DENVER -- Ah, that growing list of Broncos playmakers: Peyton Manning. . Von Miller. Demaryius Thomas. Mitch Unrein? Well, yes. The second-year defensive lineman out of Wyoming played as big a role as Manning, Miller or anyone else Sunday in helping the Denver Broncos defeat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31-23 and wrap up their second straight AFC West title. Unrein caught a 1-yard touchdown pass from Manning to open the scoring, then got the hit on Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman that forced a bad throw. It ended up in Millers hands and, moments later, the end zone for the score that turned the game into a runaway. "People are going to have to game-plan for that guy," cornerback Champ Bailey said. Thomas caught two other touchdown passes from Manning, who now has 29 this year and passed Jake Plummer and John Elway for the most scoring throws in a single season. The Broncos (9-3) won their seventh straight and wrapped up a date in January in the playoffs, though there were no champagne bottles being uncorked in the locker room. "Its one step," Bailey said. "Its not like weve done everything we want to do." The Bucs (6-6), surprising contenders under first-year coach Greg Schiano, fell a game behind Seattle for the second NFC wild-card spot and their loss clinched the NFC South for Atlanta. They were in this game until Unrein made his second big play and set the stage for Millers first NFL touchdown, which capped a 21-0 third quarter for Denver. "The reality is, we get hit and throw the pick-6," Schiano said. "That changes the complexion of the game. Now were not able to run the football. I mean, we didnt run it gang-busters in the first half. But we ran it. And ... if youre able to be in a game where you can run it, oftentimes youll be able to run it in the fourth quarter." The Broncos held Tampa Bay rookie Doug Martin to 56 yards on 18 carries. Manning went 27 for 38 for 242 yards, as the Broncos scored 30-plus points for the sixth time over their seven-game win streak -- a night-and-day difference from last year, when they won the division at 8-8 and played close-to-the-vest, low-scoring games with Tim Tebow running the offence. Yet despite Denvers big numbers Sunday, which included eight catches for 99 yards for Thomas and nine receptions for 89 yards from tight end Jacob Tamme, this was, yet again, a far-from-perfect effort from Manning and Co. The quarterback was frustrated in this first half, as a series of penalties, off-target throws and missed protections kept him biding his time on the bench. The only real highlight came at the end of his first drive -- a 1-yard touchdown pass to Unrein, who became the first defensive lineman to catch a touchdown pass in Broncos history, then celebrated with a big-time spike. "After I spiked it, I was, like, Uh, oh, whered it go?" Unrein said. "Luckily, I got it back." Unreins hit on Freeman in the third quarter also resulted in a touchdown -- this time, from Miller, who went 26 yards to make it 28-10. It was Millers first career score and he celebrated by doing his dance thing, not in the backfield, but this time in the other teams end zone. "When I got my hands on it, I felt like I only had some O-linemen in front of me," Miller said. "I felt like my odds were pretty good." Before the Miller TD, this was a game. Late in the first quarter, Freeman found Mike Williams in single coverage down the middle for a 40-yard gain. Martin followed with a 7-yard run, then another for 5, then Freeman found Mannings old buddy in Indianapolis, Dallas Clark, for an 11-yard touchdown and a 10-7 lead. But when the teams came out after halftime, Denver was a different team. "The hype these guys get, its well deserved," Freeman said. "They get after it. The front four, they do a good job of timing their blitzes. The Denver defence played a great game today." Manning wasnt bad, either. With his ninth completion, he surpassed Dan Marino for second on the all-time completions list. He now has 4,986. On the second drive of the third quarter, Manning completed three passes on a quick, 52-yard touchdown drive for a 14-10 lead, capping it with an 8-yard pass to Thomas, who had a sliver of space in the back of the end zone. After a three-and-out, Manning did it again, starting a 57-yard drive with a 14-yard pass to Tamme and capping it five plays later with a 10-yard score to Thomas, who beat double coverage. "What I liked about the second touchdown was that Demaryius was seeing the same thing I was seeing," Manning said. "We had another route on. We changed it at the line. We were thinking along the same lines. I like to see the communication, the growth." After the early touchdown drive, Freeman never got comfortable again. He finished 18 for 39 for 242 yards. He led the Bucs on a 47-yard touchdown drive that made the score 31-23 with 2:33 left. Denver recovered the onside kick and lined up in victory formation twice. Schiano, as is his wont, had his players challenge those plays, which led to some scrapping, but no coach-to-coach conflict the way Giants coach Tom Coughlin confronted Schiano under similar circumstances earlier this year. "We were prepared for it," Broncos coach John Fox said. Notes: Broncos K Matt Prater missed from 47 yards, making him 2 for 5 from 40 to 49 yards this season and 15 for 17 from everywhere else, including 3 for 4 from 50-plus. ... Martin was held under 60 yards for the second straight week. ... Matthew Willis, getting playing time that wouldve gone to injured Brandon Stokley, had three catches for 22 yards. [url=http://www.lionsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-bill-bentley-jersey-ek-81... Bentley Jersey . But the Calgary Stampeders defensive lineman wasnt supposed to tell the media that. "First of all, I asked him to speak," Calgary coach Hufnagel said after Saturdays walk through. . Anderson, also co-chairman of the competition committee that suggests rules changes to the owners, said a change could come this year. The