Peyton Manning threw four touchdown passes, three to Demaryius Thomas and two during a fourth-quarter rally that lifted the Denver Broncos to a hard-earned 39-36 win over the Miami Dolphins in a key AFC clash.
The Broncos trailed a gritty Dolphins team for most of the game and were down 28-17 after three quarters, then erupted for 22 consecutive points in the fourth to regain sole possession of first place in the AFC West and bounce back from last week's startling 22-7 loss at St. Louis.
Manning hit Thomas and Wes Welker for touchdowns during the stretch, while C.J. Anderson had a go-ahead touchdown run with 5:01 left to highlight a career-high 167-yard, 27-carry performance.
Thomas amassed 10 catches totaling 87 yards and Emmanuel Sanders snared nine Manning passes for 125 yards in the Broncos' eighth straight home victory. Manning finished a sharp 28-of-35 for 257 yards for Denver (8-3).
Ryan Tannehill threw for three touchdowns and ran for another to put Miami (6-5) in position for the upset before Manning engineered his 41st career fourth-quarter comeback. The young quarterback completed 26-of-36 throws for 228 yards with a costly late interception that helped seal the outcome.
Jarvis Landry hauled in two of Tannehill's scoring strikes and recorded seven catches for 50 yards.
[SportsNetwork.com]
