Emmanuel Sanders Catches 2 TD's As Broncos Fall To Texans 18-17

The Denver Broncos (2-1) came into Saturday night’s preseason game against the Houston Texans (2-1) wanting to get Emmanuel Sanders as much work as possible after being sidelined most of August by a thigh injury that kept him from catching a pass from Peyton Manning in a preseason game. It ended up being mission accomplished as Sanders caught five passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns. The 128 yards marked the first 100 yard game in Sanders' career.

The game wasn't all good for the Broncos as Wes Welker was lost to a concussion in the second quarter and the Texans would score a touchdown and two-point conversion with less than a minute to go in the game to beat the Broncos 18-17 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

Coming into the third preseason game, Sanders’ time on the field had been limited to just 20 total plays with no catches in the first game against the Seattle Seahawks, and sat out the game against the San Francisco 49ers. After participating in a full day of practice on Thursday, Sanders was anxious to get on the field and demonstrate the talent that made him a valuable asset for Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Texans won the opening coin toss but deferred to the Broncos, who began their drive on the 20 yard line following a touchback. Montee Ball, who had been sidelined after undergoing an emergency appendectomy on August 4, returned for his first game action. The Broncos wanted to get Ball into the flow of the game and they achieved their goal quickly by giving Ball the ball the first five plays. Ball would play one series before calling it a day.

The Broncos went no-huddle the majority of the series, driving down to the Texans 13 yard line before Manning was sacked for a 6-yard loss by Texans defensive tackle Ricardo Matthews. The drive stalled two-plays later when they were unable to convert a third-and-16. Matt Prater kicked a 32-yard field goal to give the Broncos a 3-0 lead.

Sanders lack of playing time was evident on the Broncos next drive as back-to-back passes from Manning fell incomplete due to the wrong route being run. An offsides call on Demaryius Thomas once again put the Broncos in a third-and-long situation and the offense was unable to convert.

Frustration for the first team offense continued on their next drive when Manning had a 24-yard pass intended for Sanders picked off by A.J. Bouye at the Texans 42. It had become apparent that the Broncos had decided to feed Sanders the ball as much as possible. Manning made a rare mistake by locking on to Sanders for the entire route, tipping off the defense.

Texans quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick drove the Texans on an 8-play, 57 yard drive that was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Jonathan Grimes to give the Texans a 7-3 lead with 8:28 remaining in the second quarter.

A holding call on left guard Orlando Franklin, putting the Broncos in a second-and-20 situation, led to an incomplete pass by Manning to Sanders on third-and-17 from the Texans 20 yard line. Prater missed wide-left on an attempted 49 yard field goal with 2:05 remaining until halftime.

It had been a sloppy first half for the Broncos, filled with mental mistakes that led to untimely penalties, bad routes run by receivers, and an interception. A far cry from the first two games of the preseason when the Broncos executed crisp drives.

The Broncos defense stiffened and held the Texans to a quick three-and-out that ran only 21 seconds off the clock. A 45 yard punt by Chris Boswell penned the Broncos back at their 7-yard line with only 1:41 remaining on the clock until halftime.

Running the no-huddle, Manning completed an 8-yard pass to Andre Caldwell on the first play of the drive. Manning would once again target Caldwell, this time with a deep pass that fell incomplete. A pass interference call on cornerback Brandon Harris gave the Broncos a first down at their own 33 yard line with 1:17 remaining. On the next play, Manning completed a 67 yard bomb to a wide open Sanders down the middle for a touchdown that put the Broncos back on top, 10-7.

"It was good to get Emmanuel out there. I had not completed a pass to Emmanuel in a game yet," Manning said. "I wanted to get some completions to him. I think you want to complete some passes to a first-year receiver in this offense going into the season opener."

Once again the Broncos defense forced the Texans to punt following a three-and-out and took over on their own 36-yard line after an 11 yard punt return by Isaiah Burse. With :32 remaining, Manning completed an 11 yard pass and a 9-yard completion to Welker to move the Broncos to the Texans 47-yard line with :09 left.

The second completion to Welker ended with safety D.J. Swearinger flagged for unnecessary roughness after he struck Welker in the head with his shoulder pads. Welker was forced to leave the field and head to the locker room with a possible concussion. Broncos head coach John Fox announced after the game that Welker had indeed sustained another concussion.

Manning was able to connect with Sanders for their second straight touchdown, this time for 29-yards to give the Broncos a 17-7 lead at halftime. Following the touchdown, Manning uncharacteristically ran after Swearinger and went facemask to facemask as he delivered a few choice words. Swearinger had been involved in some of the scuffles during the three-day joint practice at Dove Valley last week and treated an interception of Manning during a drill as if it had won the Super Bowl for Houston. Now with the blow to Welker’s head, Manning had had enough of the Texans' strong safety and ended up being flagged for taunting.

"He didn't invite me to dinner," Swearinger said about the confrontation with Manning.

Manning's teammates backed his response to Swearinger.

"I loved it," defensive tackle Marvin Austin said. "It's a beautiful thing. Peyton's not really a trash-talking guy."

Swearinger disagreed with the assertion that his hit on Welker was illegal, instead pointing the finger of blame at Manning.

"I led with my shoulder. That's the only thing I could do. He's a short guy," Swearinger said."There are some fine lines with hits. I could have tried to go low, but he ducked his head. ... What am I supposed to do? I made a Hall of Famer mad.

"That is a Hall of Fame quarterback. I respect him. But he shouldn't have done what he did."

After the game, Manning wanted to put the focus back on Welker and his well-being following the concussion.

"Obviously concerned about Wes, don't like to see him come out of the game with a potential blow to the head," Manning said. "He had one of those last year, kept him out for a while so I was concerned about him."

Manning finished 21 of 27 for 243 yards with one touchdown and an interception. He gave way in the second half to Brock Osweiler who was less than impressive, completing just four passes for 27 yards and an interception. Still, it has been a good preseason for Osweiler who in his third year has shown growth as a quarterback and appears in command of the offense.

On the Texans' final drive of the game down 17-10, quarterback Tom Savage took the offense on a 9 play, 74 yard drive and capped it with a 31 yard touchdown pass to tight end Ryan Griffin for the touchdown. Savage then converted the two-point conversion with a pass to wide receiver Travis Labhart that secured the win.

Coming Up:

Most of the starters will have Thursday off when the Broncos play their final preseason game on the road against the Dallas Cowboys.