It takes a special formula to win a Super Bowl.

Balls have to bounce a certain way, difficult decisions need to be made, and sometimes it boils down to plain luck.

The Broncos discovered that their team chemistry, especially on the defensive side of the ball, was a main component in the formula that led them to their Super Bowl 50 victory in 2015.

As with any Super Bowl champion, key components of the Super Bowl team were scavenged by other teams looking for a piece of the Super Bowl pie. When linebacker Danny Trevathan was plucked by the Chicago Bears, Todd Davis was tasked with filling the void Trevathan left in the Broncos’ linebacking corps.

While Davis had a fine first season as a starter, finishing with 97 tackles and a forced fumble, Brandon Marshall, who started alongside Trevathan at inside linebacker in Super Bowl 50, did admit that it was different not having Trevathan around.

“It’s very underrated,” Marshall said of the importance of adjusting to his new teammates. “When I was in there with Danny sometimes, we should have communicated when we didn’t. But it was almost like I knew what he was thinking and he knew what I was thinking.”

As the duo of Marshall and Davis enter their second season together, both know that the chemistry is there.

“I think we have it down,” Marshall said of his connection with Davis. “It’s just a different guy; that’s just what it is. You’re not going to play the same with everybody. I think what Todd and I have going on is great. We work hard, we do extra stuff. We talk ball on the sidelines. We’re going to be just fine.”

“Just playing together, I think we have a chemistry like nobody else,” Davis said following Thursday’s OTA practice. “We read off of each other really well. Just the last year has given us more time to grow with each other.”

The Broncos’ linebackers can hardly be considered one of their main problems in 2016, but another year together can only make them stronger. The transition from Trevathan to Davis wasn’t one that threw Marshall off of his game, but one that didn’t go unnoticed either.

“I’m thinking that no matter who is in there, I’ll be fine,” Marshall said after Thursday’s OTA practice. “But, I think it’s a transition period because you have different chemistry with different people. Me and Danny [Trevathan], I knew Danny for a little bit so the type of chemistry that we had, we developed it kind of quick. Todd [Davis] is just a different player mentally than Danny, so we had to get on the same page.”

The core of the Broncos defense will enter the 2017 season relatively unchanged, which will only help the bond between Marshall and Davis grow. While the bond may differ from the one that Marshall shared with Trevathan, Marshall knows that something special is brewing between the two.

“I think we’re going to play beautifully together this year,” Marshall said. “It’s going to be beautiful.”