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A weekly examination of the Broncos’ ESPN.com Power Ranking:

Preseason: 3 | Last Week: 2 | ESPN.com Power Ranking since 2002

With their 59-20 demolition of the Philadelphia Eagles this past weekend, the Broncos moved up a spot and to the top of the ESPN.com Power Rankings as they emphatically launched themselves out of what coach John Fox calls the “first quarter of a four-quarter season." They have done it with an opportunistic defense still without two of its best players and an offense that has overwhelmed four consecutive opponents.

The Broncos are averaging 44.8 points per game, a pace that is eight points better than the highest-scoring offense in league history: the 2007 New England Patriots. Quarterback Peyton Manning has thrown 16 touchdown passes, or more touchdowns than every other team in the league has scored overall. They have beaten their four opponents by an average of 22 points.

Oh, and they have played defense without cornerback Champ Bailey or star pass-rusher Von Miller in the lineup. Bailey has missed four games with a left foot injury he suffered in preseason and Miller will miss two more games as part of his six-game suspension.

“But there’s plenty to work on,’’ Fox said. “We want ... to be playing our best football in February.’’

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- If it was Monday, it must have been time for Broncos coach John Fox to perform the football eclipse and just block out the sunshine.

And in working his way through a recap of Sunday’s 52-20 win over the Philadelphia Eagles that pushed the Broncos to 4-0 and brought another round of historical benchmarks the team has surpassed on offense along the way, Fox delivered an off-handed missive that won’t be great news to the team’s upcoming opponents.

“We left points out on the field [Sunday]."

And with that Fox kept to his weekly ritual of trying to turn down the flame on the Broncos’ start in which the quarterback has thrown 16 touchdown passes without an interception, more touchdowns than every other team in the league has scored overall, and the Broncos lead the league in scoring by 52 points over No. 2 Chicago.

“We’ll just continue to get better," Fox said. “ … And I expect us to get better. People look at me funny when I say that. There’s still a lot of areas we need to improve at, we can improve at."

In reality, even with quarterback Peyton Manning on the current torrid pace, the Broncos will need, at some point, to run the ball with more authority, especially when in close-out mode. They rushed for just 37 yards on 12 carries in the fourth quarter Sunday. That’s 3.1 yards per carry against a defense that was both demoralized and visibly fatigued. While that looks like a BB off a battleship in a 32-point win, there will be a day when the Broncos need more to grind one out.

• It will be intriguing to watch how the Broncos attack the Cowboys defense, with longtime NFL assistant Monte Kiffin in his first season calling the shots on that side of the ball in Dallas. Especially since the Broncos will have the video of how their offensive coordinator from 2012 -- current Chargers coach Mike McCoy -- handled it this past Sunday in the Chargers’ 30-21 victory. Kiffin has long played a 4-3 look, with the defensive linemen playing the run as they move up the field toward the quarterback with two deep safeties. He forces quarterbacks to play with patience with a combination of coverages designed to keep plays in front of the defensive backs. Fox knows it well from his time in Carolina and Kiffin’s long run as the Buccaneers’ defensive coordinator, while Manning certainly knows it from his time in Indianapolis when Tony Dungy used the defense with the Colts (Kiffin was Dungy's defensive coordinator in Tampa). But that doesn’t always help, or as Fox put it: “Everybody in this league has either played for or coached with Monte.’’ One of the biggest challenges for the Broncos will come up front where Kiffin’s four-man front is often stunting and moving into the middle of the field as well, working the gaps between the center and guards. That will surely mean a test for Manny Ramirez, as well as Zane Beadles and Louis Vasquez.

• Fox said he was sitting face-to-face with Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio Sunday night when the University of Houston tennis coach, Patrick Sullivan, posted on his Twitter account he had “spotted" Del Rio at Los Angeles International Airport. Fox and the Broncos coaches were at a local steakhouse at the time. “I was actually at Del Frisco’s when that came out," Fox said. Asked if he was checking his Twitter feed at the time, Fox said: “I don’t even know how to spell Twitter." Del Rio has already been linked to the vacant USC coaching job -- he played at USC -- but couldn't start a new job until the Broncos season is over, including any postseason games. Del Rio’s contract is up following the season. Following Sunday night’s game, Del Rio said: “There isn’t anything to say. It’s all speculation at this point, I’ve got a job to do here, my focus is right there." Monday, Fox said: “Like always there’s 8,000 candidates, when it gets serious potential, we’ll keep you posted."

• The Broncos equipment staff saved linebacker Steven Johnson the football from his first career touchdown in Sunday’s win. Johnson blocked a punt early in the fourth quarter, scooped up the ball and returned it 17 yards for the score. Johnson got the ball Monday afternoon. “After I blocked it, I was shocked and I was like, ‘Oh shoot,’ you know? I slowed down, took a deep breath and just picked it up and scored and then celebrated with my teammates."

