OAKLAND, Calif.
With one sterling half, Peyton Manning accomplished all he needed to in the regular-season finale by seizing another prestigious record and home-field advantage in the playoffs.
He knows his next time out probably won’t be so easy.
Manning set the NFL single-season record for yards passing and threw four first-half touchdown passes to clinch the top seed in the AFC playoffs for the Broncos with a 34-14 victory over Oakland on Sunday.
“This was a good game (Sunday),” Manning said. “We needed this win. We needed to improve on some things. The coaches challenged us in a couple of areas, and I think we responded to those challenges.”
The Broncos (13-3) were nearly perfect in building a 31-0 halftime lead before head coach John Fox gave Manning and some other regulars the second half off to rest for the first playoff game two weeks from now in Denver.
Manning threw touchdown passes to Eric Decker and Knowshon Moreno in the first quarter and added two to Demaryius Thomas in the second quarter. He broke Drew Brees’ record of 5,476 yards set in 2011 with a 5-yard pass to Thomas with 13 seconds left in the half to make it 31-0.
That ended Manning’s day, completing 25-of-28 passes for 266 yards. He finished the season with 5,477 yards and 55 touchdown passes.
“The first half was about as good in all three phases as we’ve been all year,” Fox said. “It allowed us to get some guys out of the game and rest them and still take care of business on the field.”
The Raiders (4-12) ended their 11th consecutive non-winning season with six consecutive losses and big questions about the future of second-year head coach Dennis Allen. Oakland has won eight games in Allen’s two seasons, but after showing signs of progress early this season, the Raiders regressed down the stretch to put his job in jeopardy.
Allen said he expects to meet in the next few days with owner Mark Davis and general manager Reggie McKenzie to discuss the future of the organization.
“That’s a decision that’s made over my head,” Allen said. “I fully expect to be back. I fully believe that I deserve the opportunity to come back here and get a chance to go through the reconstruction phase. I want to be part of the rebuilding phase.”
The Raiders, who allowed the second most points in franchise history, were completely exposed by Manning. He frequently targeted fill-in cornerback Chimdi Chekwa, who started for the injured Mike Jenkins.
The Broncos forced a punt on the opening possession, then easily drove down the field. Manning completed 8-of-9 passes for 70 yards on the 12-play drive, capping it with a 3-yard pass to Decker.
A bad snap by Stefen Wisniewski on the first play of the next drive set up a 7-yard touchdown pass to Moreno, and the rout was on.
Oakland held the Broncos to a field goal early in the second quarter before Manning beat them deep with a 63-yard pass to Thomas to make it 24-0, and then Manning methodically led a late drive down the field that was capped with the short throw to Thomas that broke Brees’ record and earned the record-setting quarterback some rest in the second half.
“I feel like it’s a record every other week,” Thomas said. “It’s great to be a part of, to get it. We just have to sit back and talk about it, but our main goal is to win the Super Bowl. It’s a good accomplishment for our offense. The main thing now is being able to win.”
Brock Osweiler played the entire second half in his most extensive action of his two-year career. He completed 9-of-13 passes for 85 yards but only led Denver to one field goal.
The decision to go back to Terrelle Pryor at starting quarterback after six games with Matt McGloin failed to provide the spark Allen had been seeking. Pryor looked rusty in his return to the lineup, missing receivers and having little room to run on read-option plays and scrambles.
Pryor completed 21-of-38 passes for 207 yards and two touchdowns after the game was out of reach. Pryor also ran for 49 yards to give him 576 yards rushing for the season, breaking Rich Gannon’s franchise mark of 529 for quarterbacks set in 2000.
“I would say I’m inconsistent,” Pryor said. “Period. I got to get better.”
The Raiders couldn’t even capitalize on their one good chance as Sebastian Janikowski missed his ninth field goal of the season after blocked punt by Jamize Olawale gave Oakland the ball at the Denver 24.
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