Daily Links – The Middle Class Broncos

“(The Broncos are) 3-5. They’ve only played one game against a team currently with a losing record. They’ve beaten two division leaders this year. Bottom line? The Broncos have improved; they were in the league’s slums last year, but now are back in the middle class. It’s not where they want to be, but in the often-mentioned building process, it’s a good start through eight games, all things considered.” — MaxDenver.com

And it’s right about where we thought they be heading into the season, a middle-class, 8-8 record. The schedule isn’t quite as tough here on out; let’s see it if it’s possible. Onto the links.

• In addition to his three observations linked above, Andrew Mason breaks down the numbers from Sunday and talks about how the read option really stumped the Oakland Raiders defense and opened up things for Willis McGahee. [MaxDenver]
• The defense stepped up — particularly leaders Champ Bailey and Elvis Dumervil. [Denver Post]
• But it was the running game that delivered the win. Willis McGahee was a blast from the Broncos’ running past, and Woody Paige notes that a Broncos pass play wasn’t called for the last 21 minutes of the game.
• John Fox lamented his decision to take three points off the board at halftime, calling himself a knucklehead. Thank goodness we won, Coach, that’s all I’m going to say. [Denver Post]
• The loss has some in Oakland wondering if Carson Palmer is the answer, or if the Raiders flunked Defense 101. [Oakland Tribune]
• Rahim Moore was knocked out of the game on the first play with a concussion. No update as of yet today. [Yahoo! Sports]
• Mike Florio breaks down the wild/mild AFC West in his NFL 10-pack. [ProFootballTalk]
• Peyton Hillis‘ situation with the Browns reminds Michael Lombardi of his history with the Broncos. [NFL.com]