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National Football League
Denver 35, San Diego 21
When: 8:25 PM ET, Thursday, October 23, 2014
Where: Sports Authority Field at Mile High, Denver, Colorado
Temperature: 68°
Head Official: Terry McAulay
Attendance: 76907

Broncos 35, Chargers 21: Peyton Manning and Emmanuel Sanders hooked up for three touchdowns and Juwan Thompson added two short scoring runs as host Denver rolled past San Diego for its fourth straight win.

Manning, who finished 25-of-35 for 286 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, has thrown at least one TD pass in 46 straight games and at least two in 13 in a row. Sanders had nine receptions for 120 yards while Demaryius Thomas added eight catches for 105 yards and Ronnie Hillman rushed for 109 yards on 20 carries for the Broncos (6-1).

Philip Rivers went 30-of-41 for 252 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions for the Chargers (5-3), who have lost two straight following a five-game winning streak. Tight end Antonio Gates caught two TD passes and finished with five receptions for 54 yards, passing Lance Alworth as the franchise's all-time leader with 9,610 receiving yards.

Both offenses were relatively quiet in the first half, but Manning found Sanders for a 2-yard TD pass to open the scoring and answered Rivers' 2-yard scoring toss to Keenan Allen with a 31-yard bomb to Sanders with 32 seconds left in the half. The Broncos added to their lead on their first two possessions of the second half, with Manning and Sanders hooking up for a 3-yard TD and Thompson punching in a 2-yard score to make it 28-7.

Rivers drove the Chargers 80 yards and hit Gates for a 4-yard touchdown with 2:39 left in the third quarter, but Thompson's 1-yard plunge finished off a 65-yard march to restore the 21-point margin. Rivers' 10-yard scoring pass to Gates kept San Diego's slim hopes alive, but Rahim Moore picked off Rivers' deep pass for Malcom Floyd on the Chargers' next series to thwart any chance of a comeback.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Rivers has thrown a touchdown pass in a franchise-record 28 consecutive games and has multiple TD passes in seven straight, breaking a tie with Dan Fouts for the club mark. … Five of Allen's 11 career touchdown receptions have come against Denver. … San Diego had only 61 rushing yards on 15 attempts, the fourth consecutive game Denver has held the opposition to 62 or fewer yards on the ground.

Top Game Performances
Rushing
San Diego   Denver
Branden Oliver Player Ronnie Hillman
13 Attempts 20
36 Yards 109
2.8 Avg Yards 5.4
0 Touchdowns 0
23 Long 37
Receiving
San Diego   Denver
Keenan Allen Player Emmanuel Sanders
9 Receptions 9
73 Yards 120
8.1 Avg Yards 13.3
1 Touchdowns 3
19 Long 38
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
San Diego 306 61 245 3 0 0 0.0 1
Denver 425 139 286 5 0 2 2.0 0
Upcoming Games
  • Denver will play their next game on the road against New England. The Broncos have a W/L % of .833 after a win and 1.000 after a loss.
  • San Diego will play their next game on the road against Miami. The Chargers have a W/L % of .667 after a win and .500 after a loss.