Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning was back to his old tricks on Sunday night, winning 31-19 against the Pittsburgh Steelers in his first game in nearly two years.
Manning used his familiar no-huddle offense and threw for two touchdowns and 253 yards on 19 of 26 completions.
"It's just one game. I try to keep it in perspective," Manning told the Associated Press. "I know how hard I've worked to get to this point. I know how much help that I've gotten along the way, from a lot of people. I'm very grateful for that. It's special. I will definitely say it's special."
Manning missed all of last season with the Indianapolis Colts and was returning to the field for his first regular season game since having four neck surgery procedures. He signed a five-year deal with Denver in the offseason.
The Steelers had the ball for 10 more minutes than the Broncos, but Denver's defense made a number of big plays to keep Pittsburgh at bay. The unit had two sacks and sealed the game with two minutes left when cornerback Tracy Porter returned an interception off quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for a touchdown.
"There's no one to blame but myself. I already told my teammates and coaches that it's my fault," Roethlisberger said. "It's on me. It's disappointing. I hate to let my team down, my coaches, the fans. That loss is squarely on my shoulders. I'll take that and get better and learn from it."
Manning's first touchdown of the game, a 71-yard throw to wideout Demariyus Thomas, was the 400th of his career. He is the fastest quarterback to reach that number at 208 games, nearly 20 ahead of both Dan Marino and Brett Favre, who are second and third with 227 and 228 games.
"I love those guys," Manning said. "Brett and Dan are two of my favorite quarterbacks of all time. I don't feel like I belong in their category. But to be sort of mentioned among them is a true honor."
The Steelers took the lead early against the Bronocs, going up 13-7 after a 4-yard pass from Roethlisberger to tight end Health Miller and a field goal from Shaun Suisham. After Manning's touchdown they responded with a Mike Wallace touchdown catch to go up 19-14, but couldn't muster anymore points the rest of the game.
Roethlisberger finished with 245 yards passing and two touchdowns.
Denver took the lead with under 10-minutes left in the fourth quarter on a one-yard pass from Manning to tight end Jacob Tamme. They added a two-point conversion from Willis McGahee to go up 22-19 and never looked back.
Pittsburgh was without starting running back Rashard Mendenhall and linebacker James Harrison.
Last season Denver upset the Steelers in the first round of playoffs behind quarterback Tim Tebow, who threw an 80-yard game winning score to Thomas in overtime. But during the offseason the Broncos traded Tebow to the New York Jets and brought in Manning to take over as the new offensive leader.
Some rust would have been understandable for Manning, who hadn't played in a "real" game for over 600 days, but he was sharp throughout the game and looked much like the Peyton of old.
"What can you say?" Steelers safety Troy Polamalu said. "I mean, he's Peyton Manning. He's the same Manning. Everything anybody has ever said about him is probably the same thing I would say tonight."
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