Denver 41, Arizona 20: Three Things We Learned

The Denver Broncos were hoping to rebound from a big loss in week 3 to the Seattle Seahawks on the road, where they used their defense to hold close to the Hawks until they broke through in overtime.  After having a bye in week 4 that gave them a chance to get healthy and evaluate several players for their health, the Broncos wanted to get off to a huge start with several huge games forthcoming.  Facing them at home was the Arizona Cardinals, a 10 win team from 2013 that had been very solid to start 2014 but they were searching for consistency on both sides of the ball. With regular starting quarterback Carson Palmer out with an injury, the Cardinals were hoping that backup Drew Stanton would be able to provide some leadership and fireworks for the visitors.  Unfortunately, the only explosives for the Cardinals came from converting two drives off Denver turnovers and a long pass play from third string quarterback Logan Thomas to running back Andre Ellington, but it wasn’t nearly enough for the Cardinals to stay in this one. Denver quarterback Peyton Manning ended the day with 479 yards passing and four touchdowns to go over the 500 career touchdown pass mark as the Broncos clipped the Cardinals 41 to 20 in a game that ended up being closer than the final score might indicate. Here are three things we learned after watching this one from Sports Authority Field at Mile High Stadium on a warm, sunny day from the Mile High City.