The Broncos are undefeated at 6-0. They have taken down a few good teams in the process. Yes, the Bengals would have beaten them on opening day had it not been for the "Immaculate Deflection." Still, the Bengals are a very good team this year, and this loss would only make Denver 5-1.
Nobody, but nobody, but nobody expected the Broncos to do as well as they have this year. The Broncos are the stunning story of the year. They are eclipsing even the Saints (whose year has finally arrived) as the NFL's biggest shock.
Somehow, someway, the Broncos magically rebuilt a terrible defense that was permitting something like 30-34 points per game last season. Now they are permitting 6.6 points per game. The three men responsible for this massive turn-around are Mike Nolan, Brian Dawkins and Elvis Dumervil.
They have also turned the #2 ranked passing attack into balanced pass-run team which sometimes struggles for points. Still, they are looking good. They fight like hell and score when they have to score.
I still feel the Broncos are winning with some sort of black magic, voodoo, smoke and mirrors tricks. Nevertheless they are winning. Josh McDaniels somehow got the players to buy into his system. They are playing with enormous effort and enthusiasm. It is impressive to see how these men get after it one each and every play. McDaniels even convinced disgruntled WR Brendan Marshall to get on board with the program and play with high effort. Now that is a serious achievement. I think we have to admit that McDaniels holds one of the most important keys to coaching: The Motivation Mojo. Somehow, he gets these guys to buy into his system, and he motivates them to sacrifice their bodies for the battle right here and right now.
Honestly, I still don't think they have a shot, but I have seen stranger things in the past. Just yesterday, I mentioned the Raiders 1980 campaign. They shocked the world with an under-talented cast of rejects. They were a high-effort squad like this Bronco team. Like the Broncos, that Raider team was expected to be in a full state of rebuilding for years. The rebuild was immediate. We had no idea how it happened.
