DENVER -- If you were to make a list of the things that would have to happen for the Denver Broncos to score 47 points, a Peyton Manning touchdown pass would be at, or near, the top.
It might be at the top of a list of things that would have to happen for the Broncos to score 27 points. Or, maybe even 17.
But as the Broncos put the finishing touches on a 47-14 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday in Sports Authority Field at Mile High, they earned a bye for the wild-card round of the postseason, got a postseason home game and won their 12th game of the season.
And they did it without a touchdown pass from Manning.
"I just think a lot of people are going to say this or say that," Broncos running back C.J. Anderson said. "And as an offense, we were clicking on all cylinders, and when we’re like that these are the games we can have."
In the past four games, Manning has gone without a touchdown pass twice and the Broncos have won both games -- 24-17 against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 7 and over the Raiders on Sunday. Those also happen to be the only two regular-season games in Manning’s tenure in Denver in which he has not thrown at least one touchdown pass, a remarkable thing given that has thrown 181 touchdown passes in his 48 regular-season starts for the Broncos.
In December, Manning had three touchdown passes in four games combined and the Broncos still went 3-1 down the stretch. And granted, there were times the Raiders (3-13) had the look of a team with one foot well into the offseason, there is still an element of good news, bad news to all of this for any prospective Broncos' postseason opponent.
On one hand, playoff opponents will take some solace that Manning looked almost human, almost regular, in this year’s stretch drive as compared to last December when he threw 19 touchdown passes in five games. Some defenses have had some success getting to Manning in the middle of the field, jostling him around the pocket. As has been the case in much of his two previous seasons in Denver, if you got Manning off his game, you often got the Broncos off theirs.
However, some feel things have changed.
"We feel like this is a different team," Broncos defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. "We feel like we bring some things to the table. … Last year we were the No. 1 seed and we didn’t win the Super Bowl. This year we’re taking a different road with a different team."
Ultimately what happens over the next few weeks will be the real judge of whether the Broncos have brought enough to this postseason’s table. But they are ranked No. 3 in total defense, No. 2 against the run and tied for sixth in interceptions.
Offensively, after a 10-carry game in St. Louis that rattled their sensibilities, the Broncos rushed for at least 133 yards in four of their past six games -- they had 142 against the Raiders -- and they topped the 200-yard mark twice. Anderson has seven rushing touchdowns in the past four games and Ronnie Hillman, who returned to the lineup Sunday after missing six games with a left foot injury and, as Manning put it, "the two of those guys can be a pretty good one-two punch."
The Broncos spent an offseason and regular season trying to be more than a Manning-led offense that couldn’t survive the biggest games if the future Hall of Fame quarterback had an off day. They spent piles of cash and expended some draft picks to build a team around Manning that could take some weight off his shoulders, so as John Elway has said many times "he doesn’t feel like he has to do everything."
They’ve done it well enough to finish 12-4, to win a fourth consecutive division title and to make themselves the AFC’s No. 2 seed. Is it enough to win a Super Bowl?
