Bills On the Board with FGBuffalo kicker Dave Rayner connected on a 28-yard field goal, cutting the Denver lead to 7-3 just over six minutes to go in the second quarter.
A 55-yard catch and run by Stevie Johnson set up the Bills in the red zone.
But the Denver defense forced an incompletion in the end zone on third down, and the Bills brought on Rayner for the field goal.
Brady Sneak Earns TDFor the second consecutive drive, the Broncos fumbled the football. This time it was Tim Tebow, as he was hit while preparing to pitch to Eddie Royal.
And for the second consecutive drive, the Patriots capitalized with points on the board — a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Tom Brady.
Early in the drive, a neutral-zone infraction on second-and-10 made it second-and-5 for New England, and Brady quickly hit Wes Welker for a 4-yard gain. On third-and-1, the defense stuffed a run, but the Patriots elected to go for it on fourth down.
New England called its second timeout of the half before the play, and after the break, Brady nearly tripped in the backfield but regained his footing and hit tight end Aaron Hernandez for a 25-yard completion. That set up first-and-goal at the 6-yard line.
A 5-yard run by Stevan Ridley was followed by a quarterback sneak by Brady for the score.
After the extra point, the Patriots lead 24-16 with 1:12 left in the first half.
Prater Makes it 16-7The Broncos offense continued its hot start Sunday, putting together a 10-play, 63-yard drive that spanned the first and second quarters. It took 4:34 off the clock.
The drive started with a 22-yard strike from Tim Tebow to Eric Decker, and nearly included a spectacular play as Demaryius Thomas attempted a pass on an end-around on the next play, but it fell incomplete in front of Lance Ball. Ball still picked up a first down on the next play via a 12-yard run.
The next first down came courtesy of a 19-yard Tebow run, and it would be the last of the drive. A short Ball run was followed by a short completion from Tebow to Thomas on a shovel pass, setting up third-and-6. Tebow picked up 5 yards on a run on the next play, and Matt Prater jogged onto the field to attempt a field goal on fourth down.
His 26-yarder was good, extending the Broncos lead to 16-7.
Just a quick rundown of the first-quarter statistics –
The Broncos outgained the Patriots 218 to 83 in total yards, including 167 rushing yards compared to New England’s 4. Those 167 rushing yards are the most in the first quarter in franchise history in at least 20 years when the statistic began being tracked.
Willis McGahee, who is probable to return with a leg injury, led the way with 59 yards on the ground.
Dumervil Drops RiversElvis Dumervil moved the Chargers backwards to start their two-minute drive, breaking into the backfield and sacking Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers for a 13-yard loss.
The sack gives Dumervil 4.5 quarterback takedowns on the season and 47.5 in his career. He now has sacks in four straight games, which marks a career-best streak. Dumervil is the one of two players in the NFL with at least a half sack in the past four games.
Click here to listen to the audio highlight of the play, courtesy of AM 850 KOA.
-Stuart Zaas
Gates TD Makes It 10-0A 6-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers to Antonio Gates extended San Diego’s lead to 10-0 midway through the second quarter.
The methodical, 15-play drive spanned the first and second quarters. The Chargers drove 86 yards in 8:47 of game time.
On the drive, the Chargers converted three third downs — two were third-and-1, and the third was for the touchdown.
After a penalty on the ensuing kickoff, the Broncos begin their next offensive series at their own 7-yard line.
Jets Tie the GameNick Folk connects on a 21-yard field goal to tie the game at 3-3 with 12:04 left in the second quarter.
The Jets started the drive at the Broncos 35-yard line after the defense recovered a fumble by running back Willis McGahee. However, the Broncos held strong, as linebacker Von Miller deflected a second-down pass that was headed for a wide-open Santonio Holmes, and fellow linebacker Wesley Woodyard came up with a third-down tackle to force the Jets to kick the game-tying field goal.
On the ensuing kickoff, Cassius Vaughn took the kick deep in the end zone and returned 67 yards to the Jets 39-yard line, as he got tackled from behind. However, the Broncos were forced to punt and the Jets will start on their own 9-yard line.
-Kenny Legan
Broncos Enter Halftime Down 17-7After a long drive, Denver kicker Matt Prater missed a 43-yard field goal attempt in the closing stages of the first half and Oakland holds a 17-7 lead at halftime.
Quan Cosby’s 41-yard kick return (the longest of the season for Denver) set the Broncos up with good field position to start the drive.
Several Oakland penalties coupled with solid gains from Knowhson Moreno and Eric Decker moved the ball deep into Oakland territory.
After a missed 53-yard was nullified by an offsides penalty, Prater converted a 48-yard field attempt but a running into the kicker penalty gave Denver a new set of downs with 17 seconds remaining in the half.
Three plays later, Prater came on again to attemp a 43-yarder, but it sailed wide and Oakland took a knee to close out the half.
Reece Extends LeadFullback Marcel Reece hauled in a 40-yard touchdown pass over the middle to extend the Oakland lead to 17-7 late in the first half.
Despite tight coverage on the play from linebacker D.J. Williams, Reece reeled in the deep toss from Carson Palmer for the score.
Reece’s touchdown reception concluded a 4-play, 72-yard drive.
Bailey Records InterceptionCornerback Champ Bailey picked off a long pass intended for Denarius Moore deep in Broncos territory late in the second quarter.
Bailey ran stride-for-stride with the Oakland wideout and lept to snag his first interception of the season at the Denver 15-yard line.
Bailey now has 32 interceptions as a Bronco and 51 total in his career, including postseason.
Bush Puts Oakland Back in FrontMichael Bush caught a short pass from Carson Palmer and dove for the end zone to give the Raiders a 10-7 lead with an 11-yard score.
Oakland started the drive with great field position. Denver punter Britton Colquitt mishandled the snap before throwing an incomplete pass, turning the ball over on downs on the Broncos 14-yard line.
Three plays later, Palmer found Bush streaking across the middle for the score.