Arizona Cardinals vs Denver Broncos Match Player Stats On Oct 05, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Oct 5, 2014

Broncos 41, Cardinals 20: Peyton Manning enjoyed one of the greatest performances of his legendary career, throwing for a career-high 479 yards and four touchdowns as host Denver handed Arizona its first defeat.

The Broncos (3-1) outgained the Cardinals (3-1) by a 568-215 margin, thanks mostly to Manning, who joined Brett Favre as the only quarterbacks in NFL history to throw 500 career touchdown passes. Manning finished 31-of-47 with two TD strikes apiece to Demaryius Thomas (eight catches, 226 yards) and Julius Thomas (six receptions, 66 yards).

With Carson Palmer (shoulder) sitting out again, Arizona's Drew Stanton was 11-of-26 for 118 yards before leaving with a concussion, at which point rookie Logan Thomas came on and struggled mightily. Andre Ellington gained 144 total yards and scored a touchdown both on the ground and through the air for the Cardinals, who had won 10 of their previous 12 games.

Manning reached the 500-touchdown plateau with a well-thrown, 7-yard out to Julius Thomas with 4:43 left in the first quarter, giving Denver a 7-3 lead that was pushed to 21-13 at halftime thanks to two TD strikes from Manning to Demaryius Thomas in the second quarter - including an 86-yard catch-and-run down the left sideline. Manning had 282 yards and three touchdowns in the first half while Demaryius Thomas had 165 receiving yards and two scores in the opening 30 minutes.

Logan Thomas found Ellington for an 81-yard TD with 3:03 left in the third quarter to draw Arizona within 24-20, but Denver answered with a 41-yard field goal by Brandon McManus on its next possession, and Manning found Julius Thomas for a 12-yard score with 7:47 remaining in the contest. The Broncos finished 7-for-16 on third down while the Cardinals failed on 13 of their 16 attempts.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Demaryius Thomas and Julius Thomas were joined by Emmanuel Sanders (seven catches, 101 yards) and Wes Welker (seven catches, 58 yards) as Broncos receivers who fared well against the Cardinals' secondary. ... Denver's Ronnie Hillman led all rushers with 64 yards on 15 carries while teammate Juwan Thompson scored his first career touchdown on an 8-yard run in the waning minutes. ... Arizona WR Larry Fitzgerald continued his quiet start to the season with three receptions for 57 yards.