The Broncos' stagger down the stretch of the regular season has given a lot of other contenders new hope that maybe Denver is not invincible.

	Terrell Davis became the fourth running back in NFL history to run for more than 2,000 yards in a season.

After flirting with perfection by winning its first 13 games, Denver lost two of its last three in the regular season and nearly lost three of its last four, based on the fortunate 35-31 victory over Kansas City on Dec. 6. The bottom line is Denver is beatable, as evidenced by its losses to the Giants and Dolphins.

However, the Broncos roared through the AFC playoffs to earn a spot in the Super Bowl for the second straight season and fifth time in franchise history.

Offense
Everything is predicated on running back Terrell Davis, who's on another level from his peers. Davis put together a remarkable 2,006-yard rushing season with an incredible 21 touchdowns, and looked as unstoppable as the Broncos did until they were knocked off.

It's easy to say: Stop Terrell Davis and you stop the Broncos. But John Elway (210-for-356, 2,806 yards, 22 touchowns, 10 interceptions and a 93.0 quarterback rating) might have something to say about that. Elway and his targets, Rod Smith (86 catches, six touchdowns), Ed McCaffrey (64 catches, 10 touchdowns) and Shannon Sharpe (64 catches, 10 touchdowns), are as prolific a combination as any in the league.

Clearly, though, the first way to slow the Broncos (and the way the Giants and Dolphins did it) is to get all over Davis first. That at least makes Denver somewhat vulnerable.

Who's hot?: Davis is the most dangerous offense weapon in the game. McCaffrey, who always gets himself open, is automatic.

Who's not?: When an offense scores 501 points in a season, there can be no one slumping.

Defense
Because Denver's offense is so good, their defense is quite unheralded. But there is big-play ability on defense, with cornerbacks Darrien Gordon (four interceptions) and Ray Crockett (three interceptions) each havng returned a pick for a touchdown this season, and linebacker Bill Romanowski active as always with 7½ sacks and two interceptions.

Much like the Jets, the Broncos don't have a lot of guys who are statistical standouts among the NFL leaders, but the Broncos play great team defense, led by aggressive, blitzing coordinator Greg Robinson.

For example, Neil Smith, a standout defensive end, has only four sacks this season. The sack leaders are defensive tackle Trevor Pryce and defensive end Maa Tanuvasawith 8½ each.

The Broncos defense can be exploited by an offense that spreads them out, thus creating some mismatches in the secondary, and not allowing Robinson to send the house on blitzes.

Who's hot?: Romanowski has had a consistent season doing everything.

Who's not?: The Broncos secondary was charred for four touchdown passes in Miami two weeks ago, showing some vulnerability.

Special teams
Perhaps no team in the AFC has a better kicking tandem than the Broncos. They have kicker Jason Elam, who scored 127 points on 58-58 PATs and 23 of 27 field goals, including his NFL record-tying 63-yarder earlier this season. Tom Rouen is the punter.

Denver is also dangerous in the return game with Gordon averaging 11.1 yards on punts returns, and Vaughn Hebron averaging 26.4 yards on kickoffs.

Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post writes a weekly AFC notebook for ESPN.com that appears each Wednesday during the regular season.