Lions lose to Broncos 24-12
DETROIT — Peyton Manning was cool and confident, lofting passes to teammates like they were buddies in his backyard.
Manning converted a fourth down with a 45-yard touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas with 5 seconds left in the first half. Then he threw an 11-yard TD pass to Owen Daniels on a third down with 2:28 remaining, lifting the Denver Broncos to a 24-12 win over the Detroit Lions on Sunday night.
The Lions (0-3) are off to their worst start since 2010, when they finished 6-10.
Matt Stafford was 31 of 45 for 282 yards with a 16-yard TD pass to Ameer Abdullah in the third quarter, two interceptions and a fumble on a play in which he had at least once chance to throw the ball away. Calvin Johnson had eight receptions for 77 yards and drew a pass-interference penalty against Talib in the end zone that set up Joique Bell’s 1-yard leap over a pile of lineman.
It looked like Detroit’s defense was going to prevent the Broncos from taking advantage of Stafford’s second turnover, but it negated a missed field goal by being in an illegal formation. Denver got 5 yards closer and Brandon McManus made the field goal to give the Broncos a five-point lead.
The Lions had a chance to come back, but Stafford blew it. Stafford tried to force a pass to Johnson and safety David Burton Jr. dropped into a zone to pick off the pass that he tipped to himself with his right hand, then returned 12 yards. Moments later, Manning lofted a 34-yard pass to Emmanuel Sanders, who outjumped Slay, to set up his throw that only the 6-foot-3 Daniels could catch in the end zone.