DENVER (AP) — Peyton Manning threw three of his four TD passes to Demaryius Thomas and C.J. Anderson ran for 167 yards and the go-ahead score in the Denver Broncos’ 39-36 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
Anderson’s 10-yard run with 5:01 left gave the Broncos (8-3) their first lead of the game at 32-28. T.J. Ward’s 37-yard interception return of Ryan Tannehill’s pass set up Wes Welker’s insurance TD catch.
The Broncos needed it after Tannehill drove the Dolphins (6-5) on another scoring drive, hitting Jarvis Landry from a yard out with 1:34 left. Lamar Miller’s 2-point dive made it a 3-point game.
The Dolphins’ onside kick was recovered by — who else? — Anderson, who sealed the game with a 26-yard run.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos have shuffled their thin backfield on the eve of their showdown with the Miami Dolphins. They promoted Jeremy Stewart from their practice squad and waived rookie Kapri Bibbs.
Stewart gives the Broncos’ backfield more experience with Ronnie Hillman (foot) and Montee Ball (groin) sidelined.
The other two running backs are second-year pro C.J. Anderson and rookie Juwan Thompson.
Stewart is a third-year pro from Cal who appeared in 17 games during his first two NFL seasons in Oakland. The Broncos signed him to their practice squad Oct. 8.
Stewart has one career TD run on 27 carries for 103 yards and 10 catches for 68 yards. He also plays special teams and owns a 17.3-yard average on eight kickoff returns.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The tight end turnstile keeps spinning in Denver, where Julius Thomas is hurting but Virgil Green is on the mend.
Both are listed as questionable for Sunday’s showdown with the Miami Dolphins (6-4).
Thomas leads the league with a dozen TD catches but he was unable to practice Friday after showing up with helmet in hand and every intention of working through the sprained left ankle he sustained in St. Louis last week.
Green, the team’s best blocking tight end, expects to return to the lineup this weekend after missing three games with a strained right calf, which happens to coincide with the offensive line’s nosedive.
“My body feels as good as it’s felt since camp started,” said Green, who pulled up lame in practice earlier this month, re-injuring a calf that had bothered him in training camp.
“It wasn’t as bad as camp, but it just took a lot of time this time to heal up,” Green said. “Everything starts from down there. If it were a strained quad or a strained hamstring, you could put a sleeve on it and go. But all your power starts from your calf.”
Green said he started feeling better last week but the training staff suggested he needed another week to let it fully heal so it won’t be a lingering problem down the stretch.
He could have help shore up the run-blocking and blitz pickup that’s come under heavy criticism since the Broncos (7-3) made wholesale changes on their offensive line three weeks ago. They’ve gone 1-2 since and lost their air of Super Bowl favorite.
“Absolutely, I can help, not just protection-wise but in the run game. That’s something that I take a lot of pride in,” Green said. “It’s something I feed of off. I love to hit. I’m smiling right now — just the thought of hitting somebody is a great feeling.”
Green doesn’t just want to be known as a good blocker. He said if Thomas can’t play, he hopes the Broncos allow him to display his versatility as a pass-catcher and even runner at times.
While the Broncos will welcome Green’s blocking prowess up front, they’d sorely miss Thomas, who’s a matchup nightmare for defenses.
“Julius is the one player where you are able to get really unequal matchups,” offensive coordinator Adam Gase said. “He’s a tough matchup whether it’s a safety or linebacker. You saw against New England they put a corner on him. That just shows you how challenging it is for defenses to plan for him.”
In Green, the Broncos have a different style of tight end who’s valuable in other ways.
“I’d love for J.T. to play. I really don’t know where he’s at right now, but if he doesn’t go, I feel like it’s an opportunity for me to show that I’m not just a blocking tight end,” Green said. “I can catch. People know I can run the ball as well, so it’s an opportunity for me and I have to jump all over it.”
