TotalBroncos

DENVER (AP) – Peyton Manning isn’t the only player the Denver Broncos brought in to make things happen. Von Miller got the call from Denver, too, and the second-year linebacker is becoming as big of a headache for Broncos opponents as Manning is. On a day Manning threw three more touchdown passes, Miller added three sacks and two forced fumbles to his tally to make it a miserable afternoon for Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers in a 30-23 win on Sunday. The Broncos (7-3) stretched their lead in the AFC West to three games, and Rivers was all but conceding the division. “They’re not losing four of six, I can guarantee you that,” said the quarterback, whose team fell to 4-6. Not if the Denver defense keeps playing this way. And especially not if Manning stays on the pace he’s enjoying in his first season in the Mile High City. He won his 148th regular-season game to tie Hall of Famer John Elway for second on the all-time list for starting quarterbacks. He’s 38 behind Brett Favre. Manning was far from his best, too. The numbers looked decent – 25 of 42 for 270 yards – but he threw an interception that safety Eric Weddle returned for a 23-yard touchdown and was sacked for a safety. “I guess I have to point out the obvious: That’s a good NFL football team,” Manning said. “We’ll take the win and run with it.” But they may be running with it without Willis McGahee , who hurt his right knee early in the second quarter when he was tackled by defensive back Quentin Jammer and didn’t return. “It kind of swelled up so we’re just going to be precautionary,” Broncos coach John Fox explained. “We’ll evaluate him moving forward.” With McGahee out, running responsibilities fell to Lance Ball and rookie Ronnie Hillman . Ball’s biggest contribution may have been on a block, when he slid over to pick up a blitzing linebacker to give Manning time to step up in the pocket and hit Eric Decker in stride for a 20-yard touchdown. Hillman broke off a couple of solid runs, including a 21-yarder in the first quarter. Still, the offense just wasn’t clicking the same way as it does when McGahee’s lining up in the backfield. “We hope he’s OK,” Manning said. Playing way better than ‘OK’ was Miller, who made things quite uncomfortable for Rivers. The speedy linebacker took over the league lead from Houston defensive lineman J.J. Watt with his three-sack performance. Miller has seven of his 13 sacks in the last three games. “He’s just getting started,” said defensive end Elvis Dumervil , who brought down Rivers on the final play of the game. “He’s crazy. Crazy day for him.” Miller used some nifty moves to get to Rivers over and over and over again. Then, the real show began as he showed off his choreographed dance steps. Miller, the second-overall pick out of Texas A&M last season, joined Reggie White, Jevon Kearse and Dwight Freeney as only the fourth player to record 11 or more sacks in his first two seasons. His role model, though, is the late Derrick Thomas. Miller wears No. 58 as a tribute to the late Chiefs Hall of Famer and can take over a game just like Thomas used to as well. “To be even in the same breath with that guy is humbling,” Miller said. “It’s about wearing `58′ and playing in a way he would play.” Miller was constantly in the Chargers backfield, beating anyone they assigned to stop him. Even when Miller wasn’t getting to Rivers, the quarterback was still hearing his footsteps. Take this for instance: Late in the fourth quarter, Miller was chipped by tight end Antonio Gates and completely out of the play. Only, he quickly regained his balance enough to disrupt Rivers, who overthrew his target and into the hands of Broncos safety Jim Leonhard . Such was the day for Rivers. Such has been the season for the Chargers, whose postseason chances have grown even bleaker. “We can’t worry about that. We just have to go try and win a game,” said Rivers, who threw two TD passes along and two interceptions. “We have to hang our hat on controlling what we can control.” The Chargers jumped out to a 7-0 lead when Manning’s pass was batted up in the air and picked off by Weddle, who raced 23 yards for the score. San Diego also intercepted Manning for a score on Oct. 15 as the Chargers raced out to a 24-0 halftime lead. But Denver scored 35 unanswered points in the second half for a 35-24 win. This time, there were no big comebacks necessary. Denver led 30-16 after a field goal by Matt Prater with 4:14 remaining. Danario Alexander hauled in a late 21-yard TD pass but the Chargers couldn’t recover the onside kick. “We aren’t the type of team that gives up,” receiver Malcom Floyd said. “All we can do is just keep chipping.” The Broncos feel the same way. In their eyes, they’ve secured nothing even after winning five straight. “Having a nice (division) lead, it’s comfortable, but we need to get back at it and get better every week,” Decker said. “We’ve got bigger goals ahead of us.” NOTES : Broncos special teams stalwart Omar Bolden suffered a concussion in the first quarter and didn’t return. … LB Nate Irving ‘s block of Mike Scifres ‘ punt was the first for the Broncos since Oct. 7, 2007, against the Chargers. … Playing in his first game after missing the start of the season due to suspension, Broncos LB D.J. Williams finished with four tackles and one for a loss. “It’s been so long since I’ve been in a live football game, be out there and be able to hit somebody,” he said. … Rex Hadnot replaced LG Tyronne Green (hamstring) in the second quarter and David Molk replaced RG Louis Vasquez , who was shaken up but returned after halftime. … LB Larry English (leg), Jammer (calf) also got hurt. By PAT GRAHAM, AP Sports Writer (© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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Von Miller Dominates With 3 Sacks, 2 Forced Fumbles

