Tatum BellThe Broncos 23-7 victory over the Chargers today was a statement.

Coming out of the regular season, the Broncos might be the least acknowledged 13-3 team in history. Even the announcers in today’s game talked about how under the radar they are in the AFC. Between the undefeated run and the Dungy tragedy, the Colts are drawing a lot of focus. The Pats are making a great run here late in the season, and as defending champs, they are media darlings. The Bengals have the glamour boys — Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson. And all the Broncos do is win.

The Broncos served notice today. They likely don’t care what the media is saying, but they want to make sure the rest of the AFC notices. No individual players have stats that will make you turn your head, but that’s not what this team is built on. They are executing Shanahan’s game plans as well as any Broncos team in his tenure. This is a focused team and a serious contender.

Aside from the opener in Miami, the Broncos didn’t have any letdown games this year. (They usually seem to lose at least one game in the last half of the season that they have no business losing.) They were 5-2 against teams that are still in the playoff hunt. They are 8-0 at home where they would play anyone barring the Colts.

Bring on the Bengals/Patriots/Jaguars/Steelers. I can’t wait.