Stud No. 3 – Demaryius Thomas

After taking a nasty helmet-to-helmet hit in the third quarter, Demaryius Thomas headed to the Broncos locker room to have his neck evaluated by trainers. A tremor went through the crowd at Sports Authority Field, as it appeared Peyton Manning would be without his No. 1 target for the remainder of the game.

It was a wave of relief when the bruising wideout came out of the tunnel, apparently ready to go.

Thomas ended the day with 93 yards on nine receptions. Both were game highs. His presence on the final drive meant Minnesota had to commit two defenders to him, thus opening up the field for the rest of the offense and helping to set up the game-winning field goal.