OAKLAND — Peyton Manning spent most of the first half flummoxed by a Raiders defense that jumped his receivers’ routes, deflected several of his passes and intercepted the Hall of Fame-bound Broncos quarterback twice.

All that changed seemingly in an instant, when an innocent-looking screen pass from Manning turned into a game-changing 51-yard touchdown late in the second quarter.

Just like that, Manning had the first of five touchdown passes, the Broncos had a lead, and Manning had shaken off an uncharacteristically slow start en route to a masterful performance that keyed a 41-17 victory Sunday.

“Momentum’s crazy in this game,” Raiders free safety Charles Woodson said, “and once a team gets it, it’s kind of hard to get it back. … At that point we were up 10-6, and it was crazy because I blinked and looked back up at the scoreboard and all of a sudden it was 20-10.”

Before that play, the Raiders had intercepted Manning twice and held the Broncos to two field goals. The play jump-started Manning and the Broncos offense as they scored touchdowns on five straight possessions.

All five drives ended with Manning touchdown passes. It’s as if Manning just needed something to get him going.

That something came with three minutes left in the first half, with the Raiders leading, the sold-out O.co Coliseum crowd thinking upset and the struggling Broncos facing a third-and-8 from their 49-yard line.

Manning flicked the ball to second-year running back C.J. Anderson in the left flat, with Raiders linebackers Miles Burris in position to make the stop near the line of scrimmage.

Instead, Burris whiffed. Anderson then escaped rookie linebacker Khalil Mack before the first-down marker and Woodson soon thereafter. Before long, it became a question of how many Raiders would fail in their attempt to tackle Anderson, a Bethel High School-Vallejo and Cal product.

“It easily could have been maybe a catch for minus-2 yards,” Manning said. “Next thing you know, he breaks a tackle and I don’t know how many guys he made miss. … That really gave us a spark offensively. Of course, the whole sideline was fired up.”

Broncos wide receiver Wes Welker said Manning, who completed 31 of 44 passes for 340 yards, wasn’t fazed by a dismal start.

“He stays pretty even-keeled the whole time,” Welker said. “That’s what you love about him is, it’s about the next series, looking for the next play.”

It appeared as if no fewer than five Raiders had a realistic shot at bringing down Anderson. In the end, Anderson stopped running when he wanted and not before he reached the end zone.

The Broncos defense held the Raiders on the ensuing possession and gave Manning another shot before halftime.

Manning scored a direct hit, with a well-thrown pass to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders for a 32-yard touchdown with 30 seconds left.

He added 10- and 32-yard touchdowns to tight end Julius Thomas and a 15-yarder to Sanders in the third quarter before he turned over the reins to Brock Osweiler.

“Obviously, he adjusted,” Raiders defensive end Justin Tuck said of Manning. “That’s why, if he is not the best quarterback to ever play this game, he’s definitely one of the best. He adjusted and we weren’t able to adjust well enough to keep up.”

Broncos coach John Fox said he had a pretty strong feeling that the Raiders weren’t going to be able to keep Manning down for too long.

“It was just a matter of time before our offense got things figured out,” Fox said, “and that turned out to be true.”

Manning padded his ongoing NFL record for career touchdown passes. Yet, time and again, he deflected questions away from his accomplishments.

“In the middle of a season while you’re trying to win games, that’s really what you focus on … ,” Manning said. “Anything that comes along the way, certainly I have a great appreciation for the history of the game but the most important thing was to get a good road win.”

Follow Steve Corkran on Twitter at twitter.com/CorkOnTheNFL.