East Rutherford, NJ – Peyton 3, Eli 0.
Peyton Manning ran his record against brother Eli to 3-0, passing for 307 yards and two touchdowns Sunday as the Denver Broncos beat the New York Giants 41-23.
The elder Manning, who beat Eli twice as quarterback of the Colts, was coming off an NFL record-tying seven touchdown passes in a season-opening win over the Ravens.
He had a little more help in this one.
Knowshon Moreno had touchdown runs of 20 and 25 yards for the Broncos (2-0) and Trindon Holliday ran back a punt 81 yards for another score. Peyton's touchdown passes went to Wes Welker and Julius Thomas.
Eli was intercepted three times in the end zone among his career high-tying four picks. He passed for 362 yards and a touchdown. Victor Cruz caught eight passes for 118 yards but the Giants (0-2) rushed for just 23.
They have lost their first two games of the season for the first time since 2007. Combined with a 36-31 loss to Dallas, they have allowed 77 points this season.
"We'll keep fighting and get back on track," the Giants quarterback said. "We have to get back to winning some games."
The silver lining? The Giants gave up 80 points in their first two losses in 2007, including 45 to Dallas to open the season, and went on to win the Super Bowl.
Of course, that's one area Eli has his brother beat: two Super bowl rings to one.
In their home opener, the Giants had leads of 3-0 and 9-7 in the first half but were blown out after the break.
After Welker's 2-yard touchdown catch on a slant gave the Broncos a 17-9 lead in the third quarter, the Giants ran six plays inside the Denver 10 on the ensuing drive and pulled within a point on Brandon Jacobs' 1-yard plunge.
But Moreno's second touchdown came on a 25-yard run around the right end and down the sideline, making it 24-16. And Chris Harris intercepted Eli two plays later, setting up Thomas' 11-yard score for a 31-16 Broncos lead.
Just over two minutes later, Holliday's 81-yard punt return made it 38-16.
After slipping past three would-be tacklers on the left side, Holliday juked to the middle of the field and dodged at least one more tackle before slipping free and running clear of the coverage.
Da'Rel Scott had a 23-yard touchdown catch for the Giants after that and Matt Prater kicked his second field goal of the game for Denver, a 47-yarder.
"We made some adjustments at halftime and were able to get some takeaways and shift the momentum of the game," Broncos head coach John Fox said.
Earlier, Josh Brown gave the Giants a 3-0 lead with a 36-yard field goal in the first quarter. It came after Denver's Montee Ball was stripped by Cullen Jenkins three yards from the goal line for a fumble, and was set up by Cruz's 51-yard catch.
Moreno's 20-yard touchdown run on the second play of the second quarter put the Broncos up 7-3.
Brown added field goals of 24 and 41 yards but Prater kicked a 42-yarder for the Broncos to give them a 10-9 lead. Eli was intercepted in the end zone by Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on a deep ball just before halftime.
Game Notes
Moreno ran for 93 yards on 13 carries ... Eric Decker had a game-high nine catches for 87 yards for Denver ... The Giants are on the road at Carolina next Sunday ...Denver's Week 3 game is a Monday nighter at home against Oakland.
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