Broncos-Colts Game a Homecoming for Peyton Manning; Gets First Loss

Sunday night's Broncos-Colts game was an emotional homecoming for Peyton Manning, who was hailed as a past hero at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis before beginning the game against his former Colts.

Then Manning's replacement, Andrew Luck, ran up a three-score lead against the Broncos before surviving a fourth-quarter Denver comeback as the Colts walked away with a 38-33 victory. It was the first time the Broncos were beaten this season, falling to 6-1 while the Colts improved to 5-2.

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The Colts were leading 33-17 at the end of the third quarter before Manning led the Broncos to two touchdowns and a field goal in the fourth quarter to make it close. It was the Colts defense, though, that ruined Manning's comeback performance with a fourth-quarter interception and fumble recovery.

Before the game, the Colts showed a 90-second video tribute on their scoreboard honoring Manning's time in Indianapolis, including two trips to the Super Bowl, winning in 2007 with a victory over the Chicago Bears. His former teammates Marvin Harrison, Edgerrin James and Jeff Saturday, attended the game, according to ESPN.

Manning could be seen saying "thank you" and "thank you very much" as he acknowledged loud applause from the crowd.

Colts owner Jim Irsay created a stir a week before the game when he made comments that he believed the Colts should have won more Super Bowls during Manning's time at quarterback, with some media outlets believing it was direct criticism of the Colts former quarterback.

"We’ve changed our model a little bit, because we wanted more than one of these,” Irsay told USA Today, referring to his Super Bowl ring. "(Tom) Brady never had consistent numbers, but he has three of these. Pittsburgh had two, the Giants had two, Baltimore had two and we had one. That leaves you frustrated. You make the playoffs 11 times, and you’re out in the first round seven out of 11 times. You have to love the Star Wars numbers from Peyton and Marvin (Harrison) and Reggie (Wayne). Mostly, you love (Super Bowl wins)."

That brought an angry response from Denver Broncos coach John Fox, who said on his SiriusXM NFL program last Wednesday that Irsay's comments "were disappointing and inappropriate," per USA Today.

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