On the very special 30th podcast here at Shutdown Corner, we take a look at arguably the AFC's most interesting team, the Denver Broncos. To help us do so, special guest Kyle Montgomery of BroncoTalk.net swings by to drop some Broncos knowledge.

We talk, of course, about last week's disaster in Baltimore, why it happened, and what it means for the Broncos going forward. We talk about the evolution of the Josh McDaniels era, and how much fun it's been if you're a Broncos fan. There's Kyle Orton(notes) talk, Brandon Marshall(notes) talk and plenty of talk about this week's key matchup against the Steelers.

Danks and I also have the standards: the abusive e-mail of the week, the Hot Routes and I try to protect my one-game lead in the Picks Segment. Here are the games we pick this week (home teams in CAPS):

Baltimore Ravens -3 vs. CINCINNATI BENGALS
INDIANAPOLIS COLTS -9 vs. Houston Texans
NEW ORLEANS SAINTS - 13½ vs. Carolina Panthers
NEW YORK GIANTS - 4½ vs. San Diego Chargers
Pittsburgh Steelers -3 vs. DENVER BRONCOS

You can listen right here:

Or download the MP3 right here. MP3, 38:31, 18.1 MB.

Shutdown Corner is proud to present the weekly quarterback power rankings. They're just as arbitrarily decided as normal power rankings, except they rank quarterbacks, not whole teams. Rankings are based on play this year alone and meant to represent who is playing the best football at the current moment.

1. Drew Brees(notes), New Orleans Saints
		Once again, this week features the Brees/Manning flip-flop at the top, with Brees placing his foot squarely on top of Manning's head this week. He did have the one interception where Falcons DB Brett Grimes climbed air to snatch it out of the sky, but Brees spent most of the game being pretty damn brilliant. I'm not predicting 16-0 for the Saints, but if there's one reason they can get there, it's that the play they get from the quarterback position gives them a very big margin for error in every game. Like last night, for example.
2. Peyton Manning(notes), Indianapolis Colts
		Not a great week for Peyton, but his season so far gives him enough juice to keep the top spot. It's kind of funny that the guy can complete 31-of-48 passes for 347 yards, and I'm calling it "not a great week," but that's the level of quarterback play we're being blessed with this year in NFL National Football League. Sorry, I wanted to try that.
3. Aaron Rodgers(notes), Green Bay Packers
		The Vikings outplayed the Packers, but did Brett Favre(notes) outplay Aaron Rodgers? Sort of yes, sort of no. Favre was just about flawless, but the burden on Rodgers was far greater. The Packers had no Adrian Peterson to lean on, they don't have a great defense, and they didn't get to play with a lead. They asked Rodgers to do everything, and he responded with 287 yards, three touchdowns, and no picks. I'm giving the edge to Rodgers based on degree of difficulty. As a side note: You know who has the best quarterback rating in the league right now? It's not Brees, and it's not Manning ... it's Mr. Aaron Rodgers. The top two is dangerously close to being broken up.
4. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings
		Continuing the Rodgers vs. Favre on Sunday discussion from above, I do have to acknowledge some bias towards Rodgers. I know this, and you know this. I still think a slight edge to Rodgers is the right call. Favre's been amazing, but the Minnesota offense is so perfectly tailored to putting the quarterback in a great position. Obviously, that doesn't mean just anyone could step in and put up the kinds of numbers Favre is putting up, but he doesn't have the weight of an entire offense on his shoulders, either.
5. Ben Roethlisberger(notes), Pittsburgh Steelers
		A week off for Pittsburgh, and Roethlisberger stays put in the five-hole.
6. Matt Schaub(notes), Houston Texans
		Matt Schaub slides a bit this week after a zero touchdown, two interception performance against the Bills. I don't think Schaub will mind, though, because he also got some good news this week: he might soon have a running game, courtesy of Ryan Moats(notes). If the Texans add a consistent ground game to what Schaub and Andre Johnson(notes) are already doing ... sweet sassy molassey, that's going to be quite an offense.
7. Philip Rivers(notes), San Diego Chargers
		It's so difficult to hash out the bottom of this list every week, because there's so little separating so many quality quarterbacks, but it seems like Philip Rivers is the one guy who can be counted on for consistency. His QB rating has been 93 or better in his past four games, and he's never been below 84.5 on the year. Thank you, Phil, for making this slightly easier.
8. Tony Romo(notes), Dallas Cowboys
		Just 15 minutes and 30 seconds into the Cowboys/Seahawks game, Tony Romo had already hit five different receivers. By the end of the game, 10 different Cowboys had caught passes. I love that stat, because it shows that a quarterback is getting through his progressions, making all kinds of different reads, and isn't relying too heavily on one guy. Three stellar weeks for Romo and counting.
9. Joe Flacco(notes), Baltimore Ravens
		Here's what Flacco accomplished on Sunday: 20-of-25, one touchdown, no interceptions, one win against an undefeated team and one big, sloppy wet kiss from Dan Dierdorf avoided after the game. I like Dierdorf, but he does tend to get carried away at times ... and yet, the unyielding river of verbal lust that he lavished on Flacco on Sunday was completely warranted.
10. Tom Brady(notes), New England Patriots
		Brady had the week off, so let's talk about the two other guys who were considered for this spot. First, Eli. After reaching as high as number two on this list, he is now completely gone. Sorry. There are too many good quarterbacks here for three bad weeks to be tolerated. Second, Mr. McNabb. Great, great game on Sunday, but you know what I'd like you to do? Have two of them in a row. You've burned me before, sir.
Noses pressed against the glass: Donovan McNabb(notes), Philadelphia Eagles; Carson Palmer(notes), Cincinnati Bengals; Eli Manning(notes), New York Giants; Kyle Orton(notes), Denver Broncos; Jay Cutler(notes), Chicago Bears

