NFL Old School Game of the Week: Manning & Romo's Epic Duel

Peyton Manning and Tony Romo meet after their classic duel in 2013.

 It was fitting that the Week 5meeting of the Denver Broncos and the Dallas Cowboys would take place in Texas a place known for shootouts as the two teams took part in a game that featured a combined 99 points and 1,039 yards of total offense.

The Broncos came into the game with a 4-0 records thanks to their red hot offense led by quarterback Peyton Manning who had signed with Denver before the 2012 season following a 14-year stint with the Indianapolis Colts.

In the Broncos' opening game of the season, Manning tied a NFL record for most touchdown passes in a game as he threw seven touchdown passes as he completed 27 of 42 passes for 462 yards to lead Denver to a 49-27 win over the Baltimore Ravens.

Manning would add another nine touchdown passes to bring his season total up to 16 as the Broncos won their first four games by scoring an average of 42.25 points per game as the defense was trying to cope with the losses of linebacker Von Miller, who was serving a six-game suspension for trying to cheat on mandated drug test, and cornerback Champ Bailey who had been sidelined with a foot injury.

While the Broncos were off to a great start, the Cowboys had been inconsistent through the first month of the season was they went 2-2 winning one game, then losing another, then winning again, and then losing again under head coach Jason Garrett.

On the field, the Cowboys were led by quarterback Tony Romo, who despite throwing for a team record 4,903 yards during the 2012 season, also throw a league-high 19 interceptions as the Cowboys missed out on the playoffs for the third year in a row.

Romo had thrown for just one interception in the team's first four games of the season as he throw eight touchdown passes during the first month of the season.

If the Cowboys were going to knock off the Broncos, they were going to need a big day from Romo and keep up with Manning and the Denver offense which lowest scoring output to this point of the season was 37 points.

The Cowboys would get the ball to start the game as Romo would complete all five of his passes for 64 yards on the 14-play, 79-yard drive that culminated with Romo finding Dez Bryant in the right corner of the end zone for a two-yard touchdown to give Dallas a 7-0 lead.

The Broncos would begin their opening possession of the game at their 20-yard-line with Manning completing a 40-yard pass to Demaryius Thomas only to have called back because of a holding penalty and push  Denver back to its 10-yard-line.

After an incomplete pass and a 16-yard run by Knowshon Moreno, Manning would find Eric Decker for a 16-yard completion that was going to give Denver a 1st down until Cowboys linebacker Ernie Sims jarred the ball away as cornerback Morris Claiborne would recover the fumble to give Dallas the ball at the Broncos' 45-yard-line.

It would take the Cowboys seven plays to get back into the end zone as two passes from Romo to Witten that totaled 39 yards would set up a four-yard touchdown run by Demarco Murray which increased Dallas's lead to 14-0 with 3:18 left in the first quarter.

Facing their largest deficit of the season, the Broncos would respond quickly as Manning would hit tight end Julius Thomas for 19 yards then connect with Decker for a 57-yard completion to give Denver a 1st & goal at the Dallas four-yard-line when Manning threw a shuffle pass to Julius Thomas who put into the end zone to cut the Cowboys' lead to 14-7 just 50 seconds after the Cowboys' previous touchdown.

 Romo would continued his hot streak on the Cowboys' ensuing possession as he completed passes of 19 yards to Bryant, 25 yards to tight end Gavin Escobar, and 17 yards to Witten to move Dallas to the Denver 25-yard-line as the first quarter came to an end.

Murray would then carry the ball on back-to-back plays as he ran for 22 yards to give Dallas a 1st & goal at the Denver three-yard-line when a false start penalty and a quarterback sack by Broncos defensive end Shaun Phillips for a 17-yard loss would force the Cowboys to settle for a 43-yard field goal by Dan Bailey to extend Dallas' lead to 17-7 early in the second quarter.

The Broncos would answer with a seven-play, 80-yard drive which ended with a two-yard touchdown pass from Manning to Decker to bring Denver to within a field goal at 17-14.

Dallas would start its next possession at its 19-yard-line when Romo was able to complete a 12-yard pass to Bryant only for Broncos cornerback Kayvon Webster to punch the ball out as strong safety Duke Ihenacho would recover the fumble at the Cowboys' 41-yard-line.

Manning would then connect with Julius Thomas three times for 30 yards on the Broncos' ensuing drive with the last completion being a nine-yard touchdown to give Denver a 21-17 lead with 5:27 to go in the second quarter.

The Broncos defense would then the first punt of the game to give their offense the ball back at their 36-yard-line as two runs by Moreno for 24 yards and a 21-yard pass interference penalty on Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee would help Denver move to the Dallas one-yard-line when Manning shocked the entire stadium as faked a handoff and ran it into the end zone on a quarterback bootleg to increase the Broncos' lead to 28-17 with 46 seconds to go before halftime.

Dallas seemed to content to run out the remaining time in the first half as Romo threw a short screen pass to Murray on their next play from scrimmage only for the clock to stop because of a Broncos injury.

It was there that Romo decided to take a shot down field as he completed a 30-yard pass to Terrence Williams, then ran up field to spike the ball which left four seconds on the clock which was enough time for Bailey to make a 48-yard field goal as time expired with the trim the Cowboys' deficit to 28-20.

Tony Romo became the 15th quarterback in NFL history to throw for at least 500 yards in a game as he threw for 506 yards and five touchdowns on 25-of-36 passing.