• Following Sunday’s game, in which Trindon Holliday had his sixth return for a touchdown in his 16 games with the Broncos, Holliday said he believed he has become more reliable catching the ball. Fox hasn’t always allowed Holliday to catch punts deep in Denver territory and Holliday has had some nerve-wracking bobbles in his brief time with the Broncos. But Monday Fox agreed with Holliday’s assessment saying Holliday was “fielding the ball way more consistently.’’ It could mean Holliday gets a few more opportunities in games, particularly as a punt returner. On Holliday’s run with the team Fox said: “I joked with him that if he’d won the Baltimore game, he might have been the guy on Dancing with [the] Stars.’’ Holliday became the first player in league history to return a kickoff and a punt for touchdowns in the same playoff game last January. But the Broncos didn’t hang on and lost to the Ravens. And Ravens wide receiver Jacoby Jones was chosen to appear on "Dancing with the Stars."

• Fox said Monday the Broncos suffered no major injuries in Sunday's game. Defensive tackle Mitch Unrein and linebacker Danny Trevathan each left the game, but returned.

DENVER -- In the growing avalanche of numbers, career bests and team records pouring down the east side of the Continental Divide four games into this Denver Broncos season, there is one thing that is both staggering for even the most die-hard Broncos fans and gut-wrenching for even the most glass-half-full people still on the schedule.

Denver is averaging a league-leading 44.8 points per game, but no, that’s not the one.

Peyton Manning has thrown 16 touchdown passes without an interception, but that’s not it either. Manning has completed 75 percent of his passes, Wes Welker has six touchdown catches -- as many as he had all of last season -- and Trindon Holliday has two touchdown returns.

But, no, no and no.

The scary thing is that there just may be more in there, more to come. Consider that Manning didn’t throw a touchdown pass in the first quarter of the season opener, that he sat out the fourth quarter of the Broncos’ 52-20 scorched-earth win over the Philadelphia Eagles and that there was a span of roughly 12 minutes in the first half Sunday when Manning was on the sideline as the Broncos' defense was on the field because of Holliday’s 105-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

So, that’s just under three quarters’ worth of football off the table, meaning that Manning has essentially thrown 16 touchdown passes in 13 quarters. Yes, 16 touchdowns in just over 13 quarters, and you don’t need a slide rule to know that’s in the area between ridiculous and historic.

And if linebacker Danny Trevathan had not tossed the ball aside too quickly on a touchdown that was negated in the season opener because of the ill-advised celebration after an interception return, the Broncos would be the highest-scoring team over the first four games in NFL history.

Asked if he ever had a stretch like Manning is having now, Broncos executive vice president of football operations John Elway, a pretty fair passer in his day, said, "No, because no one has."

Even John Fox, a noted practitioner of the various ways to say "stay in your lane" or "one game at a time," is having a difficult time keeping a lid on how things are going at quarterback. Given yet another chance to drop the word "greatest" or "best" into a sentence about the Broncos’ 4-0 start, Fox said:

“We’re a quarter into it, I’m one of those guys who would probably be understated and overproduce. We’re not anywhere near done with our body of work, we’re only a quarter of the way into it. I’m pleased with where we are, truth be told you can’t be any better than 4-0 after four games, so we’ll try to continue to prepare and do the things necessary to get ready for each week, including Dallas this week."

Then asked if he could understate what Manning has done with the offense so far, Fox simply smiled.

"Again, I’ve said he’s a tremendous quarterback, I don’t think anyone would dispute that," Fox said. "I can state the obvious, but I think everybody here knows that."

And everybody knows the rest after four games. The Broncos have now defeated two read-option teams, the defending Super Bowl champ and a coach who once beat the highest-scoring offense in league history in the Super Bowl. The Broncos have gone fast and they've slowed it down. Their defense has had some lapses in blowout wins, but it grinds teams on third downs -- the Eagles had one three-and-out in three games coming in, but had two Sunday -- and gets to opposing quarterbacks stuck working in Manning’s vapor trail.

And special teams? In four games, the Broncos have scored touchdowns on a punt return, a kickoff return and a blocked punt. You give this team special-teams touchdowns and you’re begging for a spot on the highlight reel.

"We gave up a lot of points and couldn’t stop them," Eagles linebacker Connor Barwin said. "I know [Manning] gets hot and gets going, he got hot on us [Sunday], but like I said earlier in the week, you have to get stops and create turnovers. We didn’t do that."

Misery does love company, as the Raiders didn’t do it, the Giants didn’t do it and the Ravens didn’t do it either. At some point it bears pointing out that those four teams are currently a tidy 4-12. And some will say nobody has dug in yet against the Broncos and forced them to play a roll-up-your-sleeves game with punts flying back and forth and field position at a premium.

Some wonder, almost out of habit or at least with memories of the Broncos’ meltdown on a frigid day last January dancing in their heads, if the Broncos can muscle up to win one on defense and with the run game if needed.

So sure, some question marks remain, with plenty of time -- 12 regular-season games and whatever the postseason becomes -- for those questions to arrive.

"And we know we haven’t done anything yet but get a good start, but I said it before and I’ll say it again right now," Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey said. "You do what this team has done, you score 37 points in one and over 40 in the other ones, you get to the quarterback, stop people on third down the way we’ve done so far, that’s pretty damn good."

That it is.

DENVER -- Looking as relaxed as a guy can look when he’s the defensive coordinator of a team that has yet to have two of its best players in its lineup in four games this season, Jack Del Rio said he was aware Sunday about the speculation about his potential interest in the newly opened USC head coaching job.

But he just doesn't have much to offer right now.

“There isn’t anything to say. It’s all speculation at this point, I’ve got a job to do here, my focus is right there.’’