NFL traditionally resists changing rules during a season. "We will certainly discuss the rule with the competition committee members, as we do all situations involving unique and unusual circumstances, and determine if we feel a change should be recommended to ownership," Anderson said in a statement. [url=http://www.lionsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-jason-jones-jersey-le-71.... . And when the labour strife finally ended, they showed they were sharp. "It really helped with my conditioning," said Johnny Boychuk, who played in Austria and returned to score a goal in the Bruins 3-1 victory over the New York Rangers in the lockout-delayed opener Saturday night. [url=http://www.lionsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-nick-fairley-jersey-kb-14... Fairley Jersey . As the Eskimos continued their preparation Tuesday the two big questions surrounding the team were who will start at quarterback and whats the status of running back Hugh Charles. The quarterback position has been a turnstile all season with Kerry Joseph, Steven Jyles and Matt Nichols all failing to establish themselves as the No. . Mike McCoy never knows how much hell need, or for how long hell be gone. The life of a utility player doesnt allow for much certainty. He understands his role and knows the Toronto Blue Jays will use him as they see fit. HOUSTON -- Ubaldo Jimenez had his share of success against the Houston Astros when he played for Colorado. Jimenez returned to Houston on Friday night in a different uniform, but the result was the same. Shin-Soo Choo hit a leadoff triple and Michael Brantley drove in a run late to back up a strong start by Jimenez and the Cleveland Indians got a 2-0 win over the Astros Jimenez (7-5) allowed four hits with eight strikeouts in 6 2-3 innings to improve to 4-0 with a 1.88 ERA in six career starts against Houston. "Its really a nice place to pitch," he said. "Its warm, everything breaks. So its fun to pitch here." The victory is Clevelands fourth straight, which ties a season high and extends its lead in the American League Central to 1 1/2 games. Three of those four wins have come by one or two runs, a stat Indians manager Manny Acta likes. "When you win those ballgames, its a good sign," he said. "It means that you cant go back into the game and look at mistakes that you made that cost you the game." Choos triple was one of only two hits the Indians managed in seven innings against Houston starter Lucas Harrell (6-6) as these teams met for the first time since 2001. Acta was impressed with Harrell, but he also liked what he saw from his starter. "Harrell was just very tough, he pitched very well, but Ubaldo was also very good," Acta said. "(Jimenez) had good off-speed stuff, especially the split-finger fastball. He had better command of his fastball later in the game and just did a very nice job." Choo helped make it 1-0 when he scored on a sacrifice fly by Asdrubal Cabrera after his triple. Brantley added an insurance run for the Indians with his RBI single with one out in the ninth inning. Chris Perez struck out the side in the ninth to complete Clevelands sixth shutout this season and give him his major league-leading 23rd save. Harrell took the loss despite allowing two hits and striking out a career-high nine in seven innings. "The location of his fastball was pretty impressive," Houston manager Brad Mills said of Harrell. "That was the biggest thing. He stayed aggressive with his fastball. He was making really good pitches on it." Including Cabreras out, Harrell retired 19 of the next 20 batters he faced. Clevelands only base runner iin that stretch came on a walk by Carlos Santana with two outs in the fourth. [url=http://www.lionsofficialteamstore.com/autographed-brandon-pettigrew-jersey-... Pettigrew Jersey. Harrell didnt run into trouble until Santana and Brantley drew consecutive walks with one out in the seventh inning, before a single by Johnny Damon loaded the bases. Harrell got out of the inning when Casey Kotchman flew out to right field and Brian Bogusevics throw to catcher Chris Snyder was in time to throw out Santana at home. The Indians finished with four hits to end a streak of four straight games with at least 10 hits. The Astros had several opportunities to score, but were unable to connect at key times for the second straight game, going 1 for 7 with runners in scoring position. They went 1 for 12 with runners in scoring position in a 2-1 loss to the Royals on Wednesday. Jordan Schafer walked with one out in the first inning and stole second before Jed Lowrie also walked. Jimenez escaped that jam when Carlos Lee grounded into a double play. Chris Johnson singled in the fifth, but was out at second when Chris Snyder grounded into a force out. An error by Cabrera let Snyder take second before Harrell singled. Jimenez came out unscathed again when he retired Jose Altuve before striking out Schafer to end the inning. Bogusevic doubled to left field to start Houstons seventh. Johnson and Snyder both grounded out before a walk by pinch-hitter Justin Maxwell chased Jimenez. Reliever Joe Smith took over and struck out Altuve to leave the Astros empty-handed yet again. Wesley Wright pitched a perfect eighth for Houston. David Carpenter allowed a single to Cabrera in the ninth before Fernando Abad took over. He walked Jason Kipnis before striking out Santana. Brantleys then singled to score Cabrera. Bogusevic scooped up the hit by Brantley and threw to the plate, but the high throw bounced off Snyders glove and rolled away, sending Kipnis for home. But Snyder got the ball to Lee, who was covering home, to tag him out. NOTES: Houston starter Bud Norris, on the DL with a sprained knee, is scheduled to make a rehabilitation start for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday. ... Houston OF Maxwell had an MRI on Thursday that revealed what manager Mills called a "loose body" in his left ankle. He wasnt in the starting lineup, but pinch-hit in the seventh inning. ' ' '