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I mean, yes the Denver Broncos defense was really good Sunday. Really, really good. Joe Flacco going 117 yards, 0 touchdowns, two interceptions good.
But Peter King putting the Denver Broncos number 1 in his first Power Rankings following Week 1 of the 2015 NFL season? I didn't see this coming.
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The rest of the NFL media doesn't believe in the Broncos. Vegas doesn't believe in the Broncos. Hell, even faithless traitor and obviously-closet-Raiders-fan Tim Lynch doesn't believe in the Broncos, putting them No. 3 in MHR's Power Rankings. But Sports Illustrated's Peter King, who has never believed in the Broncos (note: not sure if this is true, but an MHR staffer said it in our internal chat room, so it's definitely true), suddenly is a big believer.
Writes King:
I thought by process of elimination that I'd have the Super Bowl champion Patriots at number one, because there truly wasn't a premier team through the seven early games on Sunday. New England played well enough in the opener—despite allowing 464 yards to the Steelers—to stake its claim to be king of the hill, but the Denver defense was just too good, the best by far in the league through one week. And so the go-get-'em scheme of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips, along with a few very talented pass-rushers, catapults Denver to the top.
So Denver's defense - even with a struggling Peyton Manning - carries the Broncos to the top of the NFL landscape in King's eyes. King doesn't mention that if Peyton and the Broncos offense get their act together, this team could be elite on both sides of the field. But we will. Figure this offense out, Peyton, and let's go win a Super Bowl.
(A real one. Not the fake Super Bowls you win for being No. 1 in Peter King's Power Rankings in September).