There simply are not enough game balls to go around.

The Denver Broncos are off to a 6-0 start after going on the road and defeating the San Diego Chargers 34-23 in a prime time matchup on Monday Night Football.

The Broncos made a huge statement with this win, putting on their most complete performance of the season so far in front of a national audience as they increased their lead in the AFC West to an outstanding 3.5 games.

Enough is enough of this “surprising” tag that has been attached to the Broncos, they are absolutely for real and are playing their best ball this decade.

Monday night’s game went as a lot of Bronco fans expected, as the Chargers were forced into a one-dimensional offense and their inability to run the ball really cost them in the end.

Game Recap

First Quarter

After a 92 yard San Diego drive resulted in a short Nate Kaeding field goal, Eddie Royal ignited some fireworks at Qualcomm Stadium.  Royal took the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown to give the Broncos a 7-3 lead.

That lead would be short lived as Philip Rivers and the Chargers drove the ball right back down the field again, finishing a 74 yard drive with a three yard touchdown pass from Rivers to wide receiver Vincent Jackson, putting the score at 10-7 in favor of the home team.

Second Quarter

After a long 13 play drive ended in a Matt Prater field goal to start the scoring in the third quarter, the Broncos tied the game at 10 points apiece.

Following the field goal, the Broncos forced the Chargers into a three-and-out, and the Mike Scifres punt was taken 71 yards to the house by Eddie Royal, becoming the first player since Devin Hester in 2007 to return both a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown in the same game.

The Broncos, now nourishing a 17-10 lead, were able to stop the Chargers short of a touchdown on their next drive, and San Diego settled for another Nate Kaeding field goal, this one from 44 yards out.

Denver’s following drive was pitiful, and they were forced into a three-and-out.  Bronco punter Brett Kern made the decision to punt the ball to Darren Sproles, which is never a great idea.  Sproles took the punt all the way to the end zone, giving the Chargers huge momentum heading into halftime with a 20-17 lead.

Third Quarter

Another Nate Kaeding field goal gave the Chargers a six point lead, but the Broncos answered right back.

Following the field goal, Kyle Orton hooked up with Tony Scheffler on a beautiful 19 yard touchdown pass that capped off a nine play, 77 yard drive to give the Broncos the lead for good.

Fourth Quarter

Following an Elvis Dumervil forced fumble that was recovered by Vonnie Holliday, the Broncos had probably the shortest ten play drive in the league so far this year, going 36 yards in ten plays.  That drive was capped off by a Matt Prater field goal to give the Broncos a 27-23 lead.

Late in the fourth, Orton and the Broncos were on their most important drive of the night and set up for their most important third down conversion of the night, a third-and-goal from five yards out.  Kyle Orton dropped back to pass and hit Brandon Stokley right at the goal line for a touchdown that put the game out of reach for the San Diego Chargers.

Random Game Thoughts

In the intro, I said there were not enough game balls to go around, but having given it some thought, the game ball has to go to Eddie Royal.  The Broncos may not have won without Royal’s two return touchdowns, and neither would my little brother in fantasy.

Royal’s special teams performance was absolutely phenomenal, and he set a Denver Broncos record for return yardage in a game with 230.

Now to those who also deserved a game ball.

Tony Scheffler had his best game as a professional in my opinion.  I’m sure the stat line (Six catches, 101 yards, TD) are not the most staggering for his career, but he played extremely well and was the Broncos’ biggest difference maker offensively.

The offensive line was outstanding for the Broncos.  The Chargers had one sack on the night, and it came as Larry English was being pancaked by Ryan Clady.  The only suspect area for this unit was in the running game, where the Broncos were slow to get it going at times.

Denver’s third down defense was at its best on Monday night, holding the Chargers to only two conversions on 11 attempts on the night.  The Broncos gave up a few screen passes in the first half, but in the end, their defense did exactly what I thought they would, and they put the heat on Philip Rivers.

Elvis Dumervil led the Denver defense tonight, recording two sacks and a forced fumble of Philip Rivers.  As a unit, the Broncos had five sacks and were seemingly in Philip Rivers’ face the entire second half.

Switching back to the offensive side of the ball, how good has Kyle Orton been for the Broncos so far this season?  After his performance tonight, he has thrown for 1,465 yards, nine touchdowns, one fluke pick, and he has a rating of 100.1.

