ile he is on painkillers in the immediate wake o

DENVER -- Now, Peyton Manning gets a chance to rest. Big question: Does he really need a break? Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers kept Manning on the sideline most of the game and handed the Denver Broncos and unexpected and harmful 27-20 loss Thursday night. Rivers threw two touchdown passes to Keenan Allen and kept the Chargers offence on the field for nearly 39 minutes, keeping their playoff hopes alive while turning Denvers supposedly easy road to the AFC West title and top seeding in the conference into something much different. "We didnt play well, didnt stay on the field, didnt have the ball much and, when we did, we didnt do much with it," Manning said. The Broncos gained 13 yards on the 13 plays they ran after taking a 10-3 lead late in the first quarter. That covered four drives during which they went three-and-out three times and picked up a total of one first down. "The longer you keep the ball and the less he has it, the better off youre going to be," said Chargers coach Mike McCoy, Mannings former offensive co-ordinator. Rivers finished 12 for 20 for 166 yards and improved to 28-6 in December. Ryan Matthews matched his season high with 127 yards on 29 carries. After Denvers long dry spell on offence, San Diego led 24-10, and though the Broncos (11-3) had overcome double-digit deficits four times this season to win, it wasnt happening this time. They pulled within seven and Manning got the ball on the Denver 3 with 5:50 left. He moved the Broncos 30 yards in two plays with the help of a penalty. But the Chargers maligned defence produced some pass rush and forced a bad throw, which linebacker Thomas Keiser picked off at the Denver 33. The Chargers (7-7) got a field goal to go up 10. Denver answered with a field goal but couldnt recover the onside kick. Mannings final numbers were decent -- 27 for 41 for 289 yards and two touchdowns -- but padded during desperation time. As most veterans do, especially this time of year, Manning griped about the short turnaround between a Sunday and Thursday game, the likes of which have become more common since the NFL started scheduling midweek contests for almost every week. Adding to the fatigue: Denver ran 91 plays on offence while scoring 51 points Sunday in a blowout over Tennessee. "Did the (91) plays on offence take a toll? I cant answer that," Manning said. Now, hell get 10 days to chew on it. It was the first regular-season loss at home for Denver in 14 tries, dating to last September against Houston, back when Manning was still getting his footing in Denver and the Texans, who happen to be Denvers next opponent, were still good. "A Thursday night game, second division game, youre never sure what youre going to get," Manning said. "But its been that way all season for us. Teams play us different than they play other teams." Whatever it was, it worked for the Chargers, who started gaining some confidence against Denver when they scored the final 14 points in a 28-20 loss to the Broncos last month. Doesnt hurt that theyre coached by Mannings former offensive co-ordinator, McCoy, who won the opening coin toss and boldly deferred, giving the Manning the ball first. Manning marched the Broncos 67 yards in seven plays for a quick score and this had the looks of a typical blowout for a team thats cracked 50 points three times this year. Not so fast. His every move well diagnosed, Manning had two passes knocked down at the line of scrimmage. Chargers defenders wrapped up on Denvers receivers, holding those much-coveted yards after catch to a minimum after so many of Mannings typically short timing routes. Not having to worry about Wes Welker, out with a concussion, they blanketed the other receivers and turned fourth-stringer Bubba Caldwell into Mannings prime target. A good bet. Caldwell led Denver with six catches for 59 yards and two touchdowns, while none of the other Denver receivers did much harm. Denvers previous low in scoring was 27 points against the Chiefs. The defence, meanwhile, was poor once again -- not Super Bowl material on this night. The most telling sequence came in the third quarter when Rivers moved the Chargers from their 1 to midfield over 12 plays. Denver committed two costly penalties -- an offside when San Diego had the punt team out on fourth-and-4, then a 12-men-on-the-field that set up first-and-5 and allowed the Chargers to burn more clock. Though they didnt score, they ate 8:20 off the clock and flipped the field. "We didnt mention one word about time of possession this week," Rivers said. "We said, Weve got to score. Time of possession is only important if youre scoring." They scored more, and now, the Broncos must sweat out the race in the AFC. Their three losses are now equal with New England and Kansas City. Denver owns the tiebreaker against the Chiefs but not against the Patriots. Their next two games are against Houston and Oakland -- combined record 6-20 -- but after a home loss to another losing team, suddenly anything seems possible. Notes: