Peyton Manning was having trouble getting back on track after a rough opening week. But Emmanuel Sanders helped him move in the right direction.
Manning targeted Sanders 14 times with eight completions for 87 yards, two touchdowns and seven first downs. When he absolutely had to find Sanders he did, going 6-of-7 (including five first downs) when targeting Sanders on third down. Sanders led the NFL with 24 third-down receptions that netted first downs in 2014.
Manning didn’t lead the Broncos to the go-ahead score in Thursday's finish, but he did net them the tying one with a vintage 10-play, 80-yard Manning drive that took just 1 minute, 51 seconds.
The game-tying play
That score came on a throw 19 yards downfield, the kind of throw Manning struggled with in Week 1 and had struggled with in Thursday's game to that point.
Manning was 1-for-6 on throws 15 or more yards downfield in Week 1 and 2-for-9 on those throws in Thursday's game.
But he was 1-for-1 when it counted most.
Improbable finish
How unlikely was this win?
This marked the first time that Manning won a game after trailing in the final minute of the fourth quarter since 2009, when his Colts topped the Patriots in Week 10. The Colts scored twice in the final 2:23, first on Joseph Addai’s touchdown run and then on Manning’s one-yard pass to Reggie Wayne with 13 seconds left.
The last time the Broncos won a game in regulation after trailing by seven or more points in the final minute of the fourth quarter was 2008 Week 2 against the Chargers.
The Broncos' win probability bottomed out at 10 percent when they began the eventual tying drive with 2:27 to play.
