Brandon McManus had six field goals, and the Denver Broncos defense intercepted Cam Newton twice on Sunday afternoon en route to an 18-12 win over the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Denver (2-3) took the opening kickoff and marched down the field that led to a 45 yard McManus field goal. New England had their first drive ended when a Newton pass was deflected and was then intercepted by the Broncos DeShawn Williams. McManus banged home another field goal of 44 yards to make it 6-0. A very lethargic Patriots first half offense saw them in a 9-0 hole early in the second quarter, as McManus hit his third kick this time from 27 yards. The hosts finally got on the scoreboard with 5:24 left in the first half when Nick Folk hit a field goal from 41 yards, but it was McManus again from 52 yards five minutes later and Denver led 12-3 at halftime.
After New England (2-3) went three downs and out with the opening kickoff of the third quarter, Denver had a 15 play 79 yard drive that chewed up over nine minutes off the clock. The Broncos however couldn’t get in the endzone again as McManus had to settle for his fifth field goal of 20 yards to stretch the lead to 12. One of the Patriots biggest plays to that point, a 16 yard completion from Newton to tight end Ryan Izzo ended in a fumble and once again it was McManus from 54 yards and it was 18-3 with 42 seconds left in the quarter. The very next offensive play was another tipped pass that was intercepted by Bryce Callahan of the Broncos at the New England 39 yard line. The Pats got the first touchdown of the day with 8:31 to play when Newton snuck it in on a one yard run, but they failed on the two point conversion leaving them still down 18-9. Newton had a 38 yard QB keeper to set up the score. On a 3rd and 11 with 5:25 left, Denver quarterback Drew Lock made his first mistake when his pass to Tim Patrick was intercepted by JC Jackson that would lead to a 38 field goal by Folk to cut it to just a six point deficit. Lock would take another deep shot to Patrick on the next play after the kickoff, but was intercepted again this time by Jonathan Jones at the Patriots 28 yard line with still 3:23 left in the fourth quarter. New England had their final chance on 4th and 10 from the Denver 24 yard line, but Newtons pass intended for N’Keal Harry went incomplete to end the game.
Newton would finish the day 15-27 passing for 157 yards and two interceptions in the loss. He also was the leading rusher with 76 yards on 10 rush attempts and the one touchdown, and one reception for 16 yards on the final drive. James White led the receiving core with eight catches for 65 yards. Ja’Whaun Bentley had eight tackles, two tackles for a loss, and a half sack to lead the defense. Lock went 10-24 passing for 189 yards and two interceptions in the Denver win. Phillip Lindsey rushed 23 times for 101 yards, and Patrick caught four passes for 101 yards. Justin Simmons had eight tackles to anchor the Broncos defense. New England is at home again next Sunday when they host the San Francisco 49ers at 4:25 p.m.