Orton is truly playing MVP caliber football through six games this season, and is running Josh McDaniels’ offense better than anybody expected.  His efficiency in the red zone and accuracy have been crucial to the Broncos’ success this season.  Orton improved to 27-12 as a starting quarterback in this league, and many, including myself, feel he has played at a Pro Bowl level so far this season.

Clearly, this Denver Broncos coaching staff has this team in a good place.  They didn’t listen to the nay-sayers prior to this season (so they claim), but they sure are shutting them up so far.

Mike Nolan has devised excellent defensive game-plans, and this Broncos team has allowed a league-best ten points in the second half of football games so far this year.  Through six games, that is absolutely outstanding and the main reason the Broncos have been able to start this season unblemished.

Josh McDaniels has done a superb job of preparing his offensive game plan and planning to his player’s biggest strengths.

The Broncos are a very efficient team, and if they can continue to play ball like this, they are going to be tough to beat.

The main deficiency for the Broncos tonight was the running game, which actually was not as bad as I thought.  They were still able to gain over 100 yards on the ground, but it seemed at times that they could go nowhere.

Correll Buckhalter was back for the first time in two weeks, and it appeared as though Knowshon Moreno was primed for a big game going up against a run defense that ranked 27th in the NFL heading into this matchup.

San Diego was able to bottle Moreno up for most of the game and hold him to just over 40 yards rushing.

Final Thoughts

The Broncos could not have scripted a better way to head into their bye week.

They are 6-0 for the first time since Elway lined up under center, and they have been quite a story thus far, and the most impressive part?  They are doing it with defense, something nobody anticipated.

Now, the offense is starting to really click, and the Broncos are looking like a more complete team with every game they play.

Still, this team knows it has a lot to improve upon, and they have a lot of time to prepare for their road matchup with the Baltimore Ravens in week eight.

The Ravens, like the Chargers, have an explosive passing offense but an even more dangerous running game with Willis McGahee, Ray Rice, and LeRon McClain.

Denver is sure to have its hands full, but for now, 6-0 feels great, and this team deserves every bit of it.  Enjoy Broncos fans, your team has joined the NFL’s elite this season, even when nobody thought they could do it.

Prior to yesterday, the Denver Broncos had gone 5-0 four times in team history, and all four times they made it to the Super Bowl.  With their 20-17 overtime win against the New England Patriots, fans have reason to hope this team can accomplish what was thought to be impossible.

The fifth win for the Broncos may have been the most unlikely of them all.

Tom Brady had started 75 games in which the Patriots led after three quarters, and lost only one.

Brady had never lost an overtime game.

The Patriots had only lost one game in which Brady, Wes Welker, and Randy Moss play.

Still, on the coldest week five game in NFL history, the Denver Broncos proved doubters and haters wrong once again, and for once it was the New England Patriots getting a taste of their own medicine.

Game Recap

The first half was all Patriots.  New England controlled the clock, and for the most part they made the number one defense in the NFL look out of sorts.

Denver had a decent drive going on their opening possession, but kicker Matt Prater was unable to capitalize on his first field goal attempt of the day, leaving the Patriots with good field position.

Tom Brady made the Broncos pay.

A big screen pass to Sammy Morris set the Patriots up for a quick strike touchdown from Brady to Wes Welker to get New England a 7-0 lead.

Rookie tailback Knowshon Moreno fumbled on the ensuing drive for the second straight game, and the Patriots took advantage of the turnover with a career-long 53-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, increasing their lead to 10-0.

The Broncos started the scoring in the second quarter, capping off a 10 play, 90 yard drive with an 11 yard fade pass from Kyle Orton to none other than Brandon Marshall, who scored for the third straight game.

New England fired back later in the quarter when Brady hit tight end Benjamin Watson on a seven yard pass, capping off a 10 play drive of their own to essentially end the half.

The Broncos had a very impressive 12-play, 66 yard drive going when they were unable to convert on third and short, and they settled for a 24-yard Prater field goal to decrease the margin to 17-10.

In the fourth quarter, the Broncos were pinned on their own two-yard line and Kyle Orton orchestrated the Broncos’ most impressive drive of the season.