Vince Young(notes), Quarterback, Tennessee Titans. I wouldn't say that Vince Young was the reason that the Titans won yesterday, but Young did everything that could've been asked of him. 15-of-18 for 125 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions? Jeff Fisher will take that every time. Of course, he it helps if you have a running back that goes for 228 yards and two touchdowns (thank you, Chris Johnson), your defense gets two interceptions and you get to play from ahead (something Kerry Collins(notes) rarely got to do). Did VY's presence in the line-up spark this kind of performance from the rest of the team? Things like that have been known to happen.

Greg Mattison, Defensive Coordinator, Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens played, by far, their best game of 2009 against the Broncos yesterday. They were strong, they were physical, they were tough and they had the right game plan. They decided that they would tee off on the Denver running game and short passes, and if Denver wanted to beat them by going vertical, then hey, have it it, Kyle Orton(notes). He couldn't do it. Denver's biggest play of the day was a 39-yard pass interference call on the Ravens. Outside of that, the Broncos had just one play all day that went for more than 20 yards, and it came in garbage time.

Ted Ginn, Special Teams, Miami Dolphins. Note that it doesn't say, "Ted Ginn, Wide Receiver." Ginn didn't catch a ball (though, it should be noted, neither did his replacement, Brian Hartline(notes)). That didn't stop Ginn from just about singlehandedly winning that game for his team, though. That Miami offense was doing nothing yesterday, Wildcat or no Wildcat. But they got one defensive touchdown, and two special teams touchdowns from Ginn, both of which were "Man, that guy is crazy athletic" moments.

DeAngelo Williams(notes) and Jonathan Stewart(notes), Running Backs, Carolina Panthers. This result -- a 34-21 Panthers win over the Cardinals -- I did not see coming. The Cardinals were on the come, and the Panthers looked to be in trouble ... and then this happens. And the reason that the Cardinals were on the come was their run defense, and the Panthers plowed through them for 270 yards on the ground. They were so effective that Jake Delhomme(notes) only had to throw the ball 14 times, and that fact is not at all coincidental to the fact that the Panthers won.

Shawne Merriman(notes), Linebacker, San Diego Chargers. Shawne Merriman actually affected a game yesterday. His presence was actually noticeable on the field. It started a little bit with the game against the Chiefs last week, and then exploded this week. He had two sacks against the Raiders and wreaked havoc in their backfield all day.

Shutdown Corner is proud to present the weekly quarterback power rankings. They're just as arbitrarily decided as normal power rankings, except they rank quarterbacks, not whole teams. Rankings are based on play this year alone and meant to represent who is playing the best football at the current moment.

