[Quesadilla Joe]

Some Broncos tidbits in MMQB...

Peyton Manning turned the clock back Sunday night, and he got the Super Bowl express rolling in Denver. He had help -- his weaponry on offense, and Tracy Porter's first interception return for touchdown since the Super Bowl-clincher off one Peyton Manning -- but it was a night to revel in the return of one of the greatest quarterbacks ever.

The headlines of a compelling weekend:

Manning Returneth. At 36 and still working to regain his in-the-prime fastball, Manning survived a strange bout of in-game inaction -- he ran two non-kneel-down plays in about an hour of real time, and in 21 minutes of game-clock sandwiching halftime. He used the no-huddle in vintage Manning brilliance, had three consecutive 80-yard touchdown drives, the second ending in his 400th career touchdown pass, and made every fan in Indianapolis who'd been fine with the Manning-for-Andrew Luck tradeoff think, "My Lord, can we have this guy back?''

Fine Fifteen

1. San Francisco (1-0). Thanks to three touchdowns from the least-appreciated quarterback-running back combo platter in football, Alex Smith (211 passing yards) and Frank Gore (112 rushing yards). The 30-22 win over Green Bay didn't seem that close.

2. New England (1-0). The rookie cavalry for the D -- end Chandler Jones and linebacker Dont'a Hightower -- came up big. They're players.

3. Houston (1-0). Does J.J. Watt have a big impact every game he plays, or is that just my imagination? Another 1.5 sacks and three passes deflected against Miami. Incredible for a 290-pound, 3-4 defensive end.

4. Green Bay (0-1). Not jumping off the Packer bandwagon just yet, but tempted. They have lost the last two games by a combined 25 points.

5. Denver (1-0). 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: Broncos waited too long to use the no-huddle. Peyton Manning should live in the no-huddle.

6. Dallas (1-0). I'm not sure the offensive line is going to hold up, but I know one thing about one of the 2011 weakness that killed last year's team: These Cowboys can cover.

7. Atlanta (1-0). Two points in a game, as happened in the playoff debacle at the Meadowlands last January? Not going to happen with this crew, and this offensive playcaller (Dirk Koetter). All of a sudden, the Denver-Atlanta Monday-nighter next week is the Must See TV Game of the Week.

8. Baltimore (0-0). Excited about seeing the Ravens hurry-up offense tonight.

9. New York Jets (1-0). How cool is this: Tim Tebow was in the game on the first play of the season, a second tight end. But we never saw the full monty with Tebow, because as offensive coordinator Tony Sparano said afterward, why empty the ideological saddlebag when you don't have to? (Actually, "ideological saddlebag'' is mine. Don't you just love it?)

10. Washington (1-0). This seems low. Tenth? If 'Skins didn't let the Saints have a prayer late, they'd be a few slots higher.

11. Chicago (1-0). It was only nine times that Jay Cutler found Brandon Marshall against the Colts, but it seemed like 19. Every time I looked up, there was Marshall making Colts miss.

12. New Orleans (0-1). Mulligan. But it's not a good sign for Steve Spagnuolo and the new defense, surrendering eight scoring drives and 464 yards to a rookie quarterback.

13. New York Giants (0-1). Jints' regular-season record over the last 20 games: 10-10.

14. Detroit (1-0). Sloppy opener, but maybe the Rams are better than we think. The Lions are going to have to be much better Sunday night at Candlestick.

15. Pittsburgh (0-1). Even if Ben Roethlisberger didn't gift-wrap that pick-six to Tracy Porter, I didn't like the Steelers' chances to go the length of the field in the last couple of minutes to win. But that's not a disastrous opener for the Steelers. Roethlisberger played well, and the Steelers got good contributions from the wideouts and from an unknown back named Jonathan Dwyer. Kid runs very hard.

The Award Section

Offensive Players of the Week

Peyton Manning, QB, Denver. "I don't how Peyton's neck is doing, but his brain's doing fine,'' Cris Collinsworth said on NBC with about five minutes left in a game. It was a vintage Manning game. He controlled the defense with his eyes and his cadence and his movement back and forth from the line, using the play clock as effectively as ever. He's had better days than his 19-of-26, 253-yard, two-TD, no-pick performance, but this wasn't about the numbers (even though he did join Brett Favre and Dan Marino as the only quarterbacks ever to throw 400 touchdown passes). It was about the maestro back with a new orchestra, and performing beautifully.

Defensive Players of the Week

Tracy Porter, cornerback, Denver. Eight tackles, two deflections and a 43-yard game-sealing interception return for touchdown in the Broncos' 31-19 win Sunday night over Pittsburgh. The Broncos paid Porter $4 million for one year of his services, and I daresay he earned most of that before midnight Sunday.

Quote of the Week III

"I'm still feeling my way out. I still have some limitations."

-- Peyton Manning, after the victory over Pittsburgh.

What would those be, exactly?

I did enjoy the graphic our game guys used at NBC, the one that showed Manning throwing a sideline route, pre-surgeries, at 49.7 mph, and the same type of sideline route this summer at 47.6. His ball looks to be slightly less of the 100-percent perfect spiral it was three or four years ago. But the accuracy, and the way he fits it into small areas looks the same to me.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/201...ek1/index.html