Denver went 98 yards in 12 plays, and Brandon Marshall once again capped off the huge drive with an 11 yard touchdown reception, his second of the day, tying the game at 17 apiece.

Now the Broncos had to stop Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, who started their final drive at their own 30-yard line.

The first play of the drive, Sammy Morris scampered 19 yards to the 49, putting the Patriots in an optimum situation to win the game with another fifteen yards of offense.

It appeared Brady and New England would do it again.

On the following play, Morris took the ball up the middle and Wesley Woodyard forced the ball out, but the Broncos were unable to capitalize and the Patriots recovered.

The very next play, Tom Brady dropped back to pass, and Denver defensive end Vonnie Holliday came up with the team’s first sack of the game and forced a fumble of Tom Brady.

This time, the Broncos took advantage.

Elvis Dumervil fell on the ball, setting the Broncos up in Patriot territory with over a minute to play.

The Patriots’ defense also came to play, and they shut down any chance the Broncos would have of scoring a game-winning field goal in regulation.

We had overtime.

The Broncos won the coin toss in bonus play, and started with the ball on their own 20-yard line.

After ten plays, kicker Matt Prater took the field to attempt a 41-yard field goal to win the game for Denver.  His kick could not have been more perfect, and the Broncos took the game 20-17 in overtime.

Random Game Thoughts

Quarterback Kyle Orton played his best game as a Bronco, completing 35-of-48 passes for 330 yards and two touchdowns.  He also threw his first interception of the season, but it came on a “Hail Mary” play at the end of the first half.

Orton was pin-point with his passes, and he got everyone involved.

Eddie Royal tripled his season total in receptions, catching ten on the game for 90 yards.  Brandon Marshall had 8 receptions for 64 yards and two touchdowns.  Jabar Gaffney caught six passes for 61 yards.

I was actually extremely surprised that Denver did not score more than they did.  They had 424 yards of total offense, and other than the fumble by Knowshon Moreno, they did not turn the ball over.

The Broncos’ defense continued its impressive play, but this time they did not have any sacks until the fourth quarter.  One of my “Keys to Victory” for them was putting heat on Tom Brady, and they did not do that very well.

For the most part, Brady had time to knit a sweater and call home while he waited for a receiver to get open, or that’s what it seemed like at least.

The Broncos got their stops though, and they did not allow the Patriots to score the entire second half.

For the first time this season, the Broncos lost the turnover margin, and the Patriots were 53-of-53 in their previous games when they won the turnover margin.

As high as I am on Knowshon Moreno, the Broncos missed Correll Buckhalter.  They did not incorporate Peyton Hillis like I thought they would, but Moreno did a very nice job.  He ran the ball 21 times for 88 yards, 11 of which came at a crucial point of their overtime drive.

A defensive player who has been hot the last two weeks, other than Champ Bailey, is fellow cornerback Jack Williams who made some great plays.  The Broncos have a very formidable secondary, and Williams is great depth.

One stat that really stood out to me was that Denver had 27 first downs to the Patriots’ 18, which is a substantial difference.

Another one of my “Keys to Victory” was getting off the field on third down defensively, and the Broncos were able to hold the Patriots to a 35 percent conversion rate, which is over 11 percent lower than their season average heading into this game.

Inversely, Denver converted 42 percent of their third down plays, and that was critical in them winning this game.

Final Rant

This game was a statement game for the Broncos, although it shouldn’t have been.  Denver has proven they are an elite team thus far, and they did it prior to this game.

The bandwagon is sure to be overflowing after this win, and the Broncos are set up for a prime time matchup with San Diego next Monday night.

This team still has a lot to prove and a lot  to work on, which is encouraging for the fans.  Denver is 5-0 and has a long way to reach its full potential.

A magical win in what so far has been a magical season.  Denver is not just a surprise anymore, they are legitimate AFC contenders.

The Denver Broncos are 1-0.

How sweet does that sound Broncos fans?

After the longest verbal beating I can remember, the Denver Broncos proved their skeptics wrong on Sunday, and they did it with an unexpected strength: their defense.

In fact, the Broncos’ defense was so on point that the home team Bengals only reached the red zone twice in the entire game, and did not score a point for 59 minutes, 19 seconds.

