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Arizona Cardinals at Denver Broncos

Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, Colorado

Sunday, October 05, 2014 4:05 PM

Arizona Cardinals 20
Denver Broncos 41
47.0
-8
Final

Cardinals Broncos Game Recap


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 reach 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 grabs, 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 had 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 to draw Arizona within 24-20 with 3:16 to go in the third quarter, but Denver answered with a 41-yard field goal by Brandon McManus on its next trip and then Manning found Julius Thomas for a 12-yard score with 7:47 left in the contest. The Broncos finished 7-of-16 on third down while the Cardinals failed on 13 of their 16 third-down 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 grabs for 57 yards.

Preview: Arizona Cardinals at Denver Broncos


The Arizona Cardinals are one of two undefeated teams remaining in the NFL, but they will face a stiff test Sunday when they visit Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos. The Cardinals have posted home wins against a pair of 2013 playoff teams (Chargers, 49ers) and defeated the Giants on the road before their bye week allowed coach Bruce Arians' team plenty of time to prepare for the reigning AFC champions. "It's a big road game against a team that went to the Super Bowl last year and is going to be a playoff team again this year, so it's a good barometer for us on the road," Arians said.

The Broncos also are coming off a bye following their wild 26-20 overtime loss at Seattle in a rematch of last season's Super Bowl. Manning threw for a season-high 303 yards in that contest and now has eight touchdowns on the season, bringing him within one of becoming just the second quarterback in league history to reach 500 for his career. "It's greatness," Broncos coach John Fox said. "When somebody reaches that kind of statistic in their career, it's pretty remarkable."

TV: 4:05 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Broncos -7.5. O/U: 47.5

ABOUT THE CARDINALS (3-0): With Carson Palmer (shoulder) likely sidelined for the second straight week, Drew Stanton expects to get the call again after passing for 244 yards and two touchdowns - both to rookie John Brown - in a Week 3 comeback victory over San Francisco. Of course, it's easy to secure come-from-behind wins when you don't allow any fourth-quarter points, and Arizona has outscored its opponents 30-0 in the fourth quarter this season. Star wideout Larry Fitzgerald has been relatively quiet to start the season with 10 catches for 107 yards and more fumbles (one) than touchdowns (zero).

ABOUT THE BRONCOS (2-1): Manning, who trails only Brett Favre (508) for the all-time touchdown passes mark, has thrown multiple TD passes in 30 of the 35 regular-season games he has played for the Broncos. Julius Thomas leads the way with five TDs this season while Emmanuel Sanders is still looking for his first, even though he leads the team in targets (33), catches (25), yards (334) and first downs (15). The biggest issue for the Denver offense at the moment is a running game that produced 36 yards on 20 carries against the Seahawks, prompting Montee Ball to admit that "right now, we need a lot of work."

EXTRA POINTS

1. Arizona has won five straight games against AFC teams and has won 10 of its last 12 games overall.

2. The Broncos are expected to have LB Danny Trevathan, the team's leading tackler in 2013, back on the field after he missed the first three games with a leg injury.

3. The Cardinals won the last meeting in 2010 after losing their previous seven matchups with Denver.

PREDICTION: Broncos 31, Cardinals 21
Away Spread Consensus 48% Cardinals (8.0) Home Spread Consensus 52% Broncos (-8.0)
Total Over Consensus 58% Over (47.0) Total Under Consensus 42% Under (47.0)
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