Peyton Manning was untouchable -- thanks to Denver’s offensive line

The Kansas City Chiefs swaggered into Denver with a defense that had averaged an NFL-best four sacks per game.

After four quarters, Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning emerged virtually untouched. No sacks, no knockdowns. And that despite his mobility being limited by a high-ankle sprain.

“I think to go sackless against the leading sack defense in the NFL, that is a great testament to those guys,” Manning said of his offensive line. “We play them again in two weeks at their place. It’s always tougher when you play a team at their place, but a good job answering the bell by the guys up front. Really a credit to them.”

Broncos Coach Jack Del Rio agreed.

“We talked all week about feeling like we’ve done a pretty good job all year of keeping our quarterback from being hit and being hit very often,” Del Rio said. “I thought they responded well against a very good front. They gave us time and were able to run a little bit and just do things we needed to do to put up points and win. Obviously, the line gets a lot of credit. They were under fire last week because Peyton got hit a few times but they’ve done a great job all year and I was proud of them. We knew this was going to be a game where you had to play well in the trenches to have a chance.”

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