1. Peyton Manning(notes), Indianapolis Colts
		Again, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees(notes) trade spots. What did Peyton do against the Rams? Nothing too special: 235 yards passing, three touchdowns, no interceptions. Nothing that set the world on fire, but nothing to dispel the notion that he's the best quarterback in football, either.
2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints
		Besides, it was more about what Brees did than what Manning did. I don't want to send the message that a game-winning second half is outweighed by a horrendous first half, but if you want the top spot, you can't have one touchdown, three interception days. You just can't. He might've even fallen out of the top two if he didn't lead that tremendous comeback.
3. Aaron Rodgers(notes), Green Bay Packers
		Making the biggest jump this week is Aaron Rodgers, who benefits from a week where a lot of the top guys weren't overwhelmingly awesome. Rodgers -- and this is a sick statistic -- has a quarterback rating of over 110 in each of his past four games. And he does this while leading the league in number of times sacked. Incredible.
4. Matt Schaub(notes), Houston Texans
		He leads the league in yards passing, and he leads the league in touchdown passes. Whether or not your brain is ready to accept it, Matt Schaub is one of the NFL's most dangerous offensive weapons. Riding Schaub's arm, the Texans are winners of three of their last four.
5. Ben Roethlisberger(notes), Pittsburgh Steelers
		There is one quarterback in the NFL completing more than 70% of his passes (actually, there are two, but Peyton Manning doesn't count, because I believe he's actually half robot), and his name is Ben Roethlisberger. He slides a tad, because he didn't have a great day against a tough Vikings defense: 14-of-26, 175 yards, one touchdown.
6. Brett Favre(notes), Minnesota Vikings
		Likewise, Favre also slides a bit because he didn't have a great day against a tough Steelers defense. He had a touchdown taken away from him on a phantom leg-whip call, and the interception bounced off of Chester Taylor's(notes) palms, but still, he didn't do enough to win.
7. Philip Rivers(notes), San Diego Chargers
		Rivers jumps back up the list a little bit after a week of feasting on the Chiefs secondary: 268 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. Even better news for Rivers is that the Chargers showed some slight signs of maybe doing some things that might help him, like, oh, I don't know ... blocking and having a running game.
8. Eli Manning(notes), New York Giants
		Poor Eli continues to tumble down the list. Giants everywhere are tumbling down all kinds of lists, as we see that maybe their dominant start had something to do with the meatballs on their schedule: Washington, Dallas, Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Oakland to start the season. All the sudden, Eli plays two good defenses, and he has two bad games. Perhaps this is not a coincidence.
9. Tom Brady(notes), New England Patriots
		Handsome Tom drops two spots in the rankings: One for each interception he threw this week. I'm not going to get too down on the guy, though, as he also threw for 308 yards and three touchdowns. He's had big games in the last two weeks against bad defenses, while struggling a bit earlier in the season against some good defenses. He's sort of the anti-Eli, in that way.
10. Joe Flacco(notes), Baltimore Ravens
		I kept going back and forth here between Kyle Orton(notes) and Joe Flacco. Orton's doing a fantastic job with the Broncos this year, but here's the question that decided it for me: If I had to pick one guy to take his team the length of the field in 60 seconds, where there's no time for screens, slants, or dump-offs, who would I take? I take Flacco. Orton's doing great in a take-care-of-the-ball, don't-risk-much offense, but I see Flacco as the more dangerous quarterback.
Noses pressed against the glass: Kyle Orton, Denver Broncos; Tony Romo(notes), Dallas Cowboys; Carson Palmer(notes), Cincinnati Bengals; Donovan McNabb(notes), Philadelphia Eagles; Matt Ryan(notes), Atlanta Falcons; Jay Cutler(notes), Chicago Bears

Shutdown Corner is proud to present the weekly quarterback power rankings. They're just as arbitrarily decided as normal power rankings, except they rank quarterbacks, not whole teams. Rankings are based on play this year alone and meant to represent who is playing the best football at the current moment.

