Denver Broncos Power Rankings: Week 2

Raindrops cling to the Denver Broncos outdoor presser backdrop after training camp practice in 2012. (BroncoTalk.net photo)

Denver Broncos power rankings from around the web. Already in the top half of nearly all rankings, Sunday’s 31-19 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers sees the Broncos jump into most rankings’ Top 10 — or higher. (Previous week’s ranking in parenthesis).

ESPN: 9th (13)
Was Peyton Manning really wearing a Broncos jersey? Looked like he could’ve been rocking the Colts’ horseshoe. Impressive.

SI/Peter King: 5th (N/A)
It’s not a dream. Peyton Manning really was that good, 129.2-rating good, in his first real game in 20 months. Really agree with Tony Dungy: The Broncos waited too long to use the no-huddle. Peyton Manning should live in the no-huddle.

SI/Don Banks: 8th (11)
I’m feeling quite a bit better about picking John Fox’s team to win the AFC West again after Week 1. The Denver Peytons looked like a pretty solid team top to bottom, while the Chiefs and Raiders have obvious weaknesses and the Chargers won largely due to Oakland’s long-snapping woes. I wonder if Tim Tebow wakes up some days and wonders if the whole 2011 late-season magic carpet ride was just a dream? The city of Denver clearly has a new crush.

FOX: 11th (16)
Peyton Manning is back, and back in a big way. He was accurate. He threw with zip. He executed the no-huddle to perfection in the second half. He will need to play that well, or better, next week against the Falcons to keep up with their high-octane offense. But there is no reason to believe that he can’t.

CBS: 9th (10)
Peyton Manning is the same Peyton Manning. This is a good team. Now comes a tough test: at Atlanta.

NFL.com: 8th (10)
Lost in the shuffle of the Manning hysteria was the outstanding play of the Denver secondary. Where was that last January in New England? Well, Tracy Porter wasn’t on the team then, and boy did he make his presence felt, with several nice plays not found on the stat sheet and a pick-six that was the biggest line item on that same stat sheet. If Denver can keep edge rushers Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller can stay healthy, this team could go far.

NFL.com Power Poll: 5th (13)

Walter Football: 10th (14)
Close call between the Broncos and Lions for the No. 10 spot, but Denver’s victory was much more impressive than Detroit’s.

National Football Post: 8th (14)
Maybe we had the Broncos ranked to low to start the season, but after watching Manning run that offense in Denver it was easy to bump them up.

USA Today Covers: 13th (12)
Power Ratings compute offensive and defensive statistics into one number for each team, while accounting for factors like recent performances and strength of schedule.

Oh, and NFL.com listed the Jets as the “Tebows” again… that’s fair.

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