Following the Patriots’ second touchdown of the half, Denver took over on the 20-yard line.

Peyton Manning hit Demaryius Thomas for 20 yards on a third down, and soon after found Thomas again for a 38-yard pick up inside the Patriots’ 15-yard line.

Then, Manning hit Willis McGahee for an 11-yard completion.

A play later, Manning found Eric Decker for a two-yard touchdown completion. Kicker Matt Prater made it 31-14 with his extra point. 1:08 remains in the third quarter.

Linebacker Keith Brooking suffered a concussion and will not return to the game.

Check back to this blog for further injury updates throughout the game.

Following the Patriots’ touchdown, linebacker Rob Ninkovich sacked Peyton Manning and forced a fumble on the first play of the new possession. Defensive lineman Vince Wilfork recovered the ball at the Denver 14-yard line.

The Patriots took over and immediately moved to the 3-yard line on a defensive pass interference call, but a false start subsequently moved them back to the 8.

From there, running back Stevan Ridley took it on a toss play and dove into the end zone for another Patriots touchdown, 18 seconds after their previous score.

New England now leads 31-7.

Starting from their own 20-yard line, the Patriots got going with a 19-yard carry from Stevan Ridley.

Following a holding penalty, the Patriots faced a third-and-17 and handed it off to running back Danny Woodhead, who picked up 19 yards and the first down, crossing midfield.

Woodhead carried it another two times for a first down, and then Tom Brady hit Wes Welker for 11 yards, setting New England up with a first down inside the red zone.

Ridley than carried it four more times and the Patriots faced a third-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Brady finished off the drive for a touchdown on a quarterback sneak.

The drive took 6:24 off the clock and gave the Patriots a 24-7 lead with five minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Wes Welker caught his 10th reception on the drive and Ridley topped 100 yards.

Punting from inside New England territory, Britton Colquitt placed one perfectly towards the left end zone pylon, and fullback Chris Gronkowski downed the ball on the Patriots 2-yard line.

With 98 yards of field to work with, Tom Brady and the offense took over.

A pair of completions to Wes Welker of 7 and 6 yards gave the Patriots some breathing room. Two plays later, on third-and-11, Brady hit Danny Woodhead out of the backfield for a 25-yard pickup.

Soon after Woodhead’s big gain, running back Brandon Bolden picked up a 24-yarder on the ground, moving the Patriots down to the 31-yard line at the two-minute warning.

Tight end Rob Gronkowski gave New England its next first down, moving the offense into the red zone.
The next five plays were all runs, and the Denver defense came up big with a pair of stops near the goal line.

On third-and-goal from the 1-yard line with the second-quarter clock inside 20 seconds, linebacker Von Miller hit running back Brandon Bolden in the backfield for a 4-yard loss, forcing New England to settle for a field goal.

Kicker Stephen Gostkowski converted on the short field goal. Two seconds remained on the game clock, and the Broncos kneeled the ball to end the half.

At the break, the Patriots lead the Broncos 17-7.

Brady is 17-of-20 passing for 165 yards and a touchdown. Peyton Manning is 13-of-18 for 137 yards and a touchdown. New England has 111 yards rushing after two quarters, with Ridley leading the way with 70 yards on the ground.

Following Denver’s touchdown, the Patriots moved across midfield and inside the Broncos’ 30-yard line with the help of two more completions to Welker and three carries by Stevan Ridley.

From the 27, Tom Brady hit tight end Rob Gronkowski for 13-yards, and then Brady found wideout Brandon Lloyd inside the 1-yard line.

Running back Shane Vereen took it into the end zone from there. The touchdown and extra point make the score 14-7 in favor of New England.

The touchdown drive took 15 plays and 6:08 off the clock.

Looking to respond to the Patriots’ 84-yard touchdown drive, the Broncos took over at the 20-yard line.

Running back Willis McGahee got the first three touches of the drive – two carries and a catch – to give Denver a first down.

On the next play, Peyton Manning dropped back and hit wideout Demaryius Thomas on the sideline, who reached up, made a one-handed catch and picked up 30 yards.

From the New England 34, rookie running back Ronnie Hillman got his first carry of the game and took it for 7 yards.

A play later, following a Broncos timeout, Denver picked up just enough on a McGahee carry to convert on third-and-1. New England challenged the spot, but the call on the field was upheld and Denver was set up with a first down on the 24-yard line at the beginning of the second quarter.

Two plays later, Denver faced another third down just inside the red zone. Needing six yards, Manning threw into the end zone looking for Eric Decker. The pass was incomplete, but Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty was called for pass interference and the Broncos moved to the 1-yard line.

Immediately ensuing the defensive penalty, Manning hit tight end Joel Dreessen for the short touchdown pass to cap off a 10-play, 80 yard drive.

The grab gave Dreessen a touchdown in three consecutive games to lead the team in that category. He entered the game ranking second in the NFL in percentages of catches resulting in touchdowns, with 12 of his 71 catches occurring in the end zone since 2010.

Following Matt Prater’s extra point, the game is tied at 7-7 less than one minute into the second quarter.

Click here to listen to the audio highlight of the touchdown play courtesy of AM 850 KOA.

Click here to watch the video of the touchdown play.

A 49-yard punt from Britton Colquitt gave the Patriots possession on their own 16-yard line. The first play was a 12-yard completion from quarterback Tom Brady to slot receiver Wes Welker.

New England picked up another first down on two carries by running back Stevan Ridley, then moved across midfield with another first-down completion to Welker.

Then, the Patriots got inside the red zone with another two runs to Ridley and an 8-yard completion to Welker.

Two runs by running back Brandon Bolden netted two yards, and the Patriots faced a third down from Denver’s 17-yard line.

Needing eight yards for the first down, the Pats picked up nine yards on a completion over the middle to wide receiver Brandon Lloyd.

New England finished the drive with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Welker. It was Welker’s fourth catch of the drive.

Following the extra point conversion, the Patriots lead 7-0 with 3:08 remaining in the first quarter.

The Broncos won the coin toss and chose to receive.

At midfield for the toss were the Broncos’ captains: quarterback Peyton Manning, defensive end Elvis Dumervil, guard Chris Kuper, linebacker Wesley Woodyard, and cornerback Champ Bailey.

Denver’s starters on offense are as follows:

On the offensive line, from left to right, tackle Ryan Clady, guard Zane Beadles, center C Dan Koppen, guard Manny Ramirez and tackle Orlando Franklin.

Joel Dreessen and Jacob Tamme start at the tight ends with receivers Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker out wide. Brandon Stokley is in the slot.

Manning is under center with an empty backfield.

Following the fumble, the Broncos came out in the nickel formation.

Mitch Unrein, Derek Wolfe and Dumervil started on the defense line.

The linebackers are Von Miller, Joe Mays and Woodyard.

In the defensive backfield, Rahim Moore and Mike Adams are at the safety positions with Tracy Porter and Bailey on the corners with Chris Harris as the nickel corner.

The players who will be in active for Sunday’s game has been announced. The seven Broncos listed below will not dress against the Patriots:

QB Caleb Hanie
RB Knowshon Moreno
S Duke Ihenacho
LB Steven Johnson
C/G C.J. Davis
TE Julius Thomas
DT Sealver Siliga

The following seven Patriots will not suit up on Sunday:

S Steve Gregory
OL Matt Tennant
TE Aaron Hernandez
LB Dont’a Hightower
TE Michael Hoomanawanui
DE Jake Bequette
WR Julian Edelman

Below is a photo of the official inactives sheet that Head Coach John Fox handed to the referees before the game.