Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning talks with Knowshon Moreno during a timeout in the second quarter against the Browns on Sunday.
Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning talks with Knowshon Moreno during a timeout in the second quarter against the Browns on Sunday. (Steve Nehf, The Denver Post)

Today's question about the Broncos comes from Dan Distler in Joplin, Mo.:

Q: I have two questions that are related. My first question is how are the different players in the locker room reacting to Peyton Manning's popularity outside of Denver? He has become the face of the Broncos very quickly and I was wondering how the other players have reacted? My second question is how Elvis Dumervil is handling Von Miller's popularity? Dumervil was the face of the defense and now Miller is getting that recognition.

A: Dan, players like winning and the Broncos are 12-3 with a 10-game winning streak, and are on the doorstep of a playoff bye if they simply handle their business Sunday against the Chiefs.

A winning team is routinely far more able to deal with the day-to-day frustrations about various items than a losing one is able to. On a losing team, a simple thing like what's available for lunch can make everybody cranky.

Make no mistake: Manning casts a long shadow in the locker room. He's a future Hall of Famer, one of the most accomplished players in the league's history, and he plays the most important position on any NFL team chasing trophies — quarterback. He also is a vocal presence in how the team runs its offense on gameday and prepares through the week.


Issues arise in a locker room, or any business for that matter, when people demand from others what they themselves won't give. If a player isn't among the team's hardest workers and is riding others to work, then there are conflicts.

If a player publicly critcizes others' mistakes and he isn't prepared and isn't accountable for his own mistakes, his peers in the locker room aren't going to have much patience for that.

John Elway, in his role as a team executive, has talked a great deal about "getting the locker room the way we want it," and that includes bringing in players who prepare, work hard and are accountable for what they do and how they do it.

This year's group has instituted weekly, players-only, "debriefing" sessions where they go over the previous week's game and basically acknowledge the good things and hold themselves accountable for any mistakes. The ability to stand up and admit an error, to be accountable among your co-workers, is a major item in keeping ego out of the equation.

More good teams have been wrecked by ego than injury through the years. You can always see it coming, and it's also why so many Super Bowl winners have trouble repeating.

The players give Manning the business from time to time. One of the funniest moments this season, beyond rookie Omar Bolden chiding Manning for his balky slide earlier this season, was with the printed program that was distributed to all team personnel and their families for the show the rookies put on in training camp. On the back of the program it listed the "production crew" for the show and they had put Manning's name next to every job, something like 20 items. And that's all the way back in August.

Manning, Champ Bailey, Chris Kuper, Brandon Stokley, Wesley Woodyard and Dumervil have been key in maintaining the get-it-done outlook with the Broncos.

As for Miller, he is immensely talented, but he likely wouldn't have flourished as much as he has in his first two seasons without Dumervil — in the lineup and in the locker room.

Dumervil has worked with Miller plenty, and Miller always is quick to give Dumervil credit for helping him along the way. Miller has said he's Robin to Dumervil's Batman' from his first day with the team.

People see that, and Dumervil's standing among his peers can be seen in the fact he was voted to this third Pro Bowl this week. That's a vote from opposing offensive linemen. Players can't vote for players on their own teams.

The proof of how successful these Broncos can be still waits over the long haul over what this Broncos team can do in this postseason and beyond. At the moment, they are a committed and haven't let things interfere with their business.

Jeff Legwold: or