With that, Del Rio was out a side door of the Denver Broncos' locker room after Sunday’s 52-20 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles at Sports Authority Field at Mile High

Del Rio’s name was linked almost immediately following Lane Kiffin’s firing at USC Sunday, given Del Rio’s head coaching experience and the fact he played at USC in college. ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported Sunday morning that Del Rio will be a top candidate for the USC job. The school fired Kiffin shortly after the team returned from a 62-41 loss at Arizona State.

However, several team sources say USC officials will have to be willing to wait to give Del Rio the job. Del Rio’s contract, signed before the 2012 season, is up following the season, but Del Rio couldn’t leave for a new job until the Broncos are done playing, and that includes any postseason games.

So even if Del Rio were to accept a position with a college program, that program would have to wait until early February for him to arrive on campus if the Broncos advance to the Super Bowl. Some in the league who have known Del Rio for an extended period of time say the former Jacksonville Jaguars coach might want to see what NFL head coaching opportunities are there at the end of the season as well.

The first opportunity for NFL teams to interview head coaching candidates from Super Bowl teams is in the week following the conference championship games.

Asked following Sunday’s game about Del Rio’s potential interest in the USC position, Broncos coach John Fox said; “Jack’s committed to the Denver Broncos. I know all of his focus is on coordinating the defense and helping us win moving forward, so I can’t really speak to that, because I’m kind of a social moron this time of year.’’

Asked if he would allow Del Rio to interview with a college team that was interested during the season, Fox said; “Um, again I can’t speak in hypotheticals, we’ll just trot down the road as we go, one day at a time.’’

Del Rio is in his second season as the Broncos defensive coordinator after a nine-year run as the Jacksonville Jaguars' head coach. Now in his second season in his job with the Broncos, he is a rare assistant in that position. When he was hired by Fox before the 2012 season, Del Rio became the team’s seventh defensive coordinator in seven seasons.

But the Broncos finished second in total defense last season to go with fourth in scoring defense. This season, with the Broncos’ historically high-scoring offense having helped the Broncos put together four routs, the defense is tied for 22^nd in scoring defense and 26^th in yards allowed. The Broncos have also played all four of their games without 12-time Pro Bowl selection Champ Bailey and linebacker Von Miller in the lineup. Bailey has been out with a left foot injury, and Miller is suspended for the season’s first six games for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy.

DENVER -- Observed in the locker room after the Denver Broncos' 52-20 win against the Philadelphia Eagles:

Catch their breath: Because of Trindon Holliday's 105-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, the Broncos' defense actually found themselves on the field for 25 consecutive plays from scrimmage against the Eagles' fast-break offense, and the Eagles came away with just two field goals on the two drives. It was a section of the game that might have turned the tide. “Our guys went through a tough stretch there and answered the bell,’’ Broncos coach John Fox said.

Regular week: The Broncos opened the season on a Thursday night, then faced the Eagles just six days after a Monday night win over Oakland. This week will be the first “normal’’ game week of the season. “And I think that could be a good thing to get settled in some,’’ cornerback Champ Bailey said.

Williams a no-go: For the first time this season, Broncos’ first-round pick Sylvester Williams was a game-day inactive on Sunday. Williams had played just eight snaps on defense against the Raiders on Monday night. But Fox said the decision was "no offense,'' that the team wanted more defensive backs in the lineup against the Eagles' three-wide look and kept 10 active for the game.

Close not enough: Cornerback Champ Bailey (left foot) was inactive for the fourth time this season -- the first time he’s missed four consecutive games since the ’08 season. Bailey continues to say he’s close. He said Sunday the team’s winning ways have made it slightly, just slightly, easier to take. “When I’m ready to play, I’ll play. Winning makes everything easier. I’m still really focused on what’s good for my body, but yeah through the process I’m glad we’re winning.’’

DENVER -- With the head-coaching job now open at his alma mater, Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio is expected to quickly emerge as a leading candidate to replace Lane Kiffin at USC.

But according to multiple team sources, even if Del Rio was to interview and/or accept a new position, with USC or elsewhere, he won’t leave his current job with the 3-0 Broncos until the season’s end, even if it were to conclude with a Super Bowl trip. ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter reported Sunday morning Del Rio will be a top candidate for the job at USC, which fired Kiffin shortly after the team returned from a 62-41 loss at Arizona State on Saturday night.

The Trojans will have an interim coach finish out the season (ESPN’s Joe Schad reported Sunday that USC assistant head coach Ed Orgeron will coach the Trojans the rest of this season).

Del Rio is in his second season as the Broncos' defensive coordinator after a nine-year run as the Jacksonville Jaguars' head coach. When he was hired by John Fox before the 2012 season, Del Rio became the team’s seventh defensive coordinator in seven seasons.

Some long-time coaching associates believe that while Del Rio would certainly be intrigued by the USC job, it might not be his only option -- especially if the Broncos continue their winning ways and go deep into the postseason. Del Rio may want to see what NFL opportunities exist at season's end before he makes any decision about his future. If the Broncos were to advance to the Super Bowl, Del Rio couldn't interview with an NFL team until a weeklong window following the conference championship games.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- With the fast-paced Philadelphia Eagles on deck, the Denver Broncos got a little healthier in the secondary as the week wore on and are still hoping to add Champ Bailey to that mix before Sunday's kickoff.

