Cardinals vs. Broncos: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2014 Regular Season

The Arizona Cardinals could not contain Demaryius Thomas, who finished with a franchise-record 226 receiving yards and two touchdowns in a 41-20 win for the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Sunday.

Peyton Manning threw for 479 yards and four touchdown passes—including the 500th of his career—to help the Broncos pull away late in the impressive win to move to 3-1 on the year. Tight end Julius Thomas also scored two touchdowns in the victory.

The Cardinals came into the day one of the final two undefeated teams in the NFL along with the Cincinnati Bengals, but they could not keep up on the scoreboard in this one. Drew Stanton went just 11-of-26 for 118 yards before coming out with a possible concussion, and rookie Logan Thomas did nothing outside of one big play to Andre Ellington, who scored twice in the loss.

This drops the team to 3-1 on the year but it remains in first place in the competitive NFC West.

Despite the final margin, the game was closer than the score would indicate. Arizona was the first on the scoreboard with a field goal on its opening drive, although the Broncos were able to take over the lead with a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Julius Thomas.

This was Manning's first score of the game and the 500th of his career, as noted by Albert Breer of NFL.com:

The five-time MVP was able to add two more scores in the first half, although a lot of that was thanks to Demaryius Thomas' work after the catch on plays of 31 and 86 yards. Lindsay Jones of USA Today gave credit to the receiver:

Meanwhile, ESPN's Josina Anderson points out how well Thomas had played Sunday compared to the rest of the year:

Still, it was not a perfect first half for Manning. He threw an interception to Jerraud Powers early in the second quarter and then threw another one on an impressive play by Calais Campbell, as described by Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com:

Ellington scored on the very next play to keep it close, although the Broncos were able to go into halftime up 21-13.

Unfortunately, one of the major storylines as the game continued was costly injuries. Running back Montee Ball came out of the game for the Broncos with a groin injury, while Campbell could not help the Cardinals after sustaining a knee injury. The defender's injury came on a dirty play by Julius Thomas that ended up bringing back a long touchdown, as noted by NFL.com:

Of course, the biggest injury for Arizona came to the starting quarterback, who was evaluated for a concussion:

The rookie Thomas came into the game and dealt with a lot of pressure from the opposing defensive line, but his first career completion was a good one, perfectly thrown to Ellington for an 81-yard score. ESPN provided its reaction:

While this cut the lead to 24-20, Denver was able to add to the lead with a field goal and then another touchdown pass from Manning to his tight end. The Broncos went up two scores midway through the fourth quarter while the Cardinals could not do much to keep up offensively.

Denver sealed the win with Juwan Thompson's first career touchdown with under five minutes remaining to make it 41-20 in favor of the home team.

Even with the tough matchup on the road, the Cardinals were actually looking forward to this game to see how good they really were after a 3-0 start. Cornerback Patrick Peterson said earlier in the week:

"

Playing against Denver now, a year removed from the Super Bowl last year, is going to be a great measuring stick, not only for this team, but for the secondary as well, because Peyton Manning has so many great numbers, he added some receivers over there and now you have the tight end [Julius Thomas] playing good ball. So the secondary, it’s going to be a huge test for us. We have to be ready for every single play come Sunday 

"

While Manning posted some big numbers, Arizona still played well in a losing effort. Although the squad suffered its first loss, the Cardinals showed a lot of doubters that they should be considered one of the league's top teams.

They will try to bounce back in Week 6 with a much easier matchup at home against the Washington Redskins. Hopefully for Arizona, the squad will be able to stay healthier in that competition.

Denver will go on the road in Week 6 for a battle against the reeling New York Jets. After Manning picked apart a very good secondary in this one, the Jets cornerbacks could be in serious trouble. Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post gave his opinion:

"

Broncos-Jets is going to be rated NC-17.

— Bart Hubbuch (@BartHubbuch) October 5, 2014"

Until then, the Broncos once again showed why they remain a Super Bowl favorite as one of the best teams in the AFC.

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