Peyton Manning eclipses 70,000 passing yards

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- With a 10-yard pass to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders midway through the third quarter Thursday night at Arrowhead Stadium, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning carved yet another slice of NFL history.

With the play, Manning became the second quarterback in NFL history to surpass 70,000 yards passing in his career. Brett Favre holds the record with 71,838 career passing yards, another benchmark Manning is expected to eclipse this season.

Manning finished with 256 yards passing, going 26-of-45 with three touchdowns and an interception, in the Broncos' 31-24 comeback win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

Only one other quarterback has surpassed 60,000 yards passing in a career: Hall of Famer Dan Marino, who had 61,361 career passing yards.

Manning, who had 175 passing yards in the Broncos' season-opening win over the Baltimore Ravens, entered the game needing 134 yards to reach the milestone.

However, after Thursday's win, the focus was on the Broncos' stunning rally, which saw them score two touchdowns in the final minute of the fourth quarter to claim the victory. Manning threw a touchdown pass to Sanders with 36 seconds left to tie the score. Then, Brandon Marshall stripped Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles, and Bradley Roby returned the ball 21 yards for a touchdown with 27 seconds left, capping the comeback.

"To be able to win two games in this fashion, you can always refer back to games like this later on in this season," Manning said, also referencing the Broncos' opening win over the Ravens, which they sealed with a 17-play final drive that took 10:56 off the clock.

"These are obviously great times to play football," Manning said. "To win a division game on the road, a great atmosphere, this place is always a great place to play football, and the crowd was rocking [Thursday], they were into it. ... Yeah, I think this is one that you always remember, certainly the way it ended."

Manning's father, Archie, was on the losing end of the last NFL game to feature a team scoring two touchdowns in the final minute of the fourth quarter with the second being the go-ahead score, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Archie Manning's New Orleans Saints lost 20-17 to the Atlanta Falcons on Nov. 12, 1978, with the Falcons' Haskel Stanback scoring with 57 seconds left, followed by a touchdown pass from Steve Bartkowski to Alfred Jackson with 10 seconds left.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.