Sports

Brady outdeuls Manning; Patriots hold off Broncos

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Peyton Manning was great late … but too late.

Manning did his best to add a memorable chapter in his storied rivalry with Tom Brady yesterday, but hapless defense and a critical turnover in the waning minutes allowed Brady and the Patriots to escape with a 31-21 victory over Manning’s Broncos at soggy Gillette Stadium.

A masterful display of relentless no-huddle offense by Brady had staked New England to a 31-7 lead late in the third quarter, but Manning refused to let this latest showdown of MVP QBs dissolve into a laugher.

No. 18 had the locals sweating until a Willis McGahee fumble at the Patriots’ 14 with 3:48 left short-circuited 2-3 Denver’s comeback hopes and made sure an historic day by Brady and the New England offense wouldn’t go to waste in an embarrassing collapse.

The Patriots instead could toast improving to 3-2 and first in the AFC East in record-setting fashion as they tormented Denver with a franchise-best 35 first downs while rushing for more than 200 yards for the second straight week — the first time New England has done that in 35 years.

“They are not a team you want to fall behind to,” Manning said. “We did continue to fight and compete in the second half, but it’s still not good enough. So here we are, 2-3.”

Manning ended up with much gaudier numbers than Brady, completing 31 of his 44 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns, but much of that came after Brady’s textbook direction of the no-huddle provided slow-drip water torture for the Broncos’ defense.

Brady finished 23-of-31 for a relatively meager 223 yards and one TD while being sacked four times, but he completed 17 of his first 20 passes and — with a huge assist from a suddenly potent running game led by Stevan Ridley (151 yards) that rolled up 251 yards overall — kept Manning and Denver’s offense off the field in decisive second and third quarters.

The Patriots controlled the ball for almost 36 minutes while running 89 plays (13 of which ended in catches for 104 yards and a TD by the rejuvenated Wes Welker), then frustrated the Broncos further with ball-hawking defense that forced three fumbles — two recovered by linebacker Rob Ninkovich.

Get used to this up-tempo yet balanced Patriots offense, Brady said after beating Manning for the first time as a Bronco but the ninth time in 13 career meetings (including playoffs) between the two Canton-bound passers.

“You can’t just drop back and throw it 60 times a game,” Brady said. “You have to mix in the running game, and we did a lot of things well. I just hope we’re able to keep it up.”

For Manning and the Broncos, it all added up to another case of missed opportunities and a too-little, too-late comeback.

Manning rallied Denver from big deficits in what turned out to be tight losses to Atlanta and Houston in the first four weeks this season, and yesterday ended up being another case of so-close-yet-so-far.

At least Manning and the Broncos made it interesting, cutting what had been a 31-7 deficit late in the third to 31-21 with 6:41 left in the game after a 5-yard TD to Brandon Stokley capped a drive that took less than 90 seconds.

New England tried to run out the clock with Ridley, but his fumble in Denver territory right after Stokley’s score caused the blood-pressure levels throughout the stadium to suddenly rise.

Collars felt even tighter after Manning hit Demaryius Thomas for 28 yards to the New England 14 on an incredibly gutsy fourth-and-1 call, but McGahee blew it for the Broncos two plays later with his game-deciding fumble.

“They fought right to the end, but our guys just made a few more plays than they did,” Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. “We still have to work on playing 60 full minutes, but we still did enough right to win.”