To the surprise of many, the reigning Super Bowl champion Denver Broncos are off to a 3-0 start and they haven’t done it by beating up on the bottom feeders of the league. Behind their elite defense and the play of new signal caller Trevor Siemian, Denver has defeated the Carolina Panthers, Indianapolis Colts and Cincinnati Bengals.

Despite losing Danny Trevathan and Malik Jackson, it comes as no surprise to see Denver’s defense still near the top of the league, but what is surprising is the play of Siemian.

Following the retirement of Peyton Manning, it was believed that Brock Osweiler would be the future hall of famers successor, but general manager John Elway refused to dig deep into his pockets as the Houston Texans did, which is looking like the right move thus far.

Hang on. Did John Elway really just @ this dude who questioned him a year and a half ago? Hahahaha pic.twitter.com/Q6ab2XO4C2

— Urban Turkey (@shanehall31) September 25, 2016

Siemian’s four touchdown passes against the Cincinnati Bengals is more than Brock Osweiler has for the entire season.

However, what made this performance from Siemian even more impressive is the fact he battled adversity and delivered under pressure. While the Broncos were hanging onto a five-point lead, they were faced with a critical third and eleven, but Siemian came through with a huge 55-yard bomb to Demaryius Thomas to put the game out of reach.

Veteran wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders isn’t surprised by Siemian’s poise. 

“There’s nothing to tell Trevor,” Sanders stated. “I know he’s a young quarterback, but he doesn’t act like it. He’s always poised, always calm, cool and collected. I’m going to continuously say that. You really don’t have to tell him too much. He’s the one who wants to throw the ball, he’s the one who wants to deliver that pass, and [coach Gary] Kubiak put a lot of faith in him and he delivered.”

Ironically, up to this point, throwing the ball is exactly what opposing defenses have dared Siemian to do, but after it backfired on Cincinnati, it’ll be interesting to see if teams continue to load the box.

“I don’t know, I think we knew we were playing a really good front,” Siemian said. “… It was going to be tough to run the ball, we kind of anticipated that going in … [I] think we were aggressive all game long. And that’s how you have to be against teams like this.”

In terms of being aggressive, when you have a defense like Denver’s, you can afford to take chances on the offensive end. A season ago, Manning was a complete shell of himself, which forced Denver to rely heavily on their ground game.

At the end of the day, it worked out for Denver as they captured their third Super Bowl championship and as they look to win their fourth title, it appears that head coach Gary Kubiak will have the opportunity to try more things offensively. 

“It was a great outing,” Kubiak stressed. “I don’t think you get too carried away — but we know we have a good young quarterback who’s on a good team, and this was a great sign today.”

It could be another magical campaign in the ‘Mile High City’.