The Arizona Cardinals’ quarterbacks: It’s quite something if the quarterback on the other side of the field throws three picks in the first quarter, and five in the entire game, and he’s just the third-worst quarterback on the field. So it was for the Arizona Cardinals, who were gifted with five picks from Atlanta’s Matt Ryan, and still lost the game, 23-19. This happened in part because Cards head coach had to bench John Skelton in the first quarter — Skelton completed 2 of 7 passes for 6 yards before he was unceremoniously yanked in favor of sixth-round rookie Ryan Lindley. Our buddy Greg Cosell once told me that if you took Lindley’s 20 best plays from his San Diego State tape, you’d have one heck of a highlight reel, but none of those plays were in evidence against the Falcons. Lindley completed 9 of 20 passes for 64 yards, was sacked three times, and lost a fumble that the Falcons returned for a touchdown. In the entire game, the Cards amassed THREE first downs through the air. It wasn’t Lindley’s fault entirely — you can start with the fact that both of his offensive tackles were also low-drafted rookie — but it’s tough to think of another franchise that has whiffed on the quarterback position more mightily over the last few seasons. Matt Ryan, QB, Atlanta Falcons: Just a note about the “Quarterback Wins” metric: As we mentioned, Ryan threw five picks and no touchdowns, and his team won anyway. This victory will be added to Ryan’s burgeoning “win” total, which explains why it’s the single dumbest metric in all of sports. Ed Hochuli and his crew: We’re sorry (and somewhat frightened) to criticize Big Ed, but the ref with the NFL’s biggest guns did not have the best day on Sunday, when they presided over the Dallas Cowboys’ 23-20 overtime win over the Cleveland Browns. With 1:23 left in regulation, Cowboys punter Brian Moorman booted the ball 49 yards to the Cleveland 47-yad line, where Browns receiver Josh Cribbs began a 21-yard return. At the end of the return, Cowboys tight end John Phillips was busted for a horse-collar tackle on Cribbs, when he took Cribbs down by the hair — which is a legal method of tackling. Given an extra 15 yards, Browns quarterback Brandon Weeden threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to tight end Ben Watson. Then, with 8:41 left in overtime, Tony Romo threw a pass to Dez Bryant which certainly looked to be a catch and fumble — Bryant took the ball in cleanly, maintained possession, and took three full steps before the ball was punched out by Browns cornerback Sheldon Brown. But no, the refs said — the play was whistled dead, there was no review available because of that rogue whistle. On the next play, Romo threw a slant to Miles Austin which seemed questionable at best — Austin did not appear to maintain possession of the ball and make a football move before he was taken down — but the catch was confirmed on review. The Cowboys were able to continue what became their game-winning drive, which ended when Dan Bailey kicked a 38-yard field goal three plays after the Austin catch. Ed has the big name, but he’s got to take the fall for a very inconsistent game. The San Diego Chargers’ offensive line: This was weird.

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Week 11 LVPs: Can anybody play quarterback in Arizona? (Shutdown Corner)

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski became the first tight end in NFL history to have three consecutive seasons with 10 or more receiving touchdowns during Sunday’s 59-24 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Gronkowski also exited the game with what Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports is a broken bone in his forearm that will keep him out for four-to-six weeks. In addition to Gronkowski, first round defensive end Chandler Jones suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter and did not return. Jones had played in 90.63 percent of the Patriots’ defensive snaps entering Sunday’s game and has a team-high six sacks on the season, but his status for Thursday night’s game against the New York Jets is in question. Colts No. 2 wide receiver Donnie Avery suffered a concussion and veteran defensive end Cory Redding was carted to the locker room with a hip injury. Philadelphia Eagles running back LeSean McCoy suffered a concussion in the final two minutes of Sunday’s 31-6 loss to the Washington Redskins. McCoy had 15 carries for 45 yards and six receptions for 67 yards against the Redskins, but his touchdown drought reached a third consecutive game. One can’t help but wonder why the Eagles had their top running back in the game in the final two minutes of a blowout loss. An update on McCoy’s status is expected on Monday. The Dallas Cowboys lost left tackle Tyron Smith to a high left ankle sprain in the first half of their 23-20 overtime win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Jermey Parnell replaced Smith, who is unlikely to play against the Redskins on Thanksgiving. ” It’s high ankle, which bothers the daylight out of you ,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said via Jon Machota of the Dallas Morning News. “But he was in good enough shape with it to go in, but we know how those things are. But man is he a focused young man and if anybody could fight through this level — and don’t ask me what level I’m talking about — but the trainers were a little more than usual optimistic that it might not be as bad as it can be.” Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blaine Gabbert injured his right elbow on the opening series and was ably replaced by veteran Chad Henne, who completed 16-of-33 pass attempts for 354 yards with four touchdowns in the 43-37 overtime loss to the Houston Texans. Gabbert was initially listed as “probable” to return, but was downgraded to “questionable” then “doubtful” as Henne put points on the scoreboard.

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Rob Gronkowski, LeSean McCoy headline Week 11′s injury roundup (Shutdown Corner)

DENVER (AP) — Peyton Manning isn’t the only player the Denver Broncos brought in to make things happen.

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Von Miller helps Broncos sack Chargers, 30-23 (The Associated Press)

DENVER — Get the ticket orders ready. Warm up the printer. Start circling some weekend dates in early January.

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Broncos seize control of AFC West