Broncos pip Bengals in overtime to clinch playoff spot

(MENAFN- Arab News) LOS ANGELES: Brandon McManus kicked the game-winning field goal and DeMarcus Ware recovered a fumble to end overtime as Denver clinched a playoff spot with a 20-17 win over Cincinnati on Monday night.
McManus booted a 37-yard field goal in overtime after having a chance to win the game at the end of regulation but he shanked a 45-yard attempt wide setting the stage for the extra session.
Quarterback Brock Osweiler who was filling in for the injured Peyton Manning in the second to last week of the NFL season led the overtime drive that resulted in McManus' game-winning kick.
The Broncos win was officially sealed when Bengals quarterback AJ McCarron fumbled a shotgun snap and Ware recovered the ball on the final play of the contest which featured two of the best teams in the American Football Conference.
Starter-in-waiting Osweiler finished 27-of-39 for 299 yards with one touchdown pass and no interceptions in front of a crowd of 76000 at Sports Authority Field.
Like Osweiler Bengals quarterback McCarron is learning on the job after being pushed into duty because of an injury to Andy Dalton. McCarron completed 22-of-35 for 200 yards with one touchdown pass and no interceptions.
Denver improved to 11-4 after starting the season 7-0.
Trailing by 11 the Broncos took to the air to begin the third quarter marching 81 yards on the strength of Osweiler's superb passing.
He finished off the drive with an eight-yard pass to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders who broke through cornerback Adam Jones' tackle near the goal line for Denver's first touchdown of the game with just over 10 minutes left in the period.
It was Denver's first second-half score in four games but it would not stop there.
After the Broncos forced a punt Denver took over on its 48. Osweiler passed 13 yards to wide receiver Demaryius Thomas and then handed off to CJ Anderson for a 39 yard touchdown run.
Anderson broke the tackle of defensive end Wallace Gilberry and sprinted down the left sideline for the score to put Denver up by three with 11:17 left.
But Cincinnati who are also playoff bound evened the score on kicker Mike Nugent's 52-yard field goal with 6:46 left to play.
Meantime moments after his Denver Broncos clinched a playoff berth on Monday with a 20-17 overtime victory at home against the Cincinnati Bengals Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said he will stay with Brock Osweiler as his starter in next week's final.
There was speculation that if veteran Peyton Manning was healthy he could return for next week's finale at home against the San Diego Chargers if Osweiler failed to beat the Bengals.
But Osweiler rallied the Broncos to the win amid the storm caused by a television report which accused Manning of human growth hormone (HGH) use in 2011 following neck surgery.
'Nothing has changed with Brock' Kubiak said. 'If something would change with Brock the players would know first and you all (reporters) would know second.
'Our football team is moving forward and our mindset goes to San Diego.'
A Denver win over the Chargers and a loss from the New England Patriots on Sunday would give the Broncos the number one seed in the American Football Conference.
Manning has missed the last six games with a foot injury and he watched from the sidelines on Monday but was one of the first Broncos to jump for joy alongside Osweiler after the win.
Since late Saturday evening he has strenuously denied the Al-Jazeera investigative documentary 'The dark side: The secret world of sports doping' that linked Manning and other well-known players from the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) with performance enhancing drugs.
'Most of all this isn't about Peyton this isn't about myself' Osweiler said. 'Tonight was about this football team and what this football team went out there and did was truly special.'
Led by quarterback AJ McCarron the Bengals jumped to a 14-0 lead and enjoyed a 14-3 advantage at halftime. But the Broncos rebounded to take a 17-14 lead only to have the game tied on a fourth-quarter field goal.
The Broncos however had a chance to win the game in regulation but kicker Brandon McManus shanked his 45-yard field goal attempt.
In overtime Osweiler led his team down the field to cash in with a 37-yard field goal from McManus.
In the Bengals' turn with the ball Broncos defender DeMarcus Ware beat McCarron to a fumbled snap to clinch the victory.