DENVER — Peyton Manning’s fast start was good enough to hold off Andrew Luck’s strong finish.
Manning threw three touchdowns to tight end Julius Thomas in the first half, and the Denver Broncos hung on to beat the Indianapolis Colts 31-24 Sunday night.
Outdueling his young quarterback heir, Manning completed 22 of 36 passes for 269 yards against Indianapolis, his team for 14 years before he joined Denver three years ago.
The Broncos led 24-0 late in the second half before the Colts rallied to make a game of both teams’ season opener.
“We’ve got to find a way to play all four quarters as an offense,” Manning said. “Thank goodness the defense picked us up when the offense wasn’t doing their job quite as well. But it’s good to be 1-0. We’ve got a lot of things to work on, but it’s a good start.”
The result snapped the Colts’ six-game, regular-season winning streak against the Broncos, which included last season’s 39-33 victory that spoiled Manning’s Indianapolis homecoming.
“We’ll see where we went wrong,” Luck said. “You have to give credit to Denver. They put us in this situation. They forced problems on us. It will be a learning experience, and we’ll have to bounce back strong.”
Manning, who set single-season NFL records for yards passing (5,477) and touchdown passes (55) last season, also led a fourth-quarter drive that ended in running back Montee Ball’s 3-yard touchdown rush.
“The plays they made in the first half were too much to overcome,” Colts defensive end Cory Redding said. “In the second half, we went out there and we fought. We showed our heart, and there are some good things we can build on for next week.”
Luck, playing from behind the entire game, completed 35 of 53 passes for 370 yards. He ran for a score and threw a 41-yard touchdown pass to tight end Dwayne Allen with 7:46 left to play and a 9-yarder to wide receiver Hakeem Nicks with 3:26 remaining that pulled the Colts within seven points.
Denver’s defense, revamped after its collapse in a 43-8 Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks, complemented the Broncos’ offensive showing, stopping the Colts’ last-ditch drive when cornerback Bradley Roby broke up Luck’s fourth-down pass intended for wide receiver Reggie Wayne in the final moments.
“It was tight at the very end,” Roby said. “We said, ‘We’ve got to make a play. We can’t rely on the offense. It’s on us.’ Defense wins the game. We went back out there and did what we needed to do.”
What the Colts said:
“I don’t think we’re thinking of it as a moral victory. I think we’ll probably try to take from it whet we can learn as a football team, but we lost a game today. We came here to win, not give them a close game.”– Tight end Coby Fleener.
“He’s a monster, a really, really good player. He is a matchup nightmare.” –Colts coach Chuck Pagano, on Broncos tight end Julius Thomas, who had three touchdown catches.
What the Broncos said:
“The defense came up with big stops when we needed them. The offense did some good things and then we were in a little bit of a rut, but our offense picked it up for us.” — Quarterback Peyton Manning.
“We weren’t perfect. We have a lot of things we need to improve on. On the game as a whole, we played really well through all four quarters.” — Defensive end DeMarcus Ware, who had two of the Broncos’ three sacks in his Denver debut.
What we learned about the Colts:
1. The pass rush is largely ineffective without linebacker Robert Mathis, who is serving a four-game suspension to start the season. Indianapolis failed to put much pressure on Peyton Manning, especially in the first half, when the Broncos quarterback completed three touchdown passes to tight end Julius Thomas. The Colts hope to get more production from Mathis’ replacement, Bjoern Werner, in the coming weeks.
2. Running backs Trent Richards and Ahmad Bradshaw combined for only 35 yards on nine carries, and the meager gains put added pressure on quarterback Andrew Luck and the passing game. Mustering a more balanced attack will be key to the Colts’ ability to improve their offensive efficiency.
–WR Reggie Wayne was productive, as usual, in the opening game of his 14th NFL season. The 35-year-old veteran caught a game-high nine passes for 98 yards. It was his highest receiving-yardage total since Sept. 29, 2013, against Jacksonville. Wayne made a reception in a 191st game, breaking the franchise record previously held by Marvin Harrison.
–QB Andrew Luck piled up the passing yards after the Colts fell into a deep hole Sunday night. Luck finished 35-for-53 for 370 yards with two touchdown passes and two interceptions. He also ran for a touchdown, but his inability to get the team into the end zone on two red-zone chances in the third quarter helped derail the Colts’ comeback chances.
–LB Cam Johnson sustained an elbow strain in the first half and did not return. He will be evaluated Monday.
What we learned about the Broncos:
1. Julius Thomas had a breakthrough year last season when he caught 12 touchdown passes, the most by a tight end in Broncos history. He began this season by building on that and showing he is going to present matchup problems for opposing defenses on a weekly basis. “It’s tough to cover a guy who runs as well as he does,” quarterback Peyton Manning said.
2. Pass-rushing linebacker Von Miller and cornerback Chris Harris, who both sustained season-ending knee injuries late last year, kicked off their comeback campaigns in solid style. They took a first step toward re-establishing themselves as defensive mainstays for the Broncos. Said Miller: “I set a great foundation for the rest of the season. It was great to be back out there with my guys.”
–WR Emmanuel Sanders worked the slot in the first half in the absence of Wes Welker, who is serving a four-game suspension. Sanders was productive, helping Denver’s offense move the chains while making six receptions for 77 yards. However, the coaching staff still looks forward to getting Welker back to improve the overall receiving corps.
–CB Bradley Roby, a first-round pick this year, passed his first major test. He showed signs of being a defensive playmaker in the clutch, breaking up Andrew Luck’s fourth-down pass intended for wide receiver Reggie Wayne in the game’s final moments. Coach John Fox said, “No doubt that was a big spot. I like the way the young man has improved really since he’s gotten here.” Roby finished with seven tackles and three passes defensed.
–TE Justin Thomas picked up where he left off last season. He caught three first-half touchdown passes and finished with seven receptions for 104 yards. “I think he’s a great player,” coach John Fox said.
–S David Bruton injured a shoulder covering a kick near the end of the first half. He missed the rest of the game, and he will be evaluated Monday.