Five teams remain undefeated through the first three weeks of the 2016 NFL season, including the Denver Broncos, who have played arguably the toughest schedule among the unbeatens. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’ve had the toughest road, however.
Bryant McFadden of 120 Sports took to the task of ranking the undefeated teams, giving the Patriots the nod as the top team in the league because they’ve managed to win in the absence of Tom Brady with two different backup quarterbacks. McFadden ranks Minnesota and Denver, respectively, behind New England, saying there are still questions surrounding both teams at the quarterback position that put the Patriots “in a class by themselves.”
McFadden wants to see the Eagles and Ravens play tougher opponents before moving them into the same conversation with the Broncos and Vikings. As for Trevor Siemian, who had an outstanding game against the Bengals in Cincinnati on Sunday, McFadden says he wants to see Siemian maintain that level of play before putting the Broncos in the conversation with New England.
New England passed a big test on opening weekend when they traveled to Arizona and defeated the Cardinals 23-21 with backup Jimmy Garoppolo at the helm. Then, in Week 3, they defeated Houston – another playoff team – on short rest with third-string QB Jacoby Brissett, shutting out the Texans in New England.
Denver’s gauntlet has been just as tough from a scheduling standpoint, opening against the Panthers in a Super Bowl rematch, and then facing Andrew Luck and Andy Dalton in back-to-back weeks. The Broncos have managed to win games both on defense and offense, and with a ground attack and an air attack. A dominant performance against the Buccaneers in Tampa this week might be enough to move Denver into the conversation with New England who hosts 1-2 Buffalo in Week 4.
