard pass to Richardson who was shoved out of bounds by Roby at the Denver 10-yard line. Two plays later, Luck found Nicks in the endzone for the touchdown. The drive was completed in just :49 seconds and the Colts found themselves down by just a touchdown, 31-24.

The Broncos had an opportunity to run time off the clock but a Ball run for no gain and two incomplete passes later the Colts were getting the ball back with 2:58 remaining.

The Colts took over at their own 36-yard line. From the shotgun, Luck completed a 9-yard pass to Nicks and a 12-yard pass to tight end Coby Fleener for a first down at the Denver 43-yard line. Two incomplete passes and a false start penalty later the Colts were facing a third-and-15 from the Denver 48-yard line.

Once again out of the shotgun, Luck completed a 9-yard pass to wide receiver T.Y. Hilton at the two-minute warning. Facing fourth-and-6 from the Denver 39-yard line, Luck threw a short pass toward Wayne that was deflected by Roby to preserve the win.

"We said we've got to make a play to win the game," Roby said. "We can't rely on the offense. It's on us."

Questions Answered?

Coming into the night the Broncos faced questions over how they would perform following their blowout loss to the Seattle Seahawks in Super Bowl XLVIII, how he running game would perform with Knowshon Moreno in Miami, and how would they replace the suspended Wes Welker?

Their performance against the Colts shows that there isn't any hangover from the Super Bowl. In fact, they may be even more focused than last year. With a revamped defense that made two goal line stands and stopped the Colts on fourth down to secure the victory, this Broncos team is more balanced than the 2013 version and has a Super Bowl caliber defense to go along with the Super Bowl Caliber offense.

Montee Ball carried the football 23 times for 67 yards and a touchdown against the Colts. He ran the ball with authority and gained extra yards following first contact with a Colt defender. Even more important, Ball didn't fumble the football, a persistent problem with the running backs last season.

With the performance of Julius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders, it would appear the Broncos have adjusted for the loss of Welker. Taking nothing away from Welker, he does make the team better when he is in there. However, the Broncos have adapted their offense and can still score at will without him.

Coming Up:

The Colts head home to face the 1-0 Philadelphia Eagles who came back from an early deficit to defeat the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars 34-17. The Colts will play the Eagles on Monday night Football next Monday.

The Broncos stay home to take on division rival Kansas City Chiefs (0-1) who dropped their home opener against the Tennessee Titans 26-10.