At this time last week, in this space, it was suggested that New England offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was the leading candidate for the Broncos head coaching job. The point is still valid, only now it’s stronger.

Broncos chief operating officer Joe Ellis spent five and a half hours in Massachusetts on Thursday night, conducting a second interview with McDaniels in which he was said to be just as impressive as he was in his first meeting with a full contingent of Denver officials.

Now there is a growing concern in Foxboro, Mass., that the Patriots are on the verge of losing their offensive coordinator, the man who is in charge of the offense and helped elevate the play of quarterbacks Tom Brady and Matt Cassel.

Though Denver refuses to say anything, it clearly has McDaniels in its list of a select few finalists. The others are thought to be Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier and Buccaneers defensive coordinator Raheem Morris.

But Denver has been so busy this week that is is possible, even likely, that it will make its move as early as Monday and introduce the next coach of the Broncos early this week.

The Broncos also have made it clear that, even though their defense is in disrepair, they want to hire the best head coach, even if he doesn’t come from the defensive side of the football.