Peyton Manning finished with a season-high 339 yards passing and three touchdowns on 30-of-43 efficiency, as the Denver Broncos won their 10th straight game with a 34-12 decision over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
Demaryius Thomas posted 102 yards and a score on nine receptions and Eric Decker added two TD receptions among his six catches for 65 yards for the Broncos (12-3), who have put together their first double-digit win streak since beginning the Super Bowl season of 1998 with 13 consecutive victories.
Knowshon Moreno totaled 78 yards on 22 carries and Jacob Hester added a touchdown run as Denver kept pace with AFC South leader Houston in the race for the top seed in the conference.
"We'll be putting all our focus and attention to Kansas City to finish out the regular season and then the chips will fall where they are," Denver coach John Fox said.
Brandon Weeden left the game in the third quarter with a right shoulder injury, having completed 12-of-19 passes for 104 yards for the Browns (5-10), who hit double-digit defeats for the fifth straight season and 11th time since returning to Cleveland in 1999.
"(The Broncos) did a good job holding on to (the ball) and driving the ball like they do," said Cleveland coach Pat Shurmur.
Colt McCoy finished 9-of-17 for 79 yards and Cleveland's lone end zone excursion, a six-yard pass to Greg Little.
Manning capped the first drive of the game by finding Thomas for a 22-yard touchdown strike which capped an 80-yard sojourn by the hosts.
Phil Dawson finished off Cleveland's first offensive foray with a 27-yard field goal, but Manning responded with a 10-yard scoring connection with Decker. That score put the hosts ahead 14-3 early in the second quarter and provided the punctuation on a 15-play series which also covered 80 yards.
The visitors received some good luck on the ensuing possession, as it appeared Rahim Moore scooped up a low Weeden throw and rolled 62 yards in the opposite direction for a touchdown. However, the play was reversed upon review.
The Browns did make the most of their first touch of the second half, as Dawson was good from 53 yards away.
Denver then marched 91 yards in 12 plays and moved ahead by a 21-6 count as Decker hauled in an 8-yard pass from Manning.
Weeden exited the game after being sacked by Von Miller on a 2nd-and-10 from his own 20-yard line late in the third quarter. McCoy entered, but fared no better on the next play as he, too, was planted into the turf.
Matt Prater connected from 27 yards out early in the fourth to extend Denver's lead further, and the Broncos capitalized on a special-teams miscue to take a commanding lead.
Josh Cribbs muffed a punt and Denver took over on the Cleveland 19. Hester capped that brief series with a 1-yard plunge to make it 31-6.
Little posted a six-yard TD catch with under eight minutes left but McCoy's conversion run fell well short.
A 41-yard try from Prater split the uprights on the first play after the two- minute warning to cap the scoring.
Game Notes
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