The new-look Broncos defense forced three turnovers, seven punts, and sacked Carson Palmer three times.  Steelers fans and Giants fans may laugh that the Broncos are proud of those statistics, but one must realize that this kind of defensive performance is not commonplace for the Broncos over the last three years.

In addition to the great play of the defense, the Broncos had stellar play from their special teams, namely Matt Prater who made both of his field goals from 48 and 50 yards.

The low spot of the game for the Broncos was the abysmal play of their offense, which was only able to get 10 first downs the entire game.

While those who did not watch the game will blame the ineptitude of the offense on quarterback Kyle Orton, anyone who actually saw the game knows that the offensive struggles came from an inability to effectively run the ball and a large amount of dropped passes.

This was a very boring game to watch until the last two drives of the game if you were an unbiased third party. Neither team scored a touchdown until late in the fourth quarter, but the scoring was totally worth the wait.

After a long drive by the Bengals culminated in a one yard touchdown run by Cedric Benson, the Broncos defied incredible odds.

Trailing 7-6, the game clock read 0:20 and Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels realized that the time remaining should be nearly doubled because of a failed challenge attempt by the Bengals with 41 seconds remaining. The ensuing touchdown play only took three seconds off the clock, and McDaniels’ pleading paid off.

The game clock was reset to 0:38 and that proved to be absolutely crucial for the Broncos.

After a pass by Orton that was nearly intercepted by Jonathan Joseph, he heaved up a pass to Brandon Marshall that was tipped in the air by Leon Hall and subsequently caught by fellow Bronco Brandon Stokley who ran 87 yards for the game-winning touchdown.

The game-winning drive took 27 seconds off the clock, so it was huge that Denver got the clock reset to 0:38 before the game resumed.

A crazy finish, and one for the ages to be sure.  Broncos fans will remember this one for a long time, and unfortunately, so will Bengals fans.

Kyle Orton did about as expected with his stat line which saw him complete 17-of-28 passes for 243 yards, a touchdown, a 100.7 QB rating, and most importantly:  no interceptions.

Orton effectively managed the game, and the Broncos did not make any mistakes, and it is even more impressive that he did it all with a dislocated pointer finger on his throwing hand.

The Broncos were absolutely shut down in the running game, partly because they did not run it very much, and had a lot of trouble with dropped passes.  In fact, every Broncos receiver had a dropped pass today except for Daniel Graham.

Defensively, there is a lot to talk about for the Broncos.

The team finished the game with three sacks from Andra Davis, Mario Haggan, and Darrell Reid, all of whom are from the linebacker position.

Denver also forced three turnovers, two interceptions from Wesley Woodyard and Tony Scheffler, and a botched field goal attempt by Cincinnati.

This game has to be looked at as somewhat of a reality check for the Broncos who will host Cleveland in week two. They did some great things defensively, but the defense can only hold so much weight on its shoulders. Eventually, the offense is going to need to be able to score points on a more consistent basis, and eventually means by next week.

Cincinnati’s defense looked vastly improved from what we have seen in recent years, and they were very stingy against the pass. Their defensive backfield is very solid, and they were able to get three sacks on one of the best pass protecting defensive lines in the NFL.

Granted, Kyle Orton’s indecision and inability to get rid of the ball at times were the cause of those sacks, it is still an impressive feat by the Bengals.

A lot of the offensive struggles can be attributed to a pure lack of chemistry, as the team welcomed for the first time at the same time a group that included Knowshon Moreno, Brandon Marshall, and Russ Hochstein as irregulars.

The Broncos should come out more aggressive offensively against the Browns next week who were absolutely crushed by the Minnesota Vikings 34-20. Adrian Peterson had his way with the Cleveland run defense, and the Broncos need to take advantage with their new group of backs.

This was one of the best finishes to a game the NFL will see all season long, and it helps that the Broncos got win number one off their chests, and if the defense continues to play like they did today, there will be many more wins to come.

It also helps that the only people who thought Denver would win this game were fans of the team, and even some of them were skeptical because of the loss of quarterback Jay Cutler.

By the way, Cutler threw four interceptions in his Chicago Bears debut against Green Bay, and the Bears lost 21-15. I know it is only the first game of the season, but Kyle Orton and the Broncos are heading home winners, and the Bears are staring Pittsburgh in the face at 0-1.

Somewhere Josh McDaniels is smiling, and he should be.