DENVER -- The Denver Broncos are, apparently, who they thought they were.
They are a team that lives the Super Bowl-or-bust life. They believe they are better than what they showed during the season's first three weeks, which included an overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks. They believe they are one of the league's heavyweights, which they showed in a 41-20 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Sports Authority Field at Mile High Sunday.
The Broncos believe there's more where that came from.
"People see," said Broncos defensive tackle Terrance Knighton. "They see what kind of team we have, but we're just going to keep working, keep getting better and Peyton is going to be Peyton."
Start with Peyton Manning, who in an afternoon's work, became the second quarterback in history to reach 500 career touchdown passes (Brett Favre is the other), tied Hall of Famer Dan Marino for career 400-yard games (13), had his 32nd career four-touchdown game and threw for a single-game, career-high 479 yards.
Oh, and Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas has a career-best 226 yards receiving. (Thomas would had 303 yards had a 77-yard scoring pass not been wiped out by a penalty.) And wide receiver Wes Welker set the NFL record for most career receptions by an undrafted player.
"It was an explosion," DeMarcus Ware said. "Wes, I don't even know how many receptions he had. Demaryius Thomas, setting a record for the team. Peyton. … I don't know too many quarterbacks that you can say that have that many touchdowns -- Brett Favre. It's just awesome to have an offense like that, a powerhouse that can score points.
"Every game there's been build-up. We've been getting more and more motivation each game, getting encouraged each game and this game right here was more of a complete game for us."
But no team has rolled up its sleeves and done what the Broncos have done to get to 3-1. The Broncos have faced four teams that won at least 10 games last season, faced three teams that won at least 11 games last season, including the defending Super Bowl champion on the road.
Seasons change and so do rosters, still nobody else in the league has waded through that in their first four games this season. And after Sunday's dance with history, the result of that more-than-tough early sledding, the Broncos are not just a power broker in the AFC, they look like the Alpha Dog.
No, they still haven't put together a full effort for four quarters and yes, there is plenty of football to be played. But Sunday's win was a stark reminder of the team's star power and potential in the season that remains in front of them.
Sure, the Broncos don't always run the ball well enough -- they had all of 4 yards rushing on seven carries in the first half Sunday before they finished with 92 yards for the game. And, they surrender big plays on defense, like the 81-yard catch-and-run touchdown from Logan Thomas to running back Andre Ellington. It was Thomas' only completion of the game and the pass somehow eluded Broncos linebacker Nate Irving's hand before Ellington grabbed it.
But in the end the Broncos flexed plenty against the Cardinals, who came in as one of two remaining undefeated teams in the league.
"We can be great," linebacker Danny Trevathan said. "I believe we've reached some peaks today, second half we reached a whole bunch of our peak of it but at the same time we have to put together four quarters. I keep saying that but we keep saying that, but we played our ball today and I'm glad with it. I'm going to take the ‘W' and move forward.”