Safety Duke Ihenacho (right ankle) practiced for the first time this week on Friday. He was limited in the workout and is officially listed as questionable for Sunday’s game, but is expected to be ready to play if he has no additional issues in the coming days.

Cornerback Tony Carter (right ankle) practiced fully Friday and was listed as probable. As for Bailey (left foot), he practiced on a limited basis for the second consecutive week. And as the Broncos did last week, they formally listed Bailey as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Eagles.

Asked if he could make a decision on Bailey’s status after Friday’s practice or would have to see Bailey work on the field in the hours before Sunday’s game, Broncos coach John Fox said: “We’ll make it official an hour and half before kickoff on gameday." Bailey characterized his status as "close, very close.''

Linebacker Paris Lenon (thigh) was the only player held out of practice Friday and was formally listed as doubtful. Lenon is not expected to play against the Eagles. Tight end Joel Dreessen (knee), who like Bailey has yet to play in a game this season, was limited Friday and listed as questionable.

Safety David Bruton (neck), wide receiver Demaryius Thomas (left ankle), long snapper Aaron Brewer (rib), running back C.J. Anderson (knee), cornerback Omar Bolden (left shoulder), wide receiver Wes Welker (left ankle), wide receiver Eric Decker (right shoulder), tackle Orlando Franklin (shoulder), guard Chris Kuper (ankle) all practiced fully and were all listed as probable.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- When Eagles quarterback Michael Vick has dropped back to pass over this season’s first three weeks, the guy he’s looked to throw to most often is wide receiver DeSean Jackson.

Jackson has been targeted on 37 percent of Vick’s passing attempts and his 19 receptions account for 34.4 percent of Vick’s completions. And when a defense elects to simply match a cornerback on a wide receiver no matter where that wide receiver lines up, two of the main criteria for the decision is to first have a player who can do it and if the move could potentially take a big enough piece of the offensive game plan away.

So, given how things have gone thus far in the Broncos' defense, the time looks right for the Broncos to match cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie on his former teammate Sunday. When the Broncos signed Rodgers-Cromartie in the offseason they said he had the talent to be a No. 1 cornerback and that they would coach him hard to get him to reach that level.

In short, they said they could lift him back to his Pro Bowl level of 2009 and perhaps beyond if he would listen and do the work.

“I think he understood that, I think he was open to that," Broncos coach John Fox said. “He wants to be great. It takes a certain mindset and work ethic and study habits to be that guy."

The Ravens threw at Rodgers-Cromartie just once in the season opener as he locked down Jacoby Jones, until Jones left that game with an injury.

For his part, Jackson not only has top-tier speed, but with his experiences as a top-shelf returner in the kicking game, he also runs well in traffic once he has the ball. Rodgers-Cromartie has a reach advantage over the 5-foot-10 Jackson and has enough athleticism to run with Jackson as well in the open field.

The Broncos will often match a cornerback on a receiver -- usually when Champ Bailey is healthy -- and given Vick’s leanings toward Jackson in the pass pattern, they could feel that’s the move to make in this one.

“[Jackson] hit me up on the phone and was just like ‘you know it’s me and you this weekend, we’re going to go at it’," Rodgers-Cromartie said. “But that’s just a challenge I’m looking forward to."

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- With the Philadelphia Eagles' fast-break attack on the docket for Sunday, the Denver Broncos found themselves a little short-handed in the secondary in Wednesday’s practice.

Cornerback Tony Carter (right ankle) and safety Duke Ihenacho (right ankle) were both held out of the workout. Carter left Monday night’s win over the Raiders in the first half and did not return. His was the most serious injury the Broncos had in the game and he remains a question mark for Sunday’s affair. Ihenacho was originally injured in the Broncos’ win over the Giants and then tweaked the injury against the Raiders. Linebacker Paris Lenon (thigh) was also held out of Wednesday's practice.

Broncos coach John Fox had classified the injuries Tuesday as "nothing serious.''

Cornerback Champ Bailey (left foot), who has missed the Broncos’ first three games, was limited Wednesday. Bailey looked fluid in his movements in the open period of practice.

“He practiced all last week … and felt good, no setbacks,’’ Fox said. “And now we’re in the first day of a fresh week … when you don’t play football for a minute, it takes a little bit to get back in football shape and that’s kind of where we are now.’’

Tight end Joel Dreessen (knee) was also limited. Safety David Bruton (neck), wide receiver Demaryius Thomas (left ankle), long snapper Aaron Brewer (rib), running back C.J. Anderson (knee), cornerback Omar Bolden (left shoulder), wide receiver Wes Welker (left ankle), wide receiver Eric Decker (right shoulder), guard Chris Kuper (ankle) all practiced fully.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- A somewhat salty John Fox made more than one reference Tuesday to the fact the Philadelphia Eagles haven’t played since a Thursday night loss to the Kansas City Chiefs last week and the Denver Broncos' win over the Oakland Raiders Monday was only hours into the rear-view mirror.

And while Chip Kelly’s offense will present a game-planning challenge in that compressed time frame, Fox has more than a little experience against Eagles quarterback Michael Vick through the years. Vick was the starter in Atlanta during much of Fox’s nine-year tenure as Carolina Panthers coach. Vick started nine games against the Panthers in that time, going 6-3 with six touchdown passes and eight interceptions. Vick also rushed for three touchdowns in those games.

