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Denver 29, Green Bay 10 — Broncos Defense Shuts Down Aaron Rodgers, Packers Can’t Stop Peyton Manning

By Dustin Murrell
Published on: 22:30 PST, Nov 1, 2015

Could the Green Bay Packers remain undefeated? Would the Denver Broncos stay perfect? In a battle of two undefeated NFL teams, the Broncos and Peyton Manning outscored the Packers and Aaron Rodgers in every quarter to win 29-10. If some thought that the Broncos defense would be tested against the Packers, then it looks like Denver passed with flying colors.

Going into Week 8 of the NFL season, there were still five teams that remained undefeated. With the Packers vs. Broncos game on the schedule, we knew we would have at least one team that would no longer have a perfect record.

Both Denver and Green Bay punted to end their first drives. On the Broncos’ second drive, Manning connected with Demaryius Thomas for a 30-yard pass. A few plays later, Ronnie Hillman ran the football into the end zone on 3rd and Goal from the Packers’ 1 yard line. The extra point by Brandon McManus was good, and the first quarter ended with the Broncos leading the Packers 7-0.

But it only took three plays in the second quarter for Denver to score again. They started the quarter with the ball on their own 48 yard line. Peyton Manning connected with Demaryius Thomas again, this time for 47 yards. Manning connected with Andre Caldwell for a 5-yard touchdown pass, but Caldwell was called for offensive pass interference. On the next play, however, Hillman ran it in for another touchdown.

After the Denver Broncos defense made Rodgers and the Packers’ offense punt one more time, Manning lead a drive that resulted in a 50-yard field goal, putting Denver up 17-0 over Green Bay halfway through the second quarter. But Aaron Rodgers was able to take the Packers 80 yards in 10 plays on their next drive, culminating with Eddie Lacy running in a 2-yard touchdown, finally putting the Packers on the board. Denver would have a 10-point lead over Green Bay at halftime.

Green Bay would hit a field goal on their first drive in the third quarter to bring Denver’s lead down to seven. But Manning was able to take the Broncos to the end zone on the next drive, when a 28-yard run by C.J. Anderson would bring their lead back to two touchdowns. The Packers would have to punt after the Broncos defense held them to just 18 yards on their next drive. Denver led Green Bay 24-10 and had a 1st and 10 from the Packers’ 45-yard line to begin the final quarter.

After scoring an easy field goal, Denver let their defense do some scoring. The Broncos’ kicked and the Packers had the ball on their own 13. But on the first play, Green Bay fumbled the ball, and Denver recovered it in the end zone, where Denver scored a safety. No one managed to score for the rest of the game, and the Broncos vs. Packers ends at 29-10. As noted by Bleacher Report, the Denver Broncos win makes Peyton Manning tied with Brett Favre for most wins by a NFL quarterback (186). He can break the record if the Broncos stay perfect next week against the Indianapolis Colts.

Adding literal injury to insult, three of the Packers had to be helped off the field during their loss to Denver. Most notably, Clay Matthews hurt his ankle with 6:45 left in the third quarter, but returned after the ankle was taped. As noted by ESPN, cornerbacks Sam Shields and Quinten Rollins both left the game with shoulder injuries.

In the world of fantasy football, both Manning and Rodgers were disappointments in Week 8. Based on standard scoring at NFL.com, Peyton Manning ended up with 12.60 fantasy points, whereas Aaron Rodgers was good for a mere 6.38. Neither man broke the top 15 QBs for Week 8. The Denver Broncos defense was worth 9.50 points, the tenth best in the league; the Green Bay Packers defense was worth just 4.00 points. The Denver Broncos’ Ronnie Hillman scored the most fantasy points of anyone in the game at 19.50 points. (As far as rankings are concerned, the fantasy points for Monday night’s game between Indianapolis and Carolina have not been figured in).

Next week, will the Broncos stay perfect as they travel to Indianapolis to face the Colts? The game begins at 3:25 CST and airs on CBS. The Packers travel to Carolina to face the Panthers. The game begins at noon CST and airs on Fox.

[Image credit Justin Edmonds / Getty Images]

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