Peyton Manning broke the NFL record for most career touchdown passes as he threw three strikes in the first half to fire the Denver Broncos to a 21-10 lead in their clash with the San Francisco 49ers.
The 38-year-old got his side on the scoreboard in their first drive of the game when he fired to Emmanuel Sanders over the middle of the endzone for a three-yard score.
Manning spread the ball out well to his receivers and notched his second strike of the game when he looped a pass to Wes Welker, who sprinted and then dived to the pylon for a 39-yard touchdown.
The 49ers tried to hit back but Anquan Boldin produced a costly drop in the endzone, and forced his side to settle for a field goal from the boot of Phil Dawson.
Manning made history when he threw the 509th touchdown pass of his career, breaking Brett Favre's record, as he found Demaryius Thomas for an eight-yard strike on an out route in the endzone.
San Francisco fought back just before the break when Colin Kaepernick moved his side downfield with precision, and then drilled the ball to Stevie Johnson at the back of the endzone.
Simon Sinclair
