Broncos rout Raiders, clinch first-round bye

Posted December 28, 2014 12:01 am

Associated Press

DENVER - C.J. Anderson ran for three touchdowns, and the Denver Broncos earned a first-round bye and the AFC's No. 2 seed with a 47-14 rout of the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.

Peyton Manning guided the Broncos (12-4) to at least a tie for the best record in the NFL for the third consecutive season since his arrival in Denver. That's something he accomplished just twice in his 13 years in Indianapolis before missing all of 2011 because of spinal fusion surgery.

Denver won't have the top seed this time, however. That went to the New England Patriots, who rested many of their starters in a loss to Buffalo on Sunday.

And Manning, who completed 21 of 37 passes for 273 yards, failed to throw a TD pass for the second time in four weeks after throwing one for 51 consecutive games, just three shy of Drew Brees' NFL record.

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