Cleveland Browns vs Denver Broncos Match Player Stats On Dec 23, 2012

SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 23, 2012

Broncos 34, Browns 12: Peyton Manning went 30-for-43 for 339 yards and three touchdowns as host Denver closed in on a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs.

Demaryius Thomas caught nine passes for 102 yards and a touchdown and Eric Decker added a pair of scoring receptions for the Broncos (12-3), who have won 10 straight. Denver leads the New England Patriots (11-4) by one game for the No. 2 seed with one game to play.

Brandon Weeden completed 12 of 19 passes for 104 yards before being knocked out in the third quarter with a shoulder injury for Cleveland (5-10). Trent Richardson rushed for 53 yards to pass Jim Brown (942) for the most by a rookie in franchise history.

Manning drove the Broncos 80 yards on each of their first two drives, finding Thomas for a 22-yard score to cap the first and hitting Decker with a 10-yard touchdown pass to make it a 14-3 lead on the second.

The Browns would drive for a field goal to start the third quarter but Manning and Denver responded with a 12-play, 91-yard drive to make it a 21-6 gap. A 27-yard field goal and Jacob Hester’s 1-yard touchdown run with 12:14 left put it away.

GAME NOTEBOOK: The Broncos do not own the tiebreaker over the Patriots and will need to win next week at home against the NFL-worst Kansas City Chiefs to lock up the No. 2 spot. Denver can also secure the No. 1 seed with a win and a loss by Houston at Indianapolis. … Denver’s 10-game winning streak is the longest for the franchise since the 1998 Super Bowl-winning team started out 13-0. … Cleveland QB Colt McCoy came on in relief of Weeden and threw a touchdown pass to Greg Little with eight minutes left in the game.