Green, a fourth-year tight end from Nevada, said he feels he can be a wild-card for the Broncos as they try to get back on that Super Bowl Express.
“I do feel that way because a lot of people don’t know much about me. They just know that I can block,” Green said. “But people who do know about me know that I’m a very athletic guy. I just have to take advantage of the opportunities that the offense gives me and that Peyton Manning gives me.”
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Champ Bailey said goodbye to the NFL on Tuesday after signing a ceremonial one-day contract with his beloved Denver Broncos.
Bailey retired with a dozen Pro Bowl selections, 52 interceptions and no regrets.
Dozens of current players joined former teammates including John Lynch, Brandon Stokley, Brian Dawkins, Jake Plummer and Rod Smith in celebrating Bailey’s unparalleled career.
Bailey thanked the Washington Redskins for drafting him with the seventh overall pick in 1999 and the Broncos for bringing him to Denver in the famous 2004 trade for Clinton Portis.
Bailey became the Broncos’ most decorated defensive player and helped them reach the Super Bowl last season.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Shaun Hill was effective in his first start since regaining the quarterback job and the St. Louis Rams defense made life miserable for Peyton Manning in a 22-7 victory over the AFC West-leading Denver Broncos on Sunday.
Rookie Tre Mason had 29 carries for 113 yards, the most allowed by the Broncos’ top-ranked run defense.
Kenny Britt had four catches for 128 yards with a 63-yard score and Greg Zuerlein was a career-best 5 for 5 on field goals for the Rams (4-6).
Manning was 34 for 54 for 389 yards with two interceptions, but was held to a 42-yard touchdown pass to Emmanuel Sanders, ending a streak of 15 consecutive games with at least two touchdown passes.
The Broncos (7-3) were held to 28 yards rushing and failed twice on fourth down deep in St. Louis territory.
Manning threw incomplete from the 37 in the first quarter and rookie Aaron Donald’s sack ended a drive in the fourth quarter on fourth-and-4 from the 28.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The scuffling and shuffling along Denver’s offensive line may not be over.
Offensive coordinator Adam Gase said he’ll stick with the same five starters from his retooled line when the Broncos (7-2) visit St. Louis (3-6) on Sunday.
That lineup isn’t written in indelible ink, however.
Left to right, that line is: Ryan Clady, Orlando Franklin, Will Montgomery, Manny Ramirez and Louis Vasquez
Ramirez and Vasquez are playing out of position after sliding one spot over last week at Oakland to make room for Montgomery at center. Clady (groin) and Franklin (knee) are ailing but will play Sunday.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos have placed middle linebacker Nate Irving on season-ending injured reserve and claimed rookie linebacker Todd Davis off waivers from the New Orleans Saints.
Irving was having the best season of his four-year career when he tore his right MCL at New England on Nov. 2. His timeline for returning to the field was four to six weeks.
With fellow linebacker Danny Trevathan (leg) already designated to return next month, the Broncos had to put Irving on season-ending IR on Thursday.
Irving finished the season with 44 tackles, including six for a loss, and a sack. He was replaced by Steven Johnson in the starting lineup.
Davis, from Sacramento State, was a special teams player for the Saints.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — With impeccable timing, the Denver Broncos christened their sparkling new indoor practice facility Wednesday with the temperature minus-2.
This was also good preparation for the Broncos’ visit to the climate-controlled Edward Jones Dome on Sunday in St. Louis.
Yet, while they may have gotten out of the cold blast that’s freezing the Rocky Mountains, they can’t escape this uncomfortable truth: it’s November and their offensive line is still a mess.
After changing three-fifths of their O-line last week, the Broncos brought in Richie Incognito for a workout this week. Although they didn’t sign him, they left open that possibility.
Their front line has been unable to get the ground game going and has allowed a trio of sacks on three-man rushes.
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Peyton Manning overcame a shaky start to throw five touchdown passes in less than 17 minutes and the Denver Broncos handed the Oakland Raiders their 15th straight loss, 41-17 on Sunday.
