Sunday night, Monday night, Thursday night. It doesn't really matter to the Denver Broncos.Despite the short week that often makes even the most prepared teams look sloppy, Peyton Manning threw for 286 yards and three touchdowns, leading the Broncos to a 35-21 win over the San Diego Chargers at Mile High Stadium.Since the Week 4 bye, Denver has now reeled off four straight winsthree against legitimate playoff contendersby a combined 74 points.Once again, it was a comprehensive effort from John Fox's squad. Emmanuel Sanders exploded for 120 yards and three scores on nine receptions. Demaryius Thomas surpassed 100 yards receiving for the fourth straight game. Ronnie Hillman tallied 109 on the ground. The defense dominated the line of scrimmage, forcing the Chargers into a one-dimensional attack.Broncos vice president of public relations Patrick Smyth put Sanders' performance into historical perspective:As NFL.com's Dan Hanzus, via colleague Chris Wesseling, and former NFL scout John Middlekauff argued, it's clear what team is currently at the pinnacle of the NFL:Manning and Philip Rivers traded shots in the first half, combining for 29 completions, just eight incompletions and three touchdown drives that went more than 65 yards.Two of those belonged to Manning, who connected with Sanders for a pair of very different scores. The first was a two-yard strike in the back of the end zone, and the second saw Sanders torch Richard Marshall down the sideline for 31 yards.ESPN Stats & Info noted the impressive early production from the duo:For the Chargers, Rivers' favorite target was Keenan Allen, who tallied nine catches for 73 yards and found paydirt for the first time this season. However, the biggest play of that early scoring drive was a beautiful 31-yard touch pass to Antonio Gates on 3rd-and-20.That completion officially put the future Hall of Fame tight end atop San Diego's all-time receiving list:Gates continued to etch his name into the record books in the second half, as he added a pair of touchdown catches. Pro Football Reference provided a look at his spot among the most prolific touchdown-scorers:Rivers finished with 252 yards and three touchdowns, but a pair of interceptions prevented him from keeping pace with the Broncos' methodical offense.Denver had five possessions in the second half. Three finished in the end zone, another ended in a missed field goal and the last resulted in a punt with 28 seconds to go.Manning found Sanders on a touchdown strike for the third time early in the third quarter, which was nothing new for the legendary QB, as ESPN's Jeff Legwold illustrated:The last two touchdowns, much to the chagrin of fantasy owners everywhere, were short, goal-line plunges from rookie Juwan Thompson to put the game out of reach.San Diego will try to right the ship next Sunday at Miami against an improving Dolphins squad, while the Broncos travel to New England for a rematch of last year's AFC Championship Game.Unfortunately for the Patriots, this very clearly isn't the same Broncos team that went to the Super Bowl a year ago.
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