1. Drew Brees(notes), New Orleans Saints
		What do you do if you want the top spot back? You go up against the best pass defense in the league (though I think that myth is pretty much dispelled at this point) and you carve them up like a delicious glazed ham. It was Peyton Manning's(notes) turn to lose the top spot while on a bye week=. You got served, sucker!
2. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
		I hope you had a wonderful bye week, Peyton, filled with dreams of even more endorsement dollars and Kenny Chesney concerts. Looking ahead, it's the Rams this week and their 27th-ranked pass defense. If this Brees vs. Manning battle were to go on all year, you wouldn't hear me complain about it.
3. Ben Roethlisberger(notes), Pittsburgh Steelers
		Between Tom Brady's(notes) day, Drew Brees' day and some other dramatic happenings around the league, Ben Roethlisberger's 417-yard day against the Browns somehow got lost. Roethlisberger is now your NFL yardage leader with 1,887 on the year.
4. Brett Favre(notes), Minnesota Vikings
		I feel dirty when I have to move him up the list, but that's just it: I have to. When the Vikings need big chunks of yardage, Favre gets them. He doesn't have the yardage total of some guys, but that's only because the Vikings didn't need or ask him to throw the ball in the first two weeks. The last four, they have, and he's been top-notch.
5. Eli Manning(notes), New York Giants
		'Twas not a great day for Eli against the Saints, as he only managed 178 yards, one touchdown and one interception. I'm going to consider the whole year's body of work before I start dropping him too far, though. Some guys are gaining on him, but I still love the efficiency.
6. Matt Schaub(notes), Houston Texans
		Quick: Who leads in the NFL in touchdown passes? Did you guess Matt Schaub? I hope so, since this is the Matt Schaub section, and if you didn't, you might be a bit of a numbskull. I'm even open to arguments for Matt Schaub cracking the top five here. He's first in touchdowns and second in yardage. His day of 392 yards and four touchdowns sort of got overshadowed, too.
7. Aaron Rodgers(notes), Green Bay Packers
		Another week, another quietly excellent performance from Rogers. True, it was only the Lions, but 358 yards are 358 yards. It also helps that he was playing against Daunte Culpepper(notes) (6-of-14, zero TDs, one INT) and Drew Stanton(notes) (5-of-11, zero TDs, two INTs), because those two can't help but make another quarterback look good.
8. Tom Brady, New England Patriots.
		It took six weeks, but here he is. I get hate mail all the time from Brady fans for not including him in the power rankings, but based on his play this year, he just hasn't deserved it. In fact, I'd still caution everyone from jumping on the "Brady is Back" train, because that otherworldly performance on Sunday came against possibly football's worst secondary since the invention of the forward pass.
9. Joe Flacco(notes), Baltimore Ravens
		Flacco threw for 385 yards in Baltimore's comeback attempt against the Vikings, but couldn't pull out the win. No disrespect to Derrick Mason(notes) is intended here, but would anyone else like to see what Flacco could do with a deeper receiving corps and a better tight end?
10. Philip Rivers(notes), San Diego Chargers
		I suspect that many of you will accuse me of a homer pick here, selecting Rivers for the final spot ahead of Orton. And that's fine, since I am a homer. I still think this is the right call, though. I've been amazed by what Orton's been doing all season, and it's not meant to slight him, but the Chargers just ask Rivers to do more. He goes downfield more, and he's basically their whole offense. Believe me, it's much better to do it the other way.
Fell out: Donovan McNabb(notes), Philadelphia Eagles; Matt Ryan(notes), Atlanta Falcons; Kyle Orton(notes), Denver Broncos Also narrowly missed: Jay Cutler(notes), Chicago Bears

Shutdown Corner is proud to present the weekly quarterback power rankings. They're just as arbitrarily decided as normal power rankings, except they rank quarterbacks, not whole teams. Rankings are based on play this year alone and meant to represent who is playing the best football at the current moment.

