Denver Broncos make another significant jump up in the CBS Sports NFL Power Rankings

The Broncos have made another big jump in the CBS Sports NFL Power Rankings.

After Sunday’s 10-9 win in New York brought Denver to a 2-2 record, the team is now ranked No. 17. They jumped up five places, a week after jumping up by eight spots. 

Power Rankings author Pete Prisco said Broncos head coach Sean Payton should be applauded for the job he’s done so far this season.

“Sean Payton has this team 2-2 with a rookie quarterback. Why? The defense is playing outstanding right now and carrying this group,” Prisco wrote.

The defense is giving up 255 yards per game through four games, and in each of the last two they’ve surrended 7 points or less. On Sunday they held Aaron Rodgers and the Jets to only four conversions on 17 attempts on third down.

Linebacker Nik Bonitto said on Monday that he’s excited by his and the entire defense’s performance so far. He said everyone on the defensive side of the ball is glad “the work (they) are putting in through the week is paying off on Sundays.”

“We were looking at a play today where (safety) Brandon Jones was coming from one side of the hash of the field to go make a play on the other on a third down,” he said on Xfinity Monday Live. “Guys are just playing with that energy on a play-by-play basis.”

Still, Bonitto knows there’s still a lot of work to do before the season can be declared a successful one.

“We have a lot of our goals that we still want to achieve down the line,” he said.