Pittsburgh Steelers vs Denver Broncos Match Player Stats On Sep 09, 2012

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Sep 9, 2012

Broncos 31, Steelers 19: Peyton Manning completed 19 of 26 passes for 253 yards and a pair of touchdowns in his return to the NFL to lead host Denver past Pittsburgh.

Tracy Porter ran an interception back 43 yards for a score to seal it with 1:58 left and Knowshon Moreno rushed for a touchdown for the Broncos (1-0), who have taken two straight from the Steelers - including last January’s playoff triumph.

Manning, who sat out last season after undergoing neck surgery, led a pair of scoring drives in the fourth quarter. Pittsburgh (0-1) took a 19-14 lead with 14:11 left but missed the two-point conversion and allowed Denver to march 80 yards in 10 plays on the following drive, with Manning hitting tight end Jacob Tamme on a 1-yard scoring pass that gave the Broncos the lead for good.

Matt Prater tacked on a 26-yard field goal and Porter made sure the Steelers could not come back by stepping in front of Emmanuel Sanders and picking off Ben Roethlisberger.

Playing his first game with the Broncos after spending his entire career with the Indianapolis Colts, Manning took a little while to get his feet under him but started to shake the rust off in the second quarter. The four-time MVP directed a 12-play, 80-yard no-huddle drive in which he completed 6 of 7 passes and scrambled for a first down before handing it off to Moreno for a 7-yard touchdown run.

Roethlisberger responded on the ensuing drive for the Steelers, directing his own no-huddle attack 89 yards and finding tight end Heath Miller for a 4-yard touchdown pass. That gave Pittsburgh a 10-7 edge at the half.

Manning watched the Steelers settle for a field goal out of the break and then needed only two plays to notch his first touchdown pass with the Broncos. Manning found Demaryius Thomas on the right side and watched him run untouched for a 71-yard score.

With that score, Manning became the third player in NFL history with 400 career touchdown passes, joining Brett Favre and Dan Marino.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Steelers were without S Ryan Clark (blood disorder), LB James Harrison (knee) and RB Rashard Mendenhall (knee). … Thomas scored on an 80-yard pass play in overtime in the playoffs to knock out Pittsburgh last January. … Roethlisberger was sacked three times on the final drive and finished 22 of 40 for 245 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. … Denver LB Von Miller recorded a pair of sacks.