Broncos efficient
Peyton Manning (above) threw for 330 yards and four touchdowns, three to Demaryius Thomas, as he led the Denver Broncos (8-1) to a 28-20 victory over the San Diego Chargers (45).
SAN DIEGO — John Fox sent text messages to several Denver Broncos on Sunday morning, wishing them good luck against the San Diego Chargers.
The Broncos will reciprocate by giving a game ball to their coach, who’s at his offseason home in Charlotte, N.C., recovering from heart surgery.
With interim coach Jack Del Rio in charge, Peyton Manning threw for 330 yards and 4 touchdowns, 3 to Demaryius Thomas, as he efficiently led the Broncos to a 28-20 victory in their first game since Fox had his aortic valve replaced last Monday. Fox was released Friday and will continue his recovery in North Carolina.
“We look forward to giving it to him in person,” Manning said.
Manning said he spoke with Fox by phone on Saturday before the Broncos flew to San Diego.
“I told him not to be yelling at me during the game. It’s not good for his blood pressure,” Manning said. “I’m not sure we’ll see if he did or didn’t. But he was in our thoughts. Coach Del Rio has done a good job all week keeping us updated on coach Fox.”
Fox planned to watch the game on TV there, a team spokesman said. If he watched, he probably didn’t like seeing Manning hurting his right ankle when he was hit by Corey Liuget as the Broncos ran out the clock in the closing minutes. Manning stayed in the game.
Manning wouldn’t be specific about his injury, but said he was “pretty sore” and that he planned to have an MRI today.
Manning was hurt after completing a pass to Thomas with 1:44 left.
“We were playing aggressively to win the game right there,” Del Rio said. “He made a throw, D.T. made a catch and that was the ballgame. He got up and didn’t want to come off — very proud guy — and closed out the game for us.”
Asked about playing in the Broncos’ showdown with AFC West leader Kansas City (9-0) next Sunday night, Manning said: “I totally plan on it.”
Manning kept the Broncos (8-1) rolling. He threw touchdown passes of 11, 7 and 34 yards to Thomas on consecutive drives spanning the second and third quarters, staking the Broncos to a 28-6 lead.
Julius Thomas had a 74-yard catch-and-run on Denver’s first drive, turning a short pass into the second-longest play by a tight end in team history.
Liuget said it wasn’t an intentional hit. “I was trying to get to him because I knew how critical it could be to us as a defense to get to him. I was just working it and trying to be the guy. I’m not sure how I caught him but I hope he is OK. It’s not anything that is going to stop him from being Peyton Manning.”
The Broncos’ scoring drives lasted 57 seconds; 2 minutes, 27 seconds; 1:25; and 3:26.
“You knew it wasn’t going to be many possessions and we had to be efficient when we had the ball,” Manning said.
Manning has thrown for 3,249 yards and 33 touchdowns in 9 games. He completed 25 of 36 passes against the Chargers.
The Chargers (4-5) closed the gap late in the second half but couldn’t catch up.