NFL RECAP 8

CHARGERS AT BRONCOS

Peyton Manning threw three touchdowns to Emmanuel Sanders as the Broncos bested the Chargers 35-21 on Thursday Night Football. “We understand in this offense, it can be anyone’s night at any moment,” said Sanders, who didn’t catch his first TD pass for Denver until Sunday night, when Manning set the career record. “I’m just happy tonight was my night.” Rookie Juwan Thompson added two more scores on the ground,Sanders caught a total of 9 passes for 120 yards. “I’m enjoying playing with him,” Manning said. “He’s got a great work ethic. He really loves football and he brings that energy to practice every day and also to the playing field. … He was pretty special tonight.”

LIONS VS FALCONS (IN LONDON)

After coming back from down 21-0 to cut the lead to 21-19 Matt Prater had a chance to win the game with a 43 yard field goal and he missed it, the Falcons had survived… or had they?  The Lions were called for Delay of Game, giving Prater another chance from 48 yards out, and he nailed it. “I knew Prater was going to make it. I played two years with him before,” Lions cornerback Cassius Vaughn said. “When he missed the first one I was like, `That was just the practice swing.’ The second one was cake.” “I was just like, ‘Dang it,’ and then I started looking and going, ‘Oh, oh, OK,'” Lions receiver Jeremy Ross said. “I was just like waiting to see what happened. Is he getting another kick or what? When he made it, it was fire.”

SEAHAWKS AT PANTHERS

Russell Wilson  tossed a 23 yard touchdown pass in the last minute of the game to Luke Wilson to comeback and beat the Panthers for the third straight year 13-9. “Man, I’m telling you, it’s just the Achilles’ heel, man,” Panthers cornerback Josh Norman said. “They keep nagging us. They end up making one more play than us, every single time.” Wilson threw for 199 yards and a touchdown in the win. “Sometimes with a team like this you get pressure,” Newton said. “Being pressured you have to be willing to take chances. When you make plays you know you’re labeled a genius. When you don’t (make plays) — and a lot of times we didn’t today — it looks bad. It looks real bad.”

BEARS AT PATRIOTS

Tom Brady completed 30 of his 35 passes, and 4 of the 5 incompletions were drops. The future hall of famer threw for 354 yards and 5 touchdowns in a 51-23 beatdown of the Chicago Bears on Sunday. “I love coaching Tom. I’ve been fortunate to have him the whole career since he’s been here,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “He does a great job of executing the team game plan.” Brady threw three touchdowns to Rob Gronkowski, 1 more to Brandon LaFell, and another to Tim Wright. “There’s a lot of (defensive) looks I’ve seen over the years,” he said, “so it’s hard to really surprise me with certain things.”

COLTS AT STEELERS

The Steelers upset the Colts on Sunday 51-34 as Ben Roethlisberger set franchise records passing for 522 yards and 6 touchdowns. “We just felt like they couldn’t stop us because we were just clicking,” Roethlisberger said. “It was one of those nights that players talk about when things feel like they’re going right.” This game was Roethlisberger’s 100th win in the NFL. The Steelers wore their yellow-and-black striped jerseys borrowed from the 1934 team.Antonio Brown had 10 receptions for 133 yards and two scores. Heath Miller also caught seven passes for 112 yards and the game-clinching TD with 5:14 remaining.

PACKERS AT SAINTS

Drew Brees completed 27 of 32 passes for 311 yards and three touchdowns as the Saints ended the Packers 4 game winning streak with a 44-23 win on Sunday Night. “It’s been a long time coming,” Brees said. “Obviously, we’ve had our fair share of struggles early on here. We’ve lost some heart-breakers. All we talked about all week long is just coming together as a team and playing a complete game as a team. … It was a perfect representation of that.” Aaron Rodgers threw two interceptions in the loss. “Just taking points off the board is tough. We had chances,” Rodgers said, lamenting three promising first half drives that ended in field goals. “We would have had to score 45 to win tonight and we could have if we had done a better job taking care of the football and scoring in the red zone with touchdowns.”

REDSKINS AT COWBOYS

Colt McCoy, going into the season he was a 3rd string quarterback struggling to make a roster, now he lead the Redskins to a 20-17 overtime clutch win over the streaking Cowboys. “Last-second wins, right?” McCoy said, laughing. “But I grew up as the game went on. I felt more and more comfortable, and I started seeing the defense right. We made some plays down the stretch that good teams have to make to win games.” And for the second straight week Kai Forbath hit a game-winning field goal, a dagger from 40 yards out. Robert Griffin III is set to return next week and will start said head coach Jay Gruden. “Robert’s our starter,” coach Jay Gruden said. “I haven’t wavered off of that in my mind. When he’s ready, he’ll be ready to go.”