Fox sees Kelly’s up-tempo read-option attack as a quality fit for the 33-year-old Vick.

“In Atlanta he was kind of a run, play-action quarterback as well," Fox said. “The advent of the read-option in college football, and now coming into our league, it fits him perfect. ... He’s explosive, he’s got to have as many explosive runs as any quarterback in the league ... he’s operating that offense well."

Well enough that, despite being 1-2, the Eagles haven’t exactly been pushed off the field quickly by opposing defenses very often this season.

In 38 possessions over the first three games, the Eagles have had just one three-and-out before a punt (in the second quarter of their loss to the Chargers).

Sunday’s game will also mark the second consecutive week the Broncos will face the league’s rushing leader. Oakland led the league in rushing after two games; the Raiders finished with 49 yards on 17 carries Monday night against the Broncos' defense (2.9 yards per carry). The Eagles lead the league in rushing after three games at 209 yards per game. The Eagles are also fifth in the league in rushing attempts at 31.7 per game.

One of the most significant issues for the Broncos will come when the Eagles open up the formation and the Broncos have to defend the run game with smaller personnel from their nickel and dime packages.

“[The Eagles] are fast-break and they’ve got explosive players doing it,’’ Fox said.

• Fox said Tuesday that he had not gone through the win over the Raiders, but was devoting his time to preparing for the Broncos’ first look at Kelly's offense. He didn’t need a review to reaffirm his confidence in Ryan Clady’s replacement at left tackle, Chris Clark. The Broncos made little concession in their play calling for Clark’s presence in the game. The Broncos opened the game in their base three-wide receiver set and scored on a 10-play drive with all 10 plays run with three wide receivers on the field. “We have great confidence in Chris,’’ Fox said. “ … As I mentioned last week his teammates and coaching staff have a lot of confidence in him.’’ Fox said Clark did surrender the sack from the Raiders' Jason Hunter that resulted in a Peyton Manning fumble. Following the game Manning said: "I thought Chris did a good job from a communication standpoint ... he was on top of it. No miscommunications or having to call a timeout because he didn't know what to do. He was very sharp that way.''

• The Broncos' players had Tuesday off and when they reconvene Wednesday, the coaches will move on to the Eagles quickly. Fox said the players would be shown a “short little correction reel’’ of the mistakes from the win over the Raiders, but that the majority of the work would be focused on the Eagles.

• Fox on the team’s performance in a 3-0 start; “Good start, that’s all it is.’’

• Fox characterized the left thigh injury to linebacker Paris Lenon and the right ankle injury to safety Duke Ihenacho as “nothing serious.’’ Ihenacho originally suffered his injury against the Giants and was limited some in practice last week. He played 25 snaps on defense against Raiders before the Broncos pulled him from the game. Lenon played one snap on defense on the last play of the first quarter when the Raiders lined up with six offensive linemen in the formation. Lenon also played 10 plays on special teams before his injury.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Preseason predictions are often a dicey affair, both for those who make them and, sometimes, for those who believe them.

The prevailing wisdom, as it were, throughout the summer was the AFC West schedule would provide little challenge to the Broncos’ course of business this season. And while the tale has certainly not been told either way in the early going, Andy Reid’s Chiefs have launched themselves from the gate with a 3-0 start, having surrendered just 34 points in those three games.

The Raiders and Chargers are each 1-1, having shown far more grit than some expected as they continue through their re-building projects. So, that is how the table is set for the Broncos as they open their division schedule Monday night against the Raiders in Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

“Our guys understand the magnitude of division games,’’ said Broncos coach John Fox. “I think our goal every year -- I’m sure, like the rest of the teams in our division -- is to win the division. Obviously, your division record is conducive to getting in the playoffs -- winning your division. It’s a huge game and it’s our first of the year.’’

So in that light, here are some things to consider about tonight’s affair:

