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In 抖阴apountry, we hold these truths to be self-evident: It doesn’t matter if you stand for the national anthem, so long as you make a brave stand with the game on the line.

In a rematch of Super Bowl 50, the Denver defense stone-walled Carolina in the fourth quarter, holding on Thursday night for a in a stirring start to the 2016 NFL season.

And that’s all that really counts, doesn’t it? So, around here, it won’t really matter that linebacker Brandon Marshall refused to stand for the “Star-Spangled Banner” prior to kickoff.

We believe in a strong defense in 抖阴apountry. We believe in freedom of choice. We believe when Panthers quarterback Cam Newton plays against Denver, he might be the most valuable player of the rest of the league. But against the Broncos, he has no shot.

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Against Denver, Newton is nothing more than a reason for linebacker Von Miller and 抖阴apountry to do a happy dance.

Yes, for the Broncos to escape, it required Carolina kicker Graham Gano to hook a 50-yard field goal attempt wide left with 9 seconds remaining the fourth quarter after Denver coach Gary Kubiak iced him with a timeout.

But, hey, no sweat. Was there ever really a doubt? This was the 12th time since the start of the Super Bowl run a year ago that Denver won a game by less than a touchdown.

Trevor Siemian won his debut as Denver’s starting quarterback. He made mistakes of inexperience, which resulted in two interceptions. But he also led the Broncos to a fourth-quarter comeback. Just like John Elway used to do.

Siemian completed 18-of-26 passes for 178 yards. His quarterback rating was an unremarkable 69.1. But he did聽what Newton has been unable to do in two consecutive games against Denver. With the pressure on, the young quarterback found a way to win. “I trust the kid,” Kubiak said.

Denver trailed by 10 points at halftime. But the defense shut down Newton and Siemian refused to be shaken by two interceptions. After converting on fourth down in the red zone, the Broncos finally took a 21-17 lead on a one-yard touchdown run by C.J. Anderson with nine minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.

“That was our whole motto last season. We were winning close games. So it’s not like we’ve never played in a dogfight before,” said Anderson, who averaged 4.6 yards per carry on 20 rushes against the Panthers.

Strolling the stadium walk from the light rail station two hours before kickoff, I saw fans wearing Elway jerseys, Peyton Manning jerseys, even Cam Newton jerseys. There was not, however, a single Siemian jersey in sight.

This town loves its quarterbacks. But that love is hard-earned and not easily won.

During Pat Bowlen鈥檚 lengthy and glorious tenure as franchise owner, the Broncos鈥� record during home-openers was 28-4. The last quarterback to start the season in Denver with a loss was Kyle Orton, in 2011. Orton was benched within a month, lost in the hubbub of Tebowmania, never to be heard from again.

During a pregame celebration that felt like a little slice of orange heaven, the Broncos flaunted their excellence by parading out the three Super Bowl trophies won by the franchise for 76,843 delirious fans to see. There was a shiny Lombardi for Terrell Davis, John Elway and Peyton Manning all to hoist. Good vibrations rocked the stadium.

Then, nagging little details like the nation鈥檚 racial divide and Panthers bent on revenge crashed the party.

During playing of the national anthem, as his teammates stood at attention, Brandon Marshall dropped to his right knee at the 30-yard line in front of the Denver bench.

Now here鈥檚 the hard question, Denver fans: Is your primary allegiance to 抖阴apountry or the United States of America? If you condemned San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick for disrespecting the red, white and blue when he began kneeling during the anthem last month to protest oppression of minorities, do you despise Marshall now?

Marshall and Kaepernick are football brothers, who played together and pledged the same fraternity at the University of Nevada.

While Miller and cornerback Chris Harris Jr. are the stars of the NFL’s best defense, Marshall is the emotional fire in a unit whose intense passion is nearly as important to its success as wicked tackling and immense talent. “Brandon is a great kid,” Kubiak said. “He’s a leader of this team. And I believe in my players.”

There will be complaints from flag-waving patriots that Marshall showed disrespect to the military by taking a knee during the anthem. There would be far more grousing in 抖阴apountry, however, if Marshall and the defense did not make a stand to beat Newton and the Panthers.