The Denver offense picked up right where it left off prior to the interception, completing passes to
Demaryius Thomas and Jacob Tamme, followed by a 7-yard burst to running back Ronnie Hillman.

Peyton Manning then hit Eric Decker for a 5-yard gain and Knowshon Moreno crossed midfield with a 5-yard carry.

On third-and-1 from the Tampa Bay 49, Manning hit Tamme once again for 15 yards and a first down. It was Tamme’s season-high eighth grab of the day totaling 88 yards thus far.

Hillman and Knowshon Moreno combined for another 14 yards to move the Broncos to the 16-yard line.

On first down, Moreno continued the clock-draining drive with a 3-yard carry, but the drive stalled from there with two incompletions.

Facing a fourth-and-6, the kicking unit came on and Matt Prater converted on his first attempt of the night, a 31-yarder to give Denver a 31-13 lead.

The 14-play drive soaked up 7:19 of clock while covering 68 yards. Tampa Bay will take the ball with 7:36 remaining in the game.

The Buccaneers stopped the Broncos momentum with a turnover, as linebacker Lavonte David jumped in front of a Peyton Manning pass that was intended for Jacob Tamme.

David returned the interception 27 yards to the Denver 48-yard line, as the offense took over looking to cut into the 18-point deficit.

The third quarter ended during the possession, just before the kicking team came out on fourth-and-5 from the 31-yard line.

Kicker Connor Barth converted on the 50-yard field goal attempt, cutting Denver’s lead to 28-13 with 14:55 remaining in the game.

Following the two consecutive touchdowns from Peyton Manning to Demaryius Thomas, the Buccaneers took over looking to cut into the 11-point Denver lead.

Instead, they got the opposite.

Josh Freeman dropped back on second down and was hit mid-throw by defensive tackle Mitch Unrein.

In the perfect place was linebacker Von Miller, who secured the interception – the first of his career – and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown, also a first for the second-year pro.

The defensive score gave the Broncos a 28-10 lead with 4:04 left in the third quarter. It was Denver’s third touchdown in the third quarter.

Click here to listen to the audio highlight of Miller’s touchdown, courtesy of AM 850 KOA. The video highlight of the play is also here.

After forcing the Bucs to go three-and-out for the second time in the quarter, the Broncos took over on their own 43-yard line.

On the first play of the drive, Peyton Manning hit tight end Jacob Tamme for a 15-yard gain.

Following a Ronnie Hillman 6-yard rush, Manning went back to Tamme – now with six receptions and a season-high 55 receiving yards – for 9-yard pickup.

Hillman then took it again and picked up another 9, and a 5-yard penalty on the defense set Denver up with a first-and-goal from the 9-yard line.

A play later, Manning hooked up with Demaryius Thomas for another touchdown strike. The score and extra point gave Denver a 21-10 third-quarter lead.

The touchdown marks Thomas’ second career multi-touchdown game. He has seven catches for 91 yards and two scores – all game-highs.

Manning is 22-of-29 on the day for 204 yards and three touchdown passes with a quarterback rating of 129.1.

Click here to listen to the audio highlight of the score, and click here to watch it.

The teams traded punts to begin the second half, and wide receiver Trindon Holliday returned Tampa Bay’s punt 21 yards to the Denver 48-yard line.

From the shotgun formation on the first play, Peyton Manning faked a handoff to running back Knowshon Moreno and hit wide receiver Demaryius Thomas for a 13-yard gain, moving Denver to the 39-yard line in Tampa Bay territory.

On the next play, Manning threw another first-down pass, this time to tight end Jacob Tamme for 15 yards. It was Tamme’s fourth catch of the game.

After an incompletion intended for Tamme, Manning went for the end zone looking for Thomas. On a perfectly placed ball, cornerback Leonard Johnson held Thomas to keep him from making the catch. As a result, Denver took over on the 8-yard line, where the penalty occurred.

On first-and-goal, Manning went back to Thomas in the end zone. This time, they connected for a touchdown to regain the lead.

The extra point gave Denver a 14-10 lead with 9:21 remaining in the third quarter.

