After years of being let down by his defense, Peyton Manning is finally backed by the best D in football, which would be much more exciting if he wasn't effectively reduced to a caretaker quarterback whose goal is to be reasonably effective rather than legendary.
Denver's offense ranks 31st, according to Football Outsiders' DVOA ratings. Only Tampa Bay's offense has been worse through three weeks. Sunday night, the Broncos got a lot of attention for using the pistol formation to get Peyton Manning back on track. But even that improved Denver offense wasn't above average, with a single-game rating of minus-9.2 percent.
Yet the Broncos have started the season 3-0 because the defense has been as good as the offense has been bad. The Broncos are No. 1 in the league in defensive DVOA. We rate Denver as 39 percent more efficient than average; the Denver offense is only 24 percent less efficient than average.