The Denver Broncos improved to 3-0 Sunday night after an often sloppy game at Ford Field against the Detroit Lions. Battling into the fourth quarter and leading by a slim margin of 14-12 the Broncos once again, displayed some late heroics to beat another 2014 playoff team and head back to Denver undefeated.

Both the Lions and the Broncos made some spectacular play while also suffering fits of undisciplined play. Every time a team made a big play the other would answer and anytime they made a mistake each team seemed willing to accommodate with one of their own. As a result the game included two fumbles, three interceptions and 18 combined penalties.

The Broncos won the game on a spectacular combination of big passing plays and some huge defensive moments by Bradley Roby, Shaq Barrett and David Bruton Jr.. The Broncos unveiled a pistol formation that blended Peyton Manning’s affinity for the shotgun formation and head coach Gary Kubiak’s desire for a balanced attack and although not everything went as planned they did leave the motor city running in the right direction.

Best quote of the game: “Yeah, two, and we’ve beaten three playoff teams, right? Two of them on the road and knew we were playing a team who was going to come out with everything they had tonight. They were 0-2 coming into tonight, easily could have been 2-0, those two games they could have won. A team that was No. 2 ranked defense last year and playing at home for the first time, so for us to come in here and get a win, you cannot discount that,” Manning said shortly after the win.

Play of the night: There were many contenders for play of the night but there is no doubt that when Bruton Jr. read a crucial 3rd-and-12 pass intended for Calvin Johnson and tipped the pass to himself for the turnover. The interception completely took the wind of the Lions sails. The resulting Broncos’ touchdown drive sealed the victory 24-12.

There were three other nominees for best play. The first was a spectacular Roby interception of Matthew Stafford in the first quarter. The second year corner back briefly looked into the backfield and read Stafford’s eyes, left his receiver and jumped Golden Tate’s route for a great catch.

The second was Demaryius Thomas’ touchdown catch on 4th-and-1 just before halftime. Manning threw the ball up, much like the last drive against the Kansas City Chiefs last Thursday, and the wide receiver simply out jumped Darius Slay and gave the Broncos a 14-6 lead.

Lastly, the drive before Bruton Jr.’s big play while Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware got a breather on the sideline Barrett came up big. He battle through multiple blockers from the left side of the defense and hit Stafford as he prepared to throw downfield. The ball came loose and was recovered by Mailk Jackson. The play ended a drive that had crept into Broncos territory while the Broncos still only lead by five points.

Offensive MVP: Manning once again stepped up after a week of criticism. Despite a shocking last second victory on national television last Thursday, all the news continued to be centered around the quarterback and his aging arm. Manning, who absorbs much of what is said and written about him, came out Sunday night and put in a fantastic performance. Running out of the pistol formation almost the entire evening he threw darts to several targets. Sanders and Thomas made two lengthy and spectacular catches downfield that fueled the win but it was Manning’s footwork and timing that kept the chains moving.

Once again the running game struggled and it was on the passing game to get points on the board. Manning finished the evening completing 31 passes on 42 attempts for 324 yards. He threw one interception that came on a tipped pass by veteran All-Pro nose tackle Haloti Ngata. It was a fine play by a smart athlete that prevented a likely touchdown pass to Owen Daniels. Manning bounced back with a score just before half on a 34-yard heave to Thomas on fourth down. The offensive line also protected him well allowing only one sack on the 41 passing attempts. Kubiak commented on the offense and the pistol formation and how it helped Manning and the team reach 3-0 in a tough environment.

“Well, I think we protected him better tonight than we have. I know he likes to see the field from back there. We continue to work both and I think you’re going to continue to see both, but I was trying to find some balance with what we’re doing offensively, but I think he played really, really well. Other than the tipped ball that he got in the red zone, which we had a nice play there, I think it’s fixing to be a walk- in touchdown. I think he played exceptional. We just need to keep battling, keep protecting him the way we protected him and he’ll make his plays.”

Manning finished with a passer rating of 101.7 and completed his first lengthy throws downfield of the season including a huge 34-yard throw to Emmanuel Sanders to set up a fantastic touchdown pass to Daniels three plays later with only 2:32 remaining in the contest.

Honorable mention: Sanders finished the night with six catches on nine targets for 87 yards. His catches came on big third downs and at times when the offense seemed bottled up. Bennie Fowler caught his first four receptions of his career Sunday night on four targets for 50 yards. He was the Broncos most dependable third receiver throughout the game.

