I remain continually impressed by the Denver Broncos this season. I expressed my doubts earlier about the possibility that any loss could be considered “good.” I think that the Indianapolis game has changed my mind on this subject. Of all the games on the schedule, I think that the Indy game was a “for sure” loss. That being said, it was by far the best loss of the season. In the previous losses, the Broncos simply weren’t competitive. The offense was incapable of putting up points against Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and San Diego, and the loss of Kyle Orton in the Washington game proved how valuable he is on the offensive side of the ball. The Broncos managed four scores against Indianapolis, which is 2-3 more scores than they averaged in the losses against Pitt, Baltimore, and SD. Obviously it would have been nice if some of the field goals from the 4th quarter (3 of them) had been touchdowns, but you take what you can get against an undefeated team.

Interim Fact #1: The Broncos’ defense is currently ranked third in the defensive yards allowed category (a category that says a lot about how good a defense is). There are lots of ways to interpret this, but I’m going to keep it simple by saying that we used to suck at defense and now we are good.

By now, we all know that the Broncos will likely win a wildcard playoff spot if they can beat the Raiders and the Chiefs in home games. The Raiders are up this Sunday, and despite their record the Oakland Raiders are no longer the pushovers they were at the start of the season. They have better than average talent on the defensive side of the ball, and QB Bruce Gradkowski has NFL talent whereas JaMarcus Russell seems to have only junior college talent. Gradkowski suffered serious knee damage in Sunday’s game against the Redskins and it’s likely that he will miss next Sunday’s game. The Raiders have several replacement candidates: JaMarcus Russell, the superstar himself; Charlie Frye, who was a third-stringer in Cleveland before becoming a third-stringer in Oakland; and Bills castoff J.P. Losman who was recently plucked from the USFL. All of them are fairly athletic, though none could hit the proverbial barn-door, & none really deserve to start for an NFL franchise. This can only bode well for Denver, as I suspect they will win regardless of who starts for Oakland.

Interim Fact #2: Brandon Marshall is the sole record holder for most receptions in a game with 21, accomplished against a strong Colts secondary. He also put up 200 yards in the same game. He was unstoppable. There are also many ways to interpret this; I submit the following: Jay Cutler sucks. Those of you in the know will see the obvious connections.

After the match up against Oakland, Denver travels to Philadelphia to play the Eagles. They are playing awesome football the last 5 weeks. They are riding the intangible Momentum Wave at the moment and are unlikely to fall off. They are a doppelganger of sorts for the Broncos. Denver’s scoring defense is ranked fifth in the league while their offense is mired somewhere in the middle of the pack. Philly scores the third most points in the league while their defense is mired somewhere in the middle of the pack. The Eagles win relatively close games by outscoring their opponents (check Sunday night’s close victory over the New York Giants, who Denver manhandled if such comparisons mean anything). Denver wins games by keeping their opponents from scoring even when their offense looks significantly dysfunctional. Broncos players talked at length about how the Indy game served as a measuring stick of sorts – “how good are we when matched against a playoff bound team?” The Colts are a terrible team to use as a measuring stick, since they are having an insane year by any normal criteria and Peyton Manning is probably the best offensive player in the league (the guy is a throwback to the likes of Bill Russell who was a true player/coach, and we all know how good Russell was). The Eagles game is the real measuring stick. Denver will be on the road against a team much like themselves: average talent at most positions, above-average heart on gameday, with a true superstar leading the offense (McNabb and Marshall respectively). If Denver beats the Eagles, they will all but guarantee themselves a playoff spot and they should gain some much-needed confidence that they are capable of winning against the type of team that they will likely see in the first round – Cincinnati, New England (though I’m rooting heavily for the Dolphins in the AFC East), or possibly San Diego.

Interim Fact #3: Elvis Dumervil has yet to be offered a contract extension by the Denver Broncos. He will likely be the first Broncos player to lead the league in sacks. He is the only pass-rusher the Broncos have had in almost a decade. This can be interpreted in one way: The Broncos front office are acting like silly ninnies (yes, that is a technical term) by not trying to lock this guy up immediately; he is a tremendous player, doesn’t beat on women (like other guys playing in a contract year), and positively influences the team in every game. Oh and did I mention he’s active in the community. Silly ninnies indeed!