The Broncos had their 10-game winning streak against the AFC West snapped. ... Allen has now scored four touchdowns in the last two games. ... Broncos rookie DT Sylvester Williams recorded his first career sack. Alize Johnson Jersey . With a win tonight, Buehrle will match Yankees ace Masahiro Tanaka for the most wins in the majors with 11. Buehrle is 10-4 with a 2.32 earned run average, but has lost his last three starts, including a 7-3 setback at Yankee Stadium last Wednesday. T.J. Leaf Jersey . At times during a solid but not spectacular season, they looked all three. Still the defending AFC champions persevered, riding their top-ranked defence and key contributions from younger players to a 12-4 record and their eighth playoff appearance since 2000, remarkable consistency in a league where change is the only constant. http://www.cheappacersjerseys.com/?tag=c...-holiday-jersey. -- Canadian womens amateur golf champion Brooke Henderson is a little less starstruck as she prepares for her second career appearance at an LPGA Tour major event. Myles Turner Jersey .C. - NASCAR team owner Rick Hendrick headlines this years electees into the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. Tyreke Evans Jersey .During the week, McCoy told reporters he respected Hoyer for his intelligence, athleticism and how he conducts himself on and off the field. This wasnt an act, some attempt at psyching out Hoyer. TORONTO -- Former UFC champion Georges St-Pierre says his knee surgery went well and the rehab that looms ahead wont impact his decision on whether to return to mixed martial arts competition. The 32-year-old Montreal fighters left knee was operated on Wednesday in Los Angeles. He had reconstructive surgery on the other knee in December 2011. "I climbed Everest once before and Im going to climb it again -- if I want to," St-Pierre told The Canadian Press on Thursday. "Its not a problem for me. . . . Anyway I didnt plan to come back to competition before 2015. "And if I want to come back, when I want to come back, Ill do it again. Ill have all the tools to do it again. Im not going to be less strong or less athletic -- Im going to be just better." "Ill have two bionic knees," he added. St-Pierre (25-2) vacated his 170-pound title in December, saying he needed a break from the sport. He made the announcement just weeks after winning a controversial split decision over Johny (Big Rigg) Hendricks at UFC 167. St-Pierre kept training and tore his anterior cruciate ligament during a recent workout. He was wrestling "a kid" and believes his knee caught in a mat and twisted. "It was like someone hurt his back by tying up his shoes." Both knee operations were done by Los Angeles-based surgeon Neal ElAttrache, who looked after NFL star Tom Bradys knee in 2009. "I believe hes the best in the world," said the fighter. St-Pierre plans to spend the next three months rehabbing in Los Angeles, using the same team as he did for the last operation. While he is on painkillers in the immediate wake of the surgery, he said he was in good spirits. "Perfect timing for me that I get hurt right now," he said. "Thats the way to look at it." He expects to resume training in five months, with full sparringg in six to seven months.dddddddddddd St-Pierre fought 11 months after his first surgery, defeating Carlos (The Natural Born Killer) Condit at UFC 154 in November 2012. His experiences after the first knee surgery will help him, he said. "I know the way now. Its going to be even better. But the thing is you cant go faster than your body heals. I dont want to go too fast." He said the ACL damage in both knees was the same. The former champion believes the damage to his knees was bound to happen, given the pounding the ligaments have taken over the years. "Its like a rope. If you pull the rope every day as hard as you can -- boom, boom, you pull it, pull it, pull it, pull it -- one day its going to break. Its the force of pressure. If you hit a wall at home in the same spot every day when you pass by, at one point youre going to make a hole in it. "And thats what happened with my ACL. Ive been training martial arts since I was nine years old and Im a very explosive guy." He plans to add an expert in the science of mobility to his entourage, to correct his movements -- from running to jumping. "Its never going to happen again," he said. "The pressure will be on my bone and my muscle, not on my ligaments." St-Pierre says he has been told that the vast majority of ACL injuries are preventable. "They happen over the course of time because people do the wrong moves," he said. If or when St-Pierre comes back to the UFC, he will do so as a welterweight. He noted Hendricks, who went on to win the 170-pound title, weighed 215 pounds when the two did their press tour. GSP was 190 pounds. He also reiterated that drug testing in the sport had to improve before he came back. "Its not personal to one fighter," he said. "Its personal to me. Its something that has to be done, I believe." 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