1. Peyton Manning(notes), Indianapolis Colts
		Another week, another 300 yards, another leisurely jog to victory. Up next, the Colts have a bye week, and then in Week 7, it'll be a bloodbath against the Rams. Enjoy your mop-up time, Jim Sorgi(notes).
2. Eli Manning(notes), New York Giants
		Watching Eli against the Raiders defense was like watching an in-his-prime Mike Tyson fight Urkel. He just did whatever he wanted. He didn't even play an entire game; in fact, he played just a smidge more than a quarter. What he did do, though, was perfect. He had a 158.3 quarterback rating on the day.
3. Drew Brees(notes), New Orleans Saints
		Is it a teensy bit unfair to drop him a spot when he didn't play? Yes. It's nothing against Brees, of course, it's just how strongly I feel about Eli Manning at the moment. Those of you who prefer Brees, though, don't fret: They'll get a chance to sort it out when they go head-to-head this week.
4. Ben Roethlisberger(notes), Pittsburgh Steelers
		Large Benjamin inches up a spot after a 277-yard, three-touchdown day in Detroit. He hit six different receivers, too, and spreading the ball around isn't always a strength for him.
5. Brett Favre(notes), Minnesota Vikings
		After last week's fantastic performance against the Packers, the Vikings slipped back into "We don't need Brett to be great, and he wasn't, but he was certainly good enough for us to win" mode. He also threw a lollipop of an interception to James Laurinaitis(notes), which doesn't help him in these power rankings.
6. Philip Rivers(notes), San Diego Chargers
		Rivers and the Chargers had the week off, so he'll stay in the six hole. I'll say this, though: If the Chargers weren't able to use the bye week to make improvements in the offensive line, the running game, and the defense's ability to stop anyone, it will be extremely difficult for Rivers to stay here.
7. Aaron Rodgers(notes), Green Bay Packers
		In a lot of ways, Rodgers is in the same boat as Rivers. If the help around him doesn't improve, it's going to be really hard for him to keep playing well. Chad Clifton(notes) is back at practice this week, so that's a positive. So is playing Detroit on Sunday.
8. Matt Ryan(notes), Atlanta Falcons
		Ryan finally slips into the top ten this week, on the shoulders of a 22-of-32, 329-yard, two touchdown day against the 49ers. He's played well all year, but there's so much great competition at the quarterback position in the NFL this year, that his yardage totals needed a bit of a bump to be among the elite. This week was his first game of the season with better than 250 yards.
9. Kyle Orton(notes), Denver Broncos
		Say, before the season, someone asked you how many games the Broncos would win when Kyle Orton had to throw the ball 48 times. Your answer, unless your last name is Orton, would have likely been "none of them." But not only did they win one, they did it against the Patriots. Orton had a completion percentage of 72.9, and went for 330 yards.
10. Donovan McNabb(notes), Philadelphia Eagles
		He's only been back for one week, but what a week it was: 16-of-21, 264 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions. That's a rating of 157.2, which led all quarterbacks with more than 10 attempts this week. Expect the McNabb train to keep rolling along with the Raiders on the schedule next week.
Fell out: Joe Flacco(notes), Baltimore Ravens, Matt Schaub(notes), Houston Texans, Jay Cutler(notes), Chicago Bears Also narrowly missed: Matt Hasselbeck(notes), Seattle Seahawks, Kurt Warner(notes), Arizona Cardinals, Tom Brady(notes), New England Patriots

They just barely beat the Bengals on a tip drill to Brandon Stokely before we know that we had to take the Bengals seriously, so that was no big deal. Then, they beat the Raiders and Browns by a total of 50-9, but those were the Raiders and Browns, teams that would struggle to go 8-8 if the other teams didn't show up to play them. So, again, no biggie. Then, they beat the Cowboys by a touchdown, but that was thought to be more about Dallas' horrible play calling late in the game. So, at 4-0, the Denver Broncos got no respect at all -- they were still thought to be eventual victims of their tumultuous preseason.

Now, after their 20-17 overtime win over the Patriots, in which Josh McDaniels beat mentor Bill Belichick, it's past time to disregard Cutlergate, and the lost first-round draft pick, and all the other ancillary drama, and recognize that the Broncos (pictured here rocking the unfortunate 1960 Copper Bowl throwbacks -- gah!) are indeed the AFC's best team -- in record and on the field. Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan put together a brilliant series of schemes that forced the Patriots to dispense with their long passing game and go dink-and-dunk underneath (basically the gameplan McDaniels put together for Matt Cassel(notes) after Brady was lost for the 2008 season) while the Denver offense relied on heavy doses of rookie running back Knowshon Moreno(notes). Receivers Brandon Marshall(notes) and Eddie Royal(notes) carved up New England's improving but still vulnerable secondary, and Kyle Orton(notes) led Denver on a 12-play, 98-yard scoring drive halfway through the fourth quarter that tied the game at 17-all. In the overtime frame, Denver went 53 yards in 11 plays and ended the game with a 41-yard Matt Prater(notes) field goal. The Patriots never saw the ball outside of regulation.

There's no doubt that the Broncos could have handled their offseason better, and McDaniels did appear to have a little too much "Tom Cruise on Oprah" in him early in his time as a head coach. But we're now starting to see why Belichick, and the players McDaniels coached in New England, respect him so much. That excellence has transferred to the Mile High City (add in a healthy dose of respect for the work Nolan's doing), and that's why the Broncos are a fluke-free 5-0.

If you've missed the show, don't worry -- the Broncos face the Chargers on Monday Night Football next week.