The halftime break did not slow down the Broncos' offense as they would drive 67 yards in 13 plays on a drive that took nearly seven minutes off the clock as Manning would complete seven of eight passes for 59 yards hitting five different receivers including Wes Welker, who would catch a two-yard touchdown pass to end the drive and give  Denver its largest lead of the game at 35-20.

Having been outscored 35-6 over the last 25 minutes of play, the Cowboys desperately needed a spark and they would get it on the second play of their next offense possession as Romo hit Williams on a deep post pattern that would turn into a 82-yard touchdown and make it an one-possession game at 35-27.

Manning would respond on his next drive by completing a 29-yard pass to Julius Thomas and a 19-yard pass to running back Ronnie Hillman to move Denver to the Dallas' 35-yard-line until the Cowboys' defense was able to make a stop as they allowed only three more yards on the next three plays as the Broncos would settle for a 48-yard field goal by Matt Prater which increased their lead to 38-27 with 3:23 to go in the third quarter.

The Cowboys would begin their next possession at their 20-yard-line as Romo completed passes of 27 yards to Bryant and 23 yards to Cole Beasley to set up Tony's two-yard touchdown pass to Dez to make it a 38-33 game as Dallas would go for two following the touchdown.

The two-point try would be unsuccessful Romo would try to run it in himself but he was tackled short of the goal line to keep the score 38-33 with 14 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Denver would get the ball back at its 20-yard-line when on the first play from scrrimage, Manning would be picked off by Claiborne on a pass intended for Decker to give the Cowboys the ball at their 51-yard-line

From there, Romo and Witten would connect on three straight completions with the first going for 15 yards, followed by a 25-yard completion, and ending with a 10-yard touchdown to give the Cowboys the lead once again.

Dallas would go for two again after the touchdown which this time was successful as Romo found Williams in the end zone for the two points to give the Cowboys a 41-38 lead with 13:38 left in the fourth quarter.

Taking over at his 17-yard-line, Manning would complete five of nine passes for 42 yards on a 11-play, 51-yard drive that ended with a 50-yard field goal by Prater to tie the game at 41 with 9:37 to go in regulation.

A holding penalty on the ensuing kickoff would force the Cowboys to start their next possession at their 13-yard-line as the next two plays netted four yards to set up 3rd & 6 when Romo connected with Bryant for a 79-yard completion to give Dallas a 1st & goal at the Denver four-yard-line when Romo found Beasley in the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown to give the Cowboys a 48-41 lead midway through the fourth quarter.

Needing to answer the Cowboys one more time, the Broncos would take over possession at their 27-yard-line as Manning completed passes of 13 yards to Moreno, eight yards to Hillman, 14 yards to Welker, 26 yards to Demaryius Thomas , and then back to Welker for 16 more to set up an one-yard touchdown run by Moreno that would help tie the game at 48 with 2:39 remaining in regulation.

It looked like whoever had the ball last was going to win the game and it seemed that could be the Cowboys as they begin their ensuing drive at their 20-yard-line with all three timeouts left and 2:39 left on the clock.

Following a quarterback sack by Phillips for a six-yard-loss, disaster would strike for the Cowboys as Romo was intercepted by Broncos linebacker Danny Trevathan, who made a diving catch on a pass intended for Escobar, to give Denver the ball at the Dallas 24-yard-line as the two-minute warning arrived.

After the timeout, Manning would hit Demaryius Thomas for 11 yards and a 1st down before handing the ball off to Moreno who gained one yard to set up 2nd & 9 when Manning found Julius Thomas for eight yards to set up a 3rd & 1 situation.

That is when Manning handed the ball off to Moreno again who would pick up the 1st down at the Dallas one-yard-line as the Cowboys spent their last timeout with 1:35 left on the clock.

Instead of punching it into the end zone for the go-ahead touchdown and giving Romo and the Dallas offense a chance to respond, Manning would would take three knees to bleed time off the clock before calling timeout with two seconds left as Prater would come on to attempt the game-winning field goal.

Prater's kick from 28 yards out was true as time expired to give the Broncos a 51-48 win in a game that at the time was tied for the fifth highest scoring game in NFL history(It has since dropped to seventh place in the 12 years since the game has been played)as Manning and Romo combined for 920 passing yards and nine touchdown passes.

Peyton Manning finished with 414 yards and four touchdown passes on 33-of-42 passing.

The up-and-down season would continue for the Cowboys as they never had a winning streak of more than two games as they entered the final game of the regular season with a 8-7 record but a chance to win the NFC East if they could beat the Philadelphia Eagles.

Playing without Romo who herniated a disc in his lower back the week before, the Cowboys would fall to the Eagles 24-22 to finish the season with a 8-8 record and out of the postseason for the fourth year in a row.

As for the Broncos, they would continue their high-scoring ways throughout the regular season as the team would finish with a 13-3 record to earn home field advantage through the AFC playoffs as the Broncos would set the record for most points in a season with 606 or an average of nearly 38 points per game.

Manning would reclaim his records for most passing yards and touchdowns in a season as he finished the season with 55 touchdown passes and 5,477 yards as Manning would earn his fifth career MVP award.

However, the Broncos' season would end with a colossal loss in Super Bowl XLVIII as they were destroyed by the Seattle Seahawks 43-8 as Denver was held to just one touchdown in its lowest scoring output of the 2013 season.

Denver would return to the Super Bowl two years later led by its defense as the Broncos would beat the Carolina Panthers 24-10 to win their third Lombardi trophy in team history and send Manning out a winner in the final game of his NFL career.