Denver Broncos vs San Diego Chargers Match Player Stats On Dec 14, 2014

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 14, 2014

Broncos 22, Chargers 10: Peyton Manning overcame a thigh injury to throw a touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas as visiting Denver clinched its fourth consecutive AFC West title.

Manning exited the contest late in the second quarter but returned to finish 14-of-20 for 233 yards for the Broncos (11-3), who completed a sweep of the two-game season series against San Diego with their fourth straight victory overall. Connor Barth kicked five field goals, Thomas made six catches for 123 yards and C.J. Anderson gained 85 yards to keep Denver tied with New England for the best record in the conference, although the Patriots hold the tiebreaker.

Philip Rivers completed 24-of-41 passes for 232 yards with a touchdown but threw a pair of interceptions for the Chargers (8-6), who converted 6-of-13 third-down attempts. Tight end Antonio Gates had six receptions for 54 yards and a TD while Branden Oliver registered 70 total yards (26 rushing, 44 receiving).

The first half amounted to nothing more than a field-goal frenzy as Barth kicked a pair of 19-yarders and booted one from 26 yards to stake Denver to a 9-0 lead. Nick Novak got in on the fun just before halftime, converting a 30-yard attempt to get San Diego on the board.

Manning was back on the field after the break and guided the Broncos to the first touchdown of the game, capping a seven-play, 73-yard drive with a 28-yard pass to Thomas with 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter. The Chargers finally found the end zone with 10:13 left in the fourth as Rivers connected with Gates on a 5-yard score to get within 16-10, but Barth nailed kicks of 49 and 44 yards in the final 4:53 to secure the win.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Manning headed to the locker room before halftime after making a block on a third-down running play. While not affecting his performance in the second half, the injury was causing the superstar to wince noticeably after several plays. ... Manning extended his NFL record streak, eclipsing the mark of 4,000 passing yards for the 14th straight season. ... Gates joined New England's Rob Gronkowski as the only TEs in NFL history with four seasons of at least 10 TD catches. He also moved within two scoring receptions of tying Don Hutson (99) for ninth place on the all-time list.