Manning threw a pair of early interceptions that put Denver (7-2) in a hole against the NFL’s only winless team. That all changed with a short pass that C.J. Anderson turned into a spectacular 51-yard catch and run.
Manning added two TD passes to Julius Thomas and two more to Emmanuel Sanders as the Broncos rebounded from last week’s loss at New England by beating up on the Raiders (0-9).
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers linebacker Aldon Smith has another game left on his nine-game suspension for violations of the NFL’s substance abuse and personal conduct policies, and Von Miller can’t wait to see his buddy back on the football field.
Miller knows exactly what Smith is going through.
Denver’s pass-rushing linebacker missed the first six games last year while serving a drug suspension and then collected just five sacks in nine games before blowing out his right knee last December and missing the Super Bowl.
Miller is back this year and hit the halfway point with nine sacks, on pace to challenge his club record of 18 1-2 he set in 2012. He was named the AFC’s Defensive Player of the Month in October.
Miller and Smith became friends in 2011 as part of the draft class that came into the league as the NFL and players were hashing out a new labor deal. He said Smith helped him through his suspension last year, so he’s returned the favor, texting, calling and encouraging his friend over the last two months.
“Yeah, he helped me through mine. And we were going through stuff at the same time, too. So, we were talking together about what I was going through, what he was going through: ‘We’re going to get through this.’ We were there for each other,” Miller said. “It was like I know how it is when you get suspended, it just feels like nobody (has your back). So, I just wanted to be the guy that would just keep reaching out to him, like, ‘I haven’t forgotten about you. And I’m not even on your team.’
“It’s bigger than that. He’s my friend. I care about him. I’m happy that he’s doing a whole lot better,” Miller added. “I’m excited for him to come back and have all that stuff out the way. It’s a different feeling when you have all that stuff out the way and can just focus on football.”
Miller said he’s tried to tell Smith about what to expect in returning to action at midseason.
“It’s like the start of the season, everything’s new, everything’s fresh. So, like coming back is easy, really. And like you get sore. I had that first Wednesday practice in pads and I was sore,” Miller said.
The danger, Miller said, is that you want to make up for all the games you missed.
“You want to come back and you want to have four sacks in the first game, another four sacks in the next game and catch up to everybody,” Miller said. “Like when I came back and I got my first sack, it was like, ‘OK I’ve got one. So, I’ve got 10 games left. If I can get three sacks this game, four sacks this game, I can catch up to everybody.’
“But that’s not my game. I just like to go out there and just play. But I feel like Aldon can come back and get 10-plus sacks, 12 sacks. Especially with the type of schedule they got and they’ll get Patrick Willis back. They’ll get Navarro Bowman back later in the year. They’ll be ready to roll.”
Miller said he had a clear conscience after serving his suspension and never even considers the possibility that if he slips up again he could face a year’s suspension.
“That’s part of maturity. You don’t even worry about getting in trouble any more,” Miller said.
He said he suspects Smith’s play will reflect the load that’s been taken off his shoulders, too.
“It’s a huge burden lifted. Just to be back on the field with the guys is the biggest part. Being back on the field is huge. It’s great. Just lifting weights and watching film and going home. You’re back with the guys,” Miller said. “So, I know how he feels. I know he’s working hard. I know he’s training, conditioning and all that. I wanted to change my body. I know he wanted to stay exactly where he is.”
Miller bulked up by 25 pounds heading into last season. The extra weight made him top heavy and might even have contributed to his torn right ACL in December. He’s back down to 245 and said in retrospect he wouldn’t have packed on the pounds during his banishment.
“I probably would have lost a little weight,” Miller said.
DENVER (AP) — Peyton Manning threw three of his four TD passes to Demaryius Thomas and C.J. Anderson ran for 167 yards and the go-ahead score in the Denver Broncos’ 39-36 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
