The Broncos awoke Monday morning to what is an unfamiliar sight for most teams.
But at the moment, admittedly just three games into a long season that will no doubt have plenty of twists and turns remaining, they hold a rather rare double dip.
Not only do they lead the league in total defense, which in the NFL is measured in yards allowed per game, but they also lead the league in scoring defense having surrendered just 16 points in three games.
The highest the Broncos have ever finished a season in the league’s defensive rankings is third, in 1989, and they have finished fourth three times. Again, that’s yards allowed per game.
That is a little more progress than may have been anticipated from the struggles of the previous two seasons when the team surrendered at least 400 points in back-to-back seasons and finished 19th and 29th respectively in the defensive rankings in those two years.
The marquee quarterbacks are coming on the schedule, however, but for now it puts the Broncos in some pretty fast company. It also puts them in some company they’ll know pretty well before the year is out.
Philadelphia (ranked fifth in the defensive rankings), New England (sixth), Baltimore (seventh) and Pittsburgh (eighth) are all on the Broncos schedule.
Jeff Legwold: 303-954-2359 or jlegwold@denverpost.com