Defensive MVP: Aqib Talib had the often impossible task of defending Johnson almost the entire evening. Although Johnson led the team with eight receptions for 77 yards, he didn’t make the big play to break the game open. Talib often played s few yards off of the giant receiver and allowed him to catch the ball at the line of scrimmage. Talib’s great tackle form was on display and he stopped Johnson from big gains.

The Broncos defense completely dismantled the Lions running game from the get-go and forced them into a pass-heavy offense. Chris Harris Jr. also took away their second option in receiver Tate. That left only one big target to try and use consistently in Johnson. Talib was up for the task and deserves a lot of credit for the win.

Honorable mention: DeMarcus Ware burst out of the gate Sunday night getting a sack and several quarterback hurries on the Lions initial drive. It seemed to have rattled Stafford early and some late game pressures helped seal the win. Ware finished with 1.5 sacks, four tackles (two for a loss) and three quarterback hurries. He looks energized and dangerous week-in and week-out.

Best statistic of the night: The Broncos defense allowed only 28 yards rushing on 19 attempts for an incredible 1.5 yard average per carry. In turn it allowed the defense to play the pass far more aggressively, adding four sacks and nine quarterback hurries. The run stopping ability seemed to create the forced fumble and two interceptions.

Worst quote of the night: Thomas responded to a question about his fumble.

“Tried to make a play, tried to convert a third down and messed around. Knowing I shouldn’t reach the ball, I knew it was a fumble right when I got up because I was chasing him. I’m glad they called it down. They still scored, but that was just bad on my part.”

Offensive LVP: Thomas made some big plays which the team and fans have come to expect however, he also had a critical fumble that should not happen to a veteran, elite player and he also had four dropped passes that stifled several of the offenses drives. Outside of his touchdown catch he simply was not consistent enough and has been a problem already in the short season.

Defensive LVP: The defense played great once again. They held a dangerous offense to only 12 points and it is somewhat unfair to criticize that type of performance. However, despite leading the team in tackles with 12, Brandon Marshall missed two big tackles during the game and one cost them a Detroit touchdown.

In the first quarter Marshall missed a tackle on a Theo Riddick screen pass and allowed the running back to gain 17 yards. Lucky for Marshall, it was 3rd-and 18 and the Lions punted. A similar play happened in the third quarter and the result would be much worse for Marshall. Rookie running back, Ameer Abdullah caught a quick screen out of the backfield and used his speed to blow bye Marshall for a 16-yard touchdown.

Marshall did play admirably and clearly worked hard to compile 12 tackles but he may have been his biggest critic tweeting out a message very quickly after the game. “I promise I’ll get better fans.”

Worst statistic of the night: The Broncos were flagged for nine penalties and 94 yards Sunday night. That makes the season total a terrible 27 flags in only three weeks. The most atrocious penalties were a personal foul for a hit to Stafford’s head by Miller, a late hit on Stafford by Sylvester Williams and a costly pass interference by Talib which set up the Lions first score. Kubiak admitted Sunday night that he addressed the problem with the team uncharacteristically right after the game.

“I told the guys tonight, ‘You usually don’t go in there after a win and start with something negative, but we need to fix the penalties.’ That starts with me as the coach. We have to do that. Some of the drives given up were penalty-aided, but we continue to play hard defensively and we find a way to get our hands on the ball.”

Up next: The Broncos will return home to Sports Authority field at Mile High Stadium next Sunday for a matchup with another NFC North opponent. The Minnesota Vikings (2-1) will come to town with some momentum after a decisive 31-14 victory over the San Diego Chargers. Adrian Peterson lead the way with a 126 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. They also beat the Lions in week two 26-16.

The Broncos have set themselves up nicely for the coming weeks. Sunday night the pistol formation brought back some need success for Manning and the offense while the defense continues to impress with fast play and timely turnovers. At 3-0 the team can temper any concerns and continue to focus on weekly improvement. The NFL is a tough place to win at any time and Daniels said it best in the simplest of terms on how important the wins are and the importance of how they are finishing games

“You see it, we haven’t been playing our best. It just seems like we’re finding ways to win games where we’re coming through in the end in clutch situations the last few weeks with big drives at the end of games.”

OTHER NOTES:

Both teams struggled on third down going an identical 4-for 12. The Broncos outgained the Lions 354 total yards to only 290 while Detroit ate up 31:08 of play. Both teams also were an identical 2-for-3 in the red zone.

Email Sam at sam@milehighsports.com and follow him on Twitter @SamCowhick