Broncos vs. Colts: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2015 Regular Season

After narrowly escaping with victories earlier in the year, the Denver Broncos were on borrowed time with regard to their perfect record. On Sunday, the Broncos suffered their first defeat of the 2015 season, losing 27-24 to the Indianapolis Colts.

Not only did the Colts pick up the victory, but they also held Peyton Manning three yards short of passing Brett Favre as the NFL's all-time leading passer. NFL on CBS captured the moment at which Manning realized the Colts would deny him a chance to make history:   

The legendary quarterback finished 21-of-36 for 281 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

On the other sideline, Andrew Luck went for 252 yards and two touchdowns on 21-of-36 passing. The evening was notable for Luck in that he recorded the 100th passing touchdown of his career. Bleacher Report provided a head-to-head comparison between Luck and his predecessor to mark the achievement:

Quite a bit of attention surrounded how Vernon Davis would perform in his debut for the Broncos. Football Outsiders ranked Owen Daniels as the third-worst tight end in the league by its DYAR (defense-adjusted yards-above-replacement metric). If he can roll back the years, Davis offers a different dynamic to the passing game.

The 31-year-old provided little impact on Sunday, failing to register a reception. He should improve after having more time to fully comprehend Denver's playbook, but on the basis of this year and the last, it's fair to wonder how much Davis has left in the tank and whether he can demonstrably help the Broncos.

The Colts, meanwhile, were bedding in a new offensive coordinator; Rob Chudzinski replaced Pep Hamilton, whom the team fired earlier in the week.

The early returns for Indianapolis are promising after the team posted 365 yards on what is one of the NFL's best defenses. Entering Sunday, the Broncos allowed an average of 16 points and 261.1 yards a game.

Frank Gore put the Colts ahead with six minutes, 48 seconds left in the first quarter on a seven-yard touchdown run. Gore had a lot of success on the ground through the first two quarters, which made Kevin Bowen of Colts.com hopeful one of the team's more embarrassing streaks would end:

Gore ultimately fell short, finishing with 83 yards on 28 carries.

Adam Vinatieri connected on a 43-yard field goal at the 12:13 mark of the second quarter, which put Indianapolis ahead 10-7, and Jack Doyle made it a three-score game 7:12 from halftime with a three-yard touchdown catch.

Colts fans couldn't have envisaged a better start to the game. Not only was the offense hitting on all cylinders, but the defense was keeping Manning completely in check.

The first half wasn't entirely full of positives for the Colts, though.

On the final play of the second quarter, Omar Bolden returned a Pat McAfee punt 83 yards for a touchdown as time expired, per the NFL:

Bill Barnwell highlighted the most impressive aspect of the return, which didn't involve Bolden at all:

Bolden's dynamism salvaged an otherwise dreadful first 30 minutes for Denver. Troy Renck of the Denver Post called it the Broncos' "worst half of the season," but scoring right before halftime altered the narrative a bit. Despite still being down 10 points, 17-7, Denver all of a sudden headed into the second half with a lot of momentum.

The Colts could've erased all of the Broncos' progress with a touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter. Instead, Denver forced Indy to punt after six plays. Making matters worse, the Colts announced Mike Adams would miss the entirety of the second half, leaving the team down its interceptions leader.

Indianapolis looked to be sorely missing Adams on Denver's first drive of the second half after Emmanuel Sanders got free for a 64-yard touchdown reception. Colts corner Greg Toler lost track of Sanders, and the Pro Bowl wideout only needed a little bit of separation in order to reach the end zone, per the NFL:

Yahoo Sports' Jay Busbee provided an odd comparison by which to describe Manning's throws farther down the field:

But if opposing teams continue to leave Broncos receivers open, Manning will continue to be successful. Indianapolis found that out again the hard way after a 37-yard reception by Daniels helped set up Brandon McManus' 29-yard field goal to tie the game at 17-17 with 4:57 left in the third quarter.

Indianapolis grabbed the lead back with an eight-yard touchdown reception by Ahmad Bradshaw with 14:05 left in the game. The veteran running back wasn't going to be denied once he got close to the goal line, per NFL Network:

Bradshaw may no longer be a steady every-down back in the NFL, but Stephen Holder of the Indianapolis Star argued the 29-year-old continues to be a strong situational option, such as on the Colts' touchdown:

Just inside the nine-minute mark, Daniels tied the game for Denver with a one-yard TD catch. Among the two Broncos tight ends, Davis came in with far more hype, but Daniels did far more to try to put his team in a position to win.

The 42-year-old Vinatieri split the uprights from 55 yards out to put the Colts ahead with 6:13 left in the game, and the Indianapolis Star's Gregg Doyel thought the kick would've even been good from 60-plus yards out.

Colts corner Darius Butler intercepted Manning's first pass of the ensuing drive, which allowed Indianapolis to run down the remaining 5:57 off the clock.

Aqib Talib did little to help the Broncos after picking up a 15-yard personal-foul penalty on a 2nd-and-9 at Denver's 15-yard line.

Dwayne Allen and Von Miller were engaged in an argument before Talib came in and appeared to blatantly poke Allen in the eye. Complex Sports provided a brief video of the infraction, and it's difficult to dispute Talib's intentions:

Another penalty sealed the Broncos' fate after Danny Trevathan picked up a holding call on Indianapolis' field-goal attempt on fourth down with 25 seconds left.

This is undoubtedly the Colts' biggest win of the season, and the offense made some positive strides in Chudzinski's first game as interim offensive coordinator. Luck still faced heavy pressure at times, but that was to be expected against a tough Broncos defense.

Indianapolis has a week off before taking on the Atlanta Falcons in Week 11. That extra time should allow Chudzinski even more time to implement his game plan and leave his stamp on the Colts offense.

The Colts remain in the driver's seat in the AFC South, and they'd almost have to go out of their way to lose the division. But they need to play like this on a weekly basis and keep Luck healthy if they're to make a deep run in the playoffs.

For the Broncos, Sunday's defeat was bound to happen sooner or later. Five of their seven wins have come by single digits, and their luck was going to turn around at some point.

You'd still bet in favor of Denver against teams in the AFC other than the New England Patriots. The two teams meet Nov. 29 in what should be a true test of the Broncos' title credentials this season.

Postgame Reaction

"Just didn't play well enough," said Manning as he described his performance, per the Broncos' Twitter account. "When you don't play as well as you'd like on the road it's hard to win."

"We dug ourselves a hole in the first half," Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak said, per Michelle Tuckner of 104.3 The Fan. "They were tremendous on third down. [We] weren't able to close the deal."

Kubiak also spoke out against Talib's personal foul in the fourth quarter, saying the Pro Bowl corner "needs to keep his composure," per Tuckner.

The mood was much more positive out of the Colts' locker room.

"It was a phenomenal job by [Chudzinski] and the rest of the offensive coaches and players," said Colts head coach Chuck Pagano, per Nat Newell of the Indianapolis Star.

"It was just matter of time before this thing was going to turn," Pagano added regarding the team's season as a whole, per Rich Nye of WTHR. "Hopefully we use this to springboard into [sic] second half of season."