• McFadden has it McGoing. The Raiders essentially re-tooled their run game -- and fired former offensive coordinator Greg Knapp (now happily the Broncos quarterbacks coach) -- because Darren McFadden couldn’t find a fit in Knapp’s playbook. So, the playbook was sent packing. The Raiders are more man-on-man blocking in the run game in what is now a read-option offense much of the time. Some defensive coordinators would call it a “downhill’’ attack, meaning they like to often pull linemen inside, run between the guards and pound away. They’ve done it well enough in two games to have averaged 198.5 yards rushing per game and McFadden has 177 rushing yards. The Raiders repeatedly pounded the ball, often pulling left tackle Khalif Barnes into the hole, at Jaguars middle linebacker Paul Posluszny. They run out of a two-back set plenty and the Broncos figure to spend more time in their base defense than they did in the first two games. During the preseason, both the 49ers and Seahawks had some success pounding away at the Broncos' base defense, which is some of the reason Wesley Woodyard was moved into the middle linebacker spot. Woodyard will need a no-nonsense, get-it-done night in this one. McFadden has always been feast or famine against the Broncos. The Broncos have held McFadden to fewer than 50 yards rushing in four career meetings, but overall in his nine career games against Denver, McFadden has rushed for 723 yards, at 5.8 yards per carry, to go with five touchdowns.
• Be disciplined on D. When the Broncos dropped the read-option on the league in 2011 with Tim Tebow at quarterback, at least part of the success was the NFL mindset overall on defense. That getting up the field was Job 1, that disruptive edge rushers both get paid and pay the bills. And those running the read-option love edge players who want to only get up the field, gap control be damned. And when the Broncos ran the read-option down the stretch that year, it took several weeks for defenses to adjust and the point totals started to go down for the Broncos. It all means defensive ends Robert Ayers, Derek Wolfe and Shaun Phillips (he’s questionable after missing Saturday’s practice with back spasms), have to follow a John Wooden maxim -- play fast, but don’t be in a hurry. The Broncos have seen what it looks like -- all the way to a division title and a playoff win in ’11 -- when defenses don’t handle their business against the read-option. They also know what it looks like when defenses do.
• Tricks and treats. When McFadden was at the University of Arkansas, the Razorbacks coaching staff often let him line up as the quarterback in the shotgun -- the Wildcat look -- to take the direct snap and do his thing. The Raiders, in their new offensive scheme, have flashed that as well. It’s another test of assignment discipline because McFadden threw seven touchdown passes in his career at Arkansas and has the ability to put the ball on target.
• Twenty-somethings. The Raiders have nine sacks this season with five of them coming from defensive backs. Coach Dennis Allen and defensive coordinator Jason Tarver add players from the secondary liberally to the rush. There were several defensive snaps against the Jaguars when the Raiders had four- and five-man rush schemes and two of the players headed to the quarterback were defensive backs. Certainly there is a risk-reward in all of that. The reward, for a defense, is it’s often hard to track rushers coming from that far off the ball and offensive linemen will make mistakes at times. So, often a defensive back with some up-field skill will get a clean run at a quarterback. The risk is a defense suddenly has players in the passing lane who are not really pass defenders. They are more deterrents, told to get into a specific spot to force a quarterback trained to move through progression to look elsewhere when he sees the wrong color jerseys in front of him. But for an accurate quarterback who can fit the ball into coverage, it can open up big-play possibilities. The Broncos certainly have that kind of quarterback in Peyton Manning, who routinely digests blitz packages like breath mints, especially pressure off the edge which opposing defensive coordinators say he sees better than most in his pre-snap reads. It will be intriguing to see how aggressive the Raiders are, but they may have no choice. If Allen and Tarver feel it’s going to be difficult for the team's re-made secondary to hold up in coverage against Manning they may feel they have no choice other than to go after the future Hall of Famer.
• Perhaps bigger? The Broncos have sported a three-wide receiver, two-tight end set at times in Fox’s tenure with the team. And while that essentially tells the defense a pass is coming, the Broncos have been effective using it in the past to widen the formation a bit and push the edge rushers out, forcing them to cover a little more ground to get to the quarterback. With Joel Dreessen close to coming back -- he is the Broncos' best combination of receiver/blocker at the position and is listed as questionable for this game -- the Broncos could be inclined to break it out again against the aggressive Raiders. It would be a departure of the plan so far, given the Broncos have lined up in three-wide, with one tight end and one running back, on 72.3 percent of their offensive snaps in their two games. However, in both the season opener and last Sunday against the Giants, the Broncos snapped their offense back on track by going to a traditional two-tight end look for a selection of snaps.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- When Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning looks over the Raiders' defense Monday night, he will be looking at a group that has gotten the bulk of its sacks from guys wearing jerseys with numbers in the 20s on the front.

The Raiders have nine sacks this season, and the team’s defensive backs have five. When the Broncos go to the three-wide look, which they most often do when they have the ball, it will put the Broncos' running backs on the spot in pass protection. That's especially true when the Raiders add a player or two to the rush from off the line of scrimmage.

The Broncos backs have worked plenty this week on different scenarios to know who to pick up when those defensive backs arrive in the rush after the initial surge following the snap.

“They do a good job of freeing guys up,’’ said Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase. “ … We just better be on whatever blockings assignments we have. If one guy’s on the wrong page, we’ve got an issue.’’

It also won’t be a matter of simply sliding the protection to the rusher doing to the most damage, either. The Raiders have nine sacks distributed among seven players. Defensive end Jason Hunter has two to lead the way, and cornerback Tracy Porter (both are former Broncos) has 1.5.

“When you have multiple DBs on the field, you have multiple DBs rushing,’’ said Broncos coach John Fox. “ … They do do a lot of that.’’

Manning was not sacked last weekend against the Giants after being sacked three times in the season opener against the Ravens.

• Broncos guard Chris Kuper practiced fully for the second consecutive day Friday. The eighth-year veteran has spent roughly a year and a half battling back from a dislocated ankle he suffered in the 2011 regular-season finale, as well as the multiple surgeries and infection that followed. Kuper has been a gameday inactive in the Broncos' first two games this season, but Fox said following Friday’s practice that Kuper continues to close in on being game-ready. “He’s doing well, he’s getting better every day … when he stops having soreness and is able to put a whole week together, he could even be in the mix this week,’’ Fox said. Given Kuper’s versatility -- he worked sparingly at center in training camp and the Broncos consider him a stop-gap option there, he will almost certainly be in the mix at tackle as well moving forward. With left tackle Ryan Clady on injured reserve, the Broncos will have to address depth issues at the position. After current starter Chris Clark, they do not have a player who has predominantly been a left tackle in the NFL on the depth chart. Winston Justice, signed Wednesday, has been a right tackle for most of this career. Zane Beadles was a left tackle at Utah in his college career and played some tackle early in his career with the Broncos before being moved inside to guard. Fox has said repeatedly he wants to work guards like Beadles and Kuper at tackle from time to time, so they could play there at game speed if needed.

