Peyton Manning outperformed arch rival Tom Brady on the stat sheet, but it was the New England Patriots who got the better of Manning and the Denver Broncos, holding into a 31-21 win at Gillette Stadium on Sunday afternoon. New England (3-2) is over .500 for the first time since its Week 1 against Tennessee.
New England set a new franchise record with 35 first downs and racked up 444 yards of offense in the process. Brady completed 23-of-31 passes for 223 yards and one touchdown while Wes Welker grabbed 13 passes for 104 yards and a score and Stevan Ridley rushed for 151 yards and one touchdown on 28 carries.
Manning finished 31-of-44 with 345 yards and three touchdowns for Denver, which topped 400 total yards. Demaryius Thomas had a monster game with 188 receiving yards on nine catches. Willis McGahee had 51 rushing yards on 14 carries but cost his team dearly in the fourth quarter, dropping an easy pass on third and short and fumbling the ball in Patriots' territory to end the comeback.
New England heads out west to take on the Seattle Seahawks next Sunday.