It’s not exactly breaking news that Peyton Manning and the Broncos are piling up the yards and lighting up the scoreboard. But the Broncos are doing more than just playing good offense. They’re racking up yards and points at a pace that’s completely unprecedented in NFL history.
We’ve gone through the NFL Record and Fact Book and identified six different offensive records that the Broncos are on pace to break this season, for points, touchdowns, first downs, passing first downs, total yards gained and fewest interceptions:
Points
Record: 589, Patriots, 2007
Broncos now: 230
Broncos pace: 736
Touchdowns
Record: 75, Patriots, 2007
Broncos now: 29
Broncos pace: 93
First downs
Record: 444, Patriots, 2012
Broncos now: 147
Broncos pace: 470
Passing first downs
Record: 280, Saints, 2011
Broncos now: 97
Broncos pace: 310
Yards gained
Record: 7,474, Saints, 2011
Broncos now: 2,449
Broncos pace: 7,837
Fewest interceptions
Record: 5, 1960 Browns, 1966 Packers, 1990 Chiefs, 1990 Giants, 2010 Patriots, 2011 49ers (six-way tie)
Broncos now: 1
Broncos pace: 3
Peyton Manning is also on pace to break the single-season records for passer rating, completions, completion percentage, passing yards, passing touchdowns, four-touchdown games, 400-yard games and 300-yard games:
Highest passer rating
Record: 122.5, Aaron Rodgers, 2011
Peyton Manning now: 136.4
Completions
Record: 468, Drew Brees, 2011
Peyton Manning now: 150
Peyton Manning pace: 480
Completion percentage
Record: 71.23, Drew Brees, 2011
Peyton Manning now: 75.8
Passing yards
Record: 5,476, Drew Brees, 2011
Peyton Manning now: 1,884
Peyton Manning pace: 6,029
Passing touchdowns
Record: 50, Tom Brady, 2007
Peyton Manning now: 20
Peyton Manning pace: 64
Most games, four or more touchdown passes
Record: 6, Dan Marino, 1984 and Peyton Manning, 2004 (tie)
Peyton Manning now: 3
Peyton Manning pace: 10
Most games, 400 or more yards passing
Record: 4, Dan Marino, 1984
Peyton Manning now: 2
Peyton Manning pace: 6
Most games, 300 or more yards passing
Record: 13, Drew Brees, 2011
Peyton Manning now: 5
Peyton Manning pace: 16
And the Broncos’ return man and kicker are on pace for a couple of special teams records:
Combined kick return touchdowns
Record: 6, Devin Hester, 2007
Trindon Holliday now: 2
Trindon Holliday pace: 6
Most extra points, season
Record: 74, Stephen Gostkowski, 2007
Matt Prater now: 29
Matt Prater pace: 93
It may not be realistic to think the Broncos will keep up this pace for a full season. They’ll face some good defenses, play some games in bad weather, and maybe rest their starters late in the season if they wrap up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. But through five games, the Broncos aren’t just looking like a great offense. They’re looking like the greatest offense in NFL history.