The score marked Thomas’ third straight game with a touchdown catch, his seventh of the year.

Manning, who passed Dan Marino in the first half for second-most completions in NFL history, set a new Broncos record for single-season touchdown passes with 28. The old record of 27 was shared by Jake Plummer and John Elway.

Click here for the audio highlight of the touchdown and click here to see it.

Denver entered the halftime locker rooms at a 10-7 disadvantage.

For the Broncos, quarterback Peyton Manning is 11-of-14 passing for 108 yards and a touchdown. In the half, he passed Dan Marino for the second-most pass completions in NFL history as his ninth completion of the game gave him 4,967 in his career.

Wide receiver Demaryius Thomas is the game’s leading receiver with 55 yards on three catches.

Running back Knowshon Moreno’s eight carries for 45 yards give him a yards-per-carry average of 5.6, while the Bucs’ Doug Martin has 15 carries for 48 yards, gaining 3.2 yards per carry.

The two teams were close in yards and first downs in the half, as the Bucs out-gained the Broncos 171 to 150 and gained 11 first downs to Denver’s 10.

The Broncos will receive to begin the second half.

Defensive tackle Mitch Unrein sustained an eye injury in the first quarter. His return is probable.

In the second quarter, Unrein re-entered the game.

In the third quarter, linebacker Wesley Woodyard left the game with an ankle injury. His return is questionable.

Check back to this blog for further updates.

After a 46-yard punt by Britton Colquitt, Tampa Bay took over at its own 30-yard line.

On the second play of the drive, quarterback Josh Freeman dropped back and hit wideout Mike Williams deep down the middle of the field for a 40-yard gain to the Denver 23-yard line.

Doug Martin then carried it twice for gains of 7 and 5 yards.

With a first down on the 11-yard line, Freeman found tight end Dallas Clark, who made a sliding catch in the end zone to give Tampa Bay the lead.

Following the extra point, the Buccaneers hold a 10-7 advantage with :14 seconds left in the first quarter.

On the first play of the Buccaneers’ second offensive possession, running back Doug Martin picked up 5 yards and Tampa Bay moved an additional 15 yards on a defensive facemask penalty.

From the 40-yard line, quarterback Josh Freeman threw a short pass to Doug Martin as the Broncos blitzed, and Martin was sprung for a gain of 26 to the Denver 34-yard line.

Martin followed the big gain with a run for 9 yards, and then Freeman found tight end Luke Stocker for 11 yards and a first down inside the Denver 20.

From there, the Denver defense came up with a stop, forcing Tampa Bay to kick a short field goal. It first stuffed Martin for a loss of 1 and then forced two incompletions.

Kicker Connor Barth converted on the 31-yard field goal to make it 7-3 with 4:41 remaining in the first quarter.

The 9-play drive covered 66 yards and used up just more than four minutes of clock.

The Denver defense forced a three-and-out on the first possession of the game, as linebacker Von Miller and defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson stopped Bucs running back Doug Martin on second and third down to bring up a fourth-and-1.

Wide receiver Trindon Holliday returned the punt 17 yards to set the Broncos offense up at their own 35-yard line.

Quarterback Peyton Manning completed passes of 10 and 12 yards to tight end Jacob Tamme and wide receiver Eric Decker to move Denver to the Tampa Bay 25.

Two plays later, a defensive pass interference penalty on a pass attempt from Manning to Matthew Willis moved the chains on third-and-8 and put the Broncos in the red zone.

Running back Knowshon Moreno then got the Broncos down to the 1-yard line with a 12-yard burst.

On first-and-goal from the 1, defensive tackle Mitch Unrein lined up as an eligible receiver at the tight end position. Manning faked the hand off to Moreno and found a wide open Unrein in the end zone to put the Broncos ahead early.

Unrein was an asset near the goal line earlier in the season for the Broncos, leading running back Willis McGahee into the end zone from the fullback position against the Saints. This time, he got a new opportunity as the tackle made his first career reception and touchdown.

Matt Prater converted on the extra point to put Denver up 7-0 with 8:53 remaining in the first quarter.

Listen to the audio highlight of the touchdown here and watch the play here.