Woody Paige (Denver Post) Broncos don't have the weapons to conduct football war.

It's difficult for Manning to come to a duel with Tom Brady without a sword.

If the defense wasn't allowing the Patriots a franchise record 35 first downs — and being torched for first downs on 11-of-17 third downs — and wasn't so indolent on hurry-up plays by the Patriots, and if Demaryius Thomas and Willis McGahee weren't fumbling in critical circumstances, and McGahee hadn't dropped a ridiculously simple toss on fourth down, and if the coaching staff wasn't making inane calls on offense and defense, and if the head coach hadn't committed the grave errors of not going for a two-point conversion and not challenging a Patriots fumble, Manning actually might have pulled off an astonishing comeback.

The question before the game was: How do the Broncos beat the Patriots once when they couldn't do it twice last season? Well, the answer after the game is: Don't fumble; don't drop passes; don't give up 19-yard running plays on third-and-17; don't react to the hurry-up unhurriedly — and there's a chance to win with Manning.

At the start of the Revolutionary War, the British arrived at Concord unprepared and outmaneuvered, and were run out of town. The Broncos understand.

TEAM TALK

• Post Game Notes: Patriots vs. Broncos. Records set, milestones reached and trends continued.
• Post Game Pressers: Bill Belichick (11 min. video), Tom Brady (4.03 min. video), Wes Welker (4.28 min. video) and Vince Wilfork (3.35 min. video)
• Post Game Quotes: Patriots and Broncos.
• Patriots Today - Pats knock off Manning, Broncos. (2.42 min. video)
• Locker Room Uncut - Players talk after win. (2.59 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Mike Reiss gives us his initial reaction after the Patriots beat the Broncos 31-21.
• Jeff Howe reports the Patriots took apart the Broncos 31-21 yesterday at Gillette, with the Broncos looking as outmatched as they did twice last year.
• Shalise Manza Young reports the Patriots put together several long drives to keep the ball away from Manning and recorded a 31-21 victory Sunday over the Denver Broncos.
• Jackie MacMullan notes old rivals Tom Brady and Peyton Manning showed some new wrinkles in Sunday's matchup.
• Mark Farinella narrows it down: Keep Manning off the field, and you have a pretty good chance to win a football game against him.
• Field Yates notes Tom Brady dissects the up-tempo no-huddle on WEEI this morning.
• Mark Farinella reports the Patriots ran their hurry-up offense with a lot more giddy-up Sunday night.
• Christopher Price tells us ten things we learned Sunday: In stopping Peyton Manning, Patriots rely on familiar formula.
• Tom E. Curran says you can't pin this loss on Peyton Manning. His teammates let him down.
• Karen Guregian points out Wes Welker is Brady's number one target again, and the offense has looked a lot better.
• Paul Kenyon says Welker returning to form can only spell doom for opponents.
• Ron Borges sees the Patriots running game as now a force unto itself. Maybe this is what Rex Ryan had in mind for his team?
• Paul Kenyon states talking Brady vs. Manning was fun, but it's the run that gets it done.
• Greg A. Bedard says the Pats defense may never be great, but they are good enough - especially if they keep coming up with big plays when needed.
• Dan Ventura reports the defense came as advertised yesterday. They're in the bottom third in yards allowed and third in takeaways.
• Mary Paoletti says Rob Ninkovich is finding his game again, after adjusting from OLB to DE, with a standout effort against Denver.
• Danny Picard notes Alfonzo Dennard doesn't disappoint in his NFl debut.
• Danny Piccard sees some good and some bad for the Patriots secondary.
• Mike Rodak believes the Patriots one-upped Peyton Manning in their use of the no-huddle offense last night.
• Tom E. Curran reports the Broncos thought they had prepared for the Patriots up-tempo offense all week, but couldn't keep up when they faced it for real.
• Mike Rodak notes Sebastian Vollmer (knee) and Logan Mankins (calf) both left the game in the fourth quarter.
• Christopher Price tells us what went right and what went wrong Sunday.
• Mike Reiss picks his three-plus up and three down from Sunday's win.
• Zuri Berry picks out five takeaways from Patriots-Broncos. This well-oiled machine depends on balance.
• Mark Farinella gives us his Hots and Nots from Sunday's win over the Broncos.
• Mike Reiss notes it's the sheer volume of snaps that stands out, when analyzing the snap counts played by skill-position players by the Pats' offense.
• Mike Reiss looks at the snaps played by Patriots defenders Sunday and analyzes what they mean.
• Jeff Howe Patriots Notebook: Patriots recovered after the failed fourth-and-five attempt; Rookie CB Alfonzo Dennard finally got his chance and made it count; Rob Gronkowski played on an injured hip for the second straight game (4 for 35), but he wouldn't concede it bothered him; Brady was sacked 4 times by a blitz-happy defense.
• Mike Rodak grades the Patriots in his Week 5 Report Card.

NATIONAL NEWS

• NFL Game Center - Denver Broncos at New England Patriots. Recap, stats, analysis and highlights.
• Don Banks (SI) Broncos prepared mentally, but not physically, for Patriots attack.
• Mike Freeman (CBS Sports) New team (for Manning), still same results (for Brady) in this treat of a rivalry.
• Report (ESPN Stats & Information) Brady makes short work of Broncos.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Peyton and the Broncos come up short in New England.
• James Walker (ESPN) Four things we learned about the AFC East. Patriots' tempo is lightning fast .
• Chris Burke (SI) First Down, Fourth Down: Week 5. Broncos not going for two.
• Peter King (SI) MMQB: Arians, Colts keep beloved Pagano close to heart in stirring win.
• Matt Bowen (Nat'l Football Post) NFL Sunday notes: Luck, Colts stun the Packers; More from Week 5.
• Mike Pereira (Fox Sports) 'Past' interference: Change the rule!

VIEW FROM DENVER

• Mike Klis (Denver Post) Tom Brady tops Peyton Manning as Patriots beat Broncos in track meet.
• Mike Klis (Denver Post) Broncos, Manning not good enough vs. Patriots, Tom Brady.
• Gray Caldwell (DenverBroncos.com) Fast-paced Patriots defeat Denver 31-21.
• Stuart Zaas (DenverBroncos.com) Broncos at Patriots: Key plays.
• Mark Kiszla (Denver Post) Broncos' John Fox gets worked by Pats' Bill Belichick.
• Jeff Legwold (Denver Post) New England Patriots run over Denver Broncos' defense again.
• Staff Report (Denver Post) Broncos' defense remains on field thanks to Patriots ball control.
• Lindsay H. Jones (Denver Post) Demaryius Thomas' big day for Broncos marred by key fumble.
• Sam Davis (DenverBroncos.com) Turnovers affect outcome, not trust.