• Broncos’ guard Louis Vasquez has been one of the least penalized players in the league in his career -- he was not flagged for a penalty in either of the 2011 or 2012 seasons with the Chargers. But he was flagged for a false start in the opener against the Ravens. He did not have one of the 13 penalties the Broncos were assessed against the Giants this past Sunday. The Broncos had eight of those penalties against New York called on defensive backs, several of which the Broncos challenged with the league’s officiating department this week in their weekly review. Before the opener, Vasquez’ last penalty had been a false-start penalty on a field-goal attempt Oct. 24, 2010, against the Patriots. The only other time Vasquez had been flagged in his career was for holding in Week 6 of his rookie season (2009), but the penalty was declined.

• Safety Rahim Moore, who was flagged for unnecessary roughness for a sideline hit on Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks this past Sunday, was not fined for the play. Many of the Broncos players, because Moore had made first contact with Nicks with his shoulder, didn’t believe the play even warranted a penalty.

• Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio on whether or not a running quarterback like the Raiders' Terrelle Pryor keeps him up at night more than a traditional drop-back passer; “I don’t like giving quarterbacks too much credit, but they all keep us up.’’

• Raiders guard Lucas Nix was limited in the team’s practice Friday because of an ankle injury. If Nix cannot play Monday night, former University of Colorado offensive lineman Andre Gurode figures to get the start at left guard.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- If you really want to feel what the Denver Broncos-Oakland Raiders rivalry should be, what many of those who fill the seats in each city in each football weekend expect it to be, you’re going to need a few things.

Like …

Gray hair.

A good memory, as in a really, really good memory. You know, almost Mensa.

VHS.

Oh, and quarterbacks. Game-changing, rivalry-stoking quarterbacks.

As the Broncos and Raiders prepare to open up AFC West play for each on Monday night, these two ships will again pass in the night. The Broncos, with Peyton Manning at quarterback, consider themselves a Super Bowl contender, complete with plenty of eight-figure contracts and a parcel of off-the-field drama in tow.

The Raiders are in Year 2 of not just a re-build job, but they have largely scrapped the lot and elected to start from the ground up. With that the team's decision-makers, including general manager Reggie McKenzie and coach (and former Broncos defensive coordinator) Dennis Allen, have handed the offensive keys, at least for the moment, to quarterback Terrelle Pryor, their latest hope behind center.

The bottom line is it’s been quite some time since this long-standing, annual battle between two of the AFL’s original eight, has been a give-as-good-as-you-get rivalry. Even with all of the road the two have traveled together, the fact is they have rarely been good together, facing off at the peak of their powers.

One of the two has most often been up, flexing potential postseason muscle, and the other has basically been the welcome mat. There have been just five seasons when both the Raiders and Broncos made the playoffs in the same year. And since the start of the 1992 season, they have both made the playoffs in the same year just once -- in 2000 when the Raiders won the division at 12-4 and the Broncos were a wild card at 11-5. That’s a long way from the zenith, the 1977 season when the two didn’t just meet in the playoffs, they met in the AFC Championship with a Super Bowl trip at stake.

Or as Broncos Ring of Famer Randy Gradishar put it; “Now that’s what a rivalry looks like. If people ever want to know what it looks like, what it feels like, that was it right there."

Since, however, there’s also the Shanahan effect. When Mike Shanahan was hired by the Broncos, it was his second stint as an NFL head coach since his first stint had ended rather unceremoniously in Oakland four games into the 1989 season. Shanahan and the late Al Davis also had a long, well-chronicled tiff over some bonus money after the firing, adding some emotional hot sauce. So, needless to say, Shanahan liked beating Davis’ team and made it an organizational priority. And Shanahan did it a lot, going 21-7 against the Raiders in his time with the Broncos.

Current coach John Fox is 3-1 against the Raiders in his two previous seasons on the Front Range. The only time since Shanahan’s first season in Denver the Raiders have had an upper hand against the guy wearing the big headset for the Broncos was during Josh McDaniels’ just-under-two-year tenure when the Raiders were 3-1 against the Broncos.

But like most things in the league these days, success and failure over the long haul can often be traced back to what happened at quarterback, how the draft went and just how many ill-conceived contracts were handed out to free agents who didn’t perform.

While the Broncos have certainly had their draft/checkbook stumbles over the past two decades, they have had fewer than the Raiders. Even as the quarterback search in the post-Elway era has had some ups and downs in Denver -- seven different quarterbacks have started against the Raiders for the Broncos since Elway retired following the 1998 season -- it has gone far better than the mistake-filled search behind center for the Raiders.

Brian Griese, Jay Cutler and Peyton Manning have been named Pro Bowl quarterbacks for Denver in the post-Elway era while Gus Frerotte, Tim Tebow, Jake Plummer and Manning each started postseason games for the Broncos over the past 15 years. By contrast the Raiders have started 13 different quarterbacks against the Broncos since the start of Shanahan’s first season in Denver. And Rich Gannon is the only Raiders quarterback to have started at least five consecutive meetings with the Broncos over that span.

