FanHouse Mike Nolan

SAN DIEGO -- Outside linebacker Elvis Dumervil set aside any doubts that the 2009 Broncos' astonishing turnaround isn't legitimate on Monday night when he leveled Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers a second time in the contest, helping punctuate a 34-23 division victory that gave undefeated Denver a stranglehold on the AFC West.

With that, Dumervil had his NFL-leading 10th sack, putting him on pace to surpass Michael Strahan's single-season record of 22 1/2.

"It's hard to get to 10 [sacks]," said Dumervil, who was surrounded in the crowded visitors' locker room at Qualcomm Stadium by teammates hooting and calling him the next Strahan. "Every sack guy knows it's hard to get to double digits.

"But this ... it's a new team, a new regime, and everything is new. We're just trying to innovate. We're trying to build a brand of football here, what we want to be as the Denver Broncos."

In the six months leading up to the 2009 season, the Broncos traded franchise quarterback Jay Cutler, refused to do the same for wideout Brandon Marshall (who subsequently sulked, half-assing his way through the offseason and training camp), and then-32-year-old head coach Josh McDaniels seemed so far out of his element that I wasn't sure he'd make it to Thanksgiving.

At the time, I figured a six-win effort would be a moral victory for the organization, and if nothing else, McDaniels would learn a valuable lesson about managing a group of 20-something millionaires.

It didn't take a miracle this week, but the Broncos won all the same.

The Broncos moved to 2-0 with a 27-6 victory against the hapless Cleveland Browns on Sunday afternoon, and they did it behind a defense that continues to bear no resemblance to the ones that made Mile High Stadium a fairly innocuous place to visit over the last two seasons. Elvis Dumervil's four sacks of Brady Quinn led the effort, and his strip of Quinn on the first Browns drive of the second half helped a 10-6 game become a rout.

The Browns converted just 3 of 14 third downs, gained only 200 yards overall and, generally, looked like they had no answer to the newly-frisky Broncos 3-4 scheme.

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The Cincinnati Bengals had the game wrapped up. It was over. Cedric Benson's one-yard touchdown run with under a minute to play had given Cincinnati a 7-6 lead. It capped a long drive that ate much of the game's final five minutes.

Unfortunately for Cincinnati, the drive didn't eat enough time. Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton hooked up with receiver Brandon Stokley for an 87-yard score, giving the Broncos a 12-7 win in one of the more improbable finishes the NFL has ever seen.

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It happens every year at training camp, yet every year seems worse than the ones that preceded it: players get injured, sometimes seriously, and an offseason worth of plans suddenly become meaningless.

The Eagles will be without middle linebacker Stewart Bradley for the season, and things aren't looking good for Falcons wide receiver Harry Douglas (and this is while the club tries to negotiate an extension with Roddy White).

And on Sunday, the Ravens' No. 2 wideout, Mark Clayton, strained a hamstring that will keep him out 2-3 preseason games. Compared to Bradley or Douglas, that's good news, but Baltimore also doesn't have much depth at receiver. More than that, quarterback Joe Flacco is just in his second season. Spreading the offensive burden seems like the best strategy to build on the success he had last year, but that becomes problematic if Flacco doesn't have anybody to throw to. Or maybe it doesn't.

With Fantasy Football season ready to kick in high gear, FanHouse is here to preview each and every team -- one per day until we've done them all.

Meet the ...
Perennial sleepers. It seems like almost every season, people are discussing the fact that the 49ers are ready to break out and surprise people and win the NFC West. And then, almost every season, they suck. They might not be great this year either. Mike Singletary brings a more disciplined approach than even Mike Nolan, but you can't possibly expect Shaun Hill or Alex Smith to lead a team to the playoffs. Or can you? Well, actually, for fantasy purposes, who cares? There's going to be a lot of running and a lot of surprises on defense in San Fran this year, and that's going to be where you pick up the value.

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In 2005, the 49ers were stuck with the No. 1 pick in the April draft and no one worthy of the selection. Then-head coach Mike Nolan hitched his wagon to Alex Smith, and three-plus seasons and 18 wins later, Nolan was out of work and Smith's NFL future was in doubt.

Mike Singletary is now running the show. After a strong finish to the 2008 season (5-2 after Week 10), the club could again be in the quarterback business if either Smith or Shaun Hill don't work out in 2009.

The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat's Matt Maiocco writes that the 49ers, who sent a '09 second-rounder to Carolina for the Panthers' 2010 first-round pick, could be perfectly positioned to get their choice of quarterbacks in a QB-heavy 2010 draft, should they decide to do so.

With the draft approaching, we ignore projections and identify the dream scenario for each team in a series we call The Perfect Draft.

From Mike Shanahan's firing to the Jay Cutler trade, the Broncos are almost unrecognizable from the team that finished last season. After three playoff-less seasons, that may not be a bad thing.

The upheaval does make it difficult to predict where they'll look on draft day, however. A new coach and general manager running their first draft don't have a track record to use as a guide, which should make the Broncos a team to watch on April 25.

In less than two weeks, the Detroit Lions will have the first overall selection in the NFL Draft. Depending on who's telling the story, Matthew Stafford is their guy, although NFL Network draft brainiac Mike Mayock appears to prefer Mark Sanchez.

I mention this to reinforce the importance of the No. 1 pick; get it right and the Lions could emerge from Matt Millen's reign of terror faster than anybody imagined; get it wrong and Detroit's future will look a lot like its recent past.

The hardest thing to figure out about the Broncos' decision to trade Jay Cutler was determining fair value for a soon-to-be 26-year-old quarterback who has established himself as a starter in the NFL. Those deals don't happen often enough to provide a gauge for what's a good return. Making matters more difficult was the public nature of the trade talks, which seemed to back the Broncos into a corner.

Given all of that context, Broncos GM Brian Xanders did very well for himself on Thursday.