Gronk Carted Off With Knee Injury

And while Manning wants to come back and play again, watching him struggle through injuries (with the exception of his rested and healthy post-bye week when he looked like Young Peyton) makes you wonder if there’s anything that could get him back to the kind of level we’d recognize, or that he’d be pleased with watching.

Broncos brass learned it has a fearless leader capable of succeeding Manning and beating the toughest weather conditions – snow and a wind chill of 19 degrees, aka playoff weather – and the toughest opponent – the Patriots, who previously were 10-0 and drawing silly comparisons to the NFL’s greatest teams.

Starting for Peyton Manning, Osweiler drove the Broncos 83 yards to give the Broncos a brief lead in the fourth quarter, then called the flawless play in overtime to set up the win.

The Patriots won the coin toss and elected to receive in overtime but with nary a weapon left, Denver forced a three-and-out and, on the ensuing possession the Broncos won it when C.J. Anderson got the edge and raced down the left sideline for a 48-yard score. An injury to New England star tight end Rob Gronkowski must list near the top.

He had one touchdown pass and was intercepted once. Although it’s a tiny sample size of one game, Osweiler demonstrated that type of efficient game-management ability in leading Denver to a win in Chicago. That led to Anderson’s 15-yard touchdown run, which pulled Denver within 21-14 with 12:34 remaining. “No matter what happens in the first quarter, second quarter, third quarter or even early fourth quarter, big players step up in big times”. The Bengals’ 31 points equaled the second-most against St. Louis this season.

Dalton was 20 of 27 for 233 yards with touchdowns of 9 and 18 yards to Green.

Wilson threw a career-high five touchdown passes, including two TDs to Doug Baldwin in the final 8:12, and the Seattle Seahawks held on for a wild 39-30 win over Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. Quarterback Blaine Gabbert completed 25-of-36 passes for 318 yards for the 49ers.

Making matters worse for the Patriots, Rob Gronkowski went down with what appeared to be a serious knee injury. Thomas caught a pass, but then dropped another.

None of it bothered Brock Osweiler.

Until Gronk was hit low by Broncos defensive back Darian Stewart on an incomplete pass with just under three minutes to go.

The New England Patriots arrive in Denver with a flawless 10-0 record to take on the 8-2 Broncos. The Broncos would get started right off the bat with a 44 yard connection between John Elway and Ed McCaffrey that would ultimately lead to a field goal. That changed in a 24-6 loss to the Houston Texans that extended the Saints’ skid to three games.

That was enough time for Brady to drive the Patriots to Denver 29-yard line.

San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers reached 40,000 yards passing in his 159th game for the fourth-fastest rate in National Football League history. Osweiler never got it off. New England defensive lineman Jabaal Sheard beat Broncos right tackle Michael Schofield and whacked Osweiler’s hand as he released. The Jets (6-5) had lost four of their last five overall.

It’s the match-up we’ve all been waiting for as Tom Brady and the New England Patriots come up against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.