Sure, Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey will often say "we don't like them and they don't like us," when the division games come rolling by, but Broncos-Raiders is really a remember-when rivalry right now, something maintained and nurtured because folks feel it’s the right thing to do along the way. The bones are there, though, just waiting for both teams to cooperate and make it what all involved always seem to hope it will be.

A weekly examination of the Broncos’ ESPN.com Power Ranking:

Preseason: 3 | Last week: 3 | ESPN.com Power Ranking since 2002

They didn’t have a 100-yard rusher a receiver in this past weekend’s 41-23 victory over the Giants, and they ran exactly one offensive play that covered more than 25 yards in the game. Yet the Broncos still flexed more than enough of their all-around muscle to win by 18 points and move up a spot in the ESPN.com Power Rankings this week.

On the heels of becoming just the seventh team in the Super Bowl era to have scored at least 40 points in each of the first two games of the season, the Broncos moved from No. 3 to No. 2 this week, with only the Seattle Seahawks above them. The offense gets the kudos, but the Broncos also got a special-teams touchdown from Trindon Holliday against the Giants, and they intercepted Eli Manning four times without Champ Bailey or Von Miller anywhere in the defensive formation.

That's why when coach John Fox was asked about his level of happiness about the team’s start, he listed several things he wanted to improve (pass protection, run game, limiting penalties, etc.) before adding, “I’m not sure you can be better than 2-0 right now."

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- It seems no matter how many plays the Denver Broncos have run on offense as they have jumped in and out of warp speed over their first two games, there is still only one football to go around.

A fact certainly not lost on the team’s running backs these days.

The Broncos ran the ball 29 times against the Giants, 13 by starter Knowshon Moreno, 12 for Montee Ball, one for Ronnie Hillman, and three kneel-downs for quarterback Peyton Manning. Moreno, the only back averaging more than four yards per carry and the preferred option in the three-wide receiver set, figures to keep leading the carry totals in the foreseeable future.

While Broncos coach John Fox keeps getting asked about Ball carrying the ball more, he said Ball and Hillman are in a rotation that will continue to be just that. Asked Monday if Ball’s first-quarter fumble limited his carries or if Hillman’s carries were limited for any specific reason, Fox said:

“No, it’s just hard to get three people in there … You just kind of go with how you prepared guys through the week, and some guys get more reps than others.’’

What it means is Moreno will remain at the top of the depth chart, with his 5.5 yards per carry average, with Ball and Hillman sorting out what’s left over.

• When Fox addresses the team this week, one of the topics certain to be on the docket will be penalties. The Broncos were penalized 13 times for 132 yards in Sunday’s win against the Giants, totals usually associated with a far different outcome by those with designs on the postseason. The 13 penalties tied for the third-highest single-game total in franchise history (the Broncos have hit 13 in four previous games, the last time in 1995). The eight penalties on the team’s defensive backs were also double-take worthy for Fox, a defensive backs coach early in his NFL career. “We’ve got to coach it better, we’ve got to do it better, execute better,’’ Fox said. “ … I’m sure when we get things started back (this week) that will be an emphasis … We’ll try to clean it up.’’ With 23 penalties enforced in their first two games the Broncos are tied with Philadelphia for being the third-most penalized team in the league. Tampa Bay leads the way with 26 penalties and San Francisco has 25. The only other teams with at least 20 penalties after two games are: Buffalo (21), Seattle (21), Detroit (20) and Washington (20).

• The Oakland Raiders will likely come to Denver leading the league in two categories that have been important to the Broncos during Fox’s tenure. Oakland is tied for the league lead in sacks with nine (Tampa, Miami and Kansas City also have nine) and the Raiders also lead the league in rushing, by a wide margin, at 198.5 yards a game with Terrelle Pryor at quarterback. The Raiders were 28^th in the league in rushing last season, but Pryor has certainly changed the offensive dynamic. The Broncos will have to defend the run out of some of their specialty packages (the nickel and dime), which has been an issue at times in recent seasons.

• The Broncos love it when return man Trindon Holliday dials up that world-class speed to change a game with a touchdown return, so they do live with the occasional bobbles or the high-risk choices he makes to try to make a play. Sunday, Holliday dropped the opening kickoff before he scooped the ball up to scamper out to the Broncos’ 21-yard line. But in the fourth quarter, with the Broncos having built a 31-16 lead, Holliday flashed the other side of the coin when he took a punt back 81 yards for a score, putting the game out of reach. “(The kickoff) was a knuckler, it was breezy there, it was a tough ball to handle,’’ Fox said. “ … It was a bad hop so to speak, it was a tough ball to handle, it wasn’t catastrophic. He recovered it and did the next best thing, and then responded later in the game.’’ The only concession the Broncos have made to Holliday’s roller-coaster work at times is to have wide receiver Wes Welker field punts deep in Denver’s territory in games. However, Welker muffed a punt in the opener that the Baltimore Ravens recovered at the Denver 1-yard line. Last year the Broncos used safety Jim Leonhard as the designated returner at times.

• Fox on whether he gave any thought to the chances of going back to MetLife Stadium in February with a Super Bowl team; “I think everybody in the league knows that’s where the Super Bowl is, I think it passes your mind, it’s a goal for everybody to end up there.’’