The Week 7 Sunday Night Football matchup will be remembered for the historical day it was for Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning and not much else, as the game wasn't competitive from beginning to end. Manning tossed two first quarter touchdowns before breaking Brett Favre's record for career touchdowns in the second quarter with his 509th all-time en route to a 42-17 victory over the San Francisco 49ers.
49ers vs. Broncos final score: 3 things we learned from Denver’s dominant night
Peyton Manning stole the show with a performance that officially eclipsed one of the NFL’s most highly-regarded records.
Doug Pensinger
Manning added one more for good measure at the beginning of the second half to bring his career total to 510, putting him two touchdowns ahead of Favre. While he still trails the former Green Bay Packers great in total passing yardage by about 5,000 yards, Manning has a great chance at breaking it in 2015 and there are no players anywhere near eclipsing the records any time in the next decade.
A touchdown for the 49ers at the end of the second quarter kept the game reasonably close at halftime, but Manning's third quarter connection with Demaryius Thomas was followed by two rushing touchdowns for Ronnie Hillman and any remaining hopes of a comeback for San Francisco were quickly stamped out.
It wasn't just a good day for the Denver offense either, as the Broncos defense had a field day of its own against the 49ers. The San Francisco offense struggled in all facets, as Colin Kaepernick was sacked six times, the team struggled to find running room and punter Andy Lee was called in to action five times
Leading the way for the Broncos defense were DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller, who finished with three sacks and two sacks on Sunday night, respectively.
San Francisco's bye week couldn't come at a more perfect time, as the team has racked up some injuries pretty quick and will have a chance to regroup in Week 8 following the drubbing on Sunday night. The Broncos will stay at home for another week, as the team next hosts the San Diego Chargers in a Week 8 game that will be plenty important in deciding the AFC West champion.
Three things we learned:
1) The Denver front seven is a force
Everyone knows Ware and everyone knows Miller, but the Denver defense has so many other good players up front. Players like Malik Jackson and Quanterus Smith contributed on Sunday night, and it's pretty clear that the Broncos can rotate between a whole bunch of players and continue to find production.
That helped them on Sunday night against an athletic quarterback like Kaepernick, but it will especially help them through the remainder of the season as attrition inevitably takes its toll on all teams. The Broncos have depth on defense, no doubt, and it will matter in the remainder of the year.
2) Injuries have taken their toll in San Francisco
Linebacker Patrick Willis and guard Mike Iupati missed the game Sunday night and the 49ers secondary entered the night very banged up. It got worse as Chris Cook left the game with an injury and center Daniel Kilgore had a leg injury that appeared pretty serious, as an air-cast was applied on the field.
It’s not too surprising given the injury troubles that the 49ers struggled to find running room between the tackles and it’s not surprising that Manning was able to shred the San Francisco secondary as seemingly easy as he did.
3) The Broncos are finding rhythm
Teams trend up and down as the season goes on, and the Broncos are trending up. After a couple close victories over the Indianapolis Colts and Kansas City Chiefs, and a loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Broncos have completely gelled in the last three weeks.
Denver dismantled the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals, beat up on the New York Jets and added the 49ers to the list of consecutively trucked teams on Sunday night. The game against the Chargers is an important one and San Diego is traveling to face the Broncos at a tough time.
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