DENVER --Another game, another handful of records broken by quarterback Peyton Manning.
"You sit back and you watch it and you're in awe," cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie said.
Manning, who had already set a new record for touchdown passes thrown through three games to start a season, now owns that record through four games.
His second touchdown pass Sunday afternoon tied two players for the record, last achieved by Kurt Warner in 1999.
On his next drive, he set a new record with 15 through four games. And on his next drive, for good measure, he made the record 16 with his fourth touchdown pass of the game.
"He makes it look easy, but it's definitely damn hard," defensive tackle Kevin Vickerson said.
Manning completed 28 of his 34 passes Sunday, throwing for 327 yards and four touchdowns. The resulting 146.0 quarterback rating marked a career high for Manning with a minimum of 30 attempts. It's his highest rating in any game since the 2008 season.
Last week, former teammate Jeff Saturday said on ESPN's NFL Live that he thinks Manning is playing the best football of his career.
To that point, the quarterback's current streak of 201 consecutive passes without an interception is the longest such streak of his career, and the second-longest in Broncos history. That run combined with his 16 touchdowns ties him for the most touchdowns to start a season without a pick with quarterback Milt Plum, who accomplished it in 1960.
"Ya'll were at the game, too," wide receiver Wes Welker said when asked about Manning's performance. "I mean, 11 incompletions in two games – that kind of says it. He's an exceptional player and prepares like nobody and else and he's kind of the catalyst of getting everything going."
Manning, who also passed quarterback Brett Favre for the most four-touchdown games in NFL history -- he now has 24 -- wasn't interested in all the talk of the records he's setting. He was more concerned with the fact that the team is 4-0 in advance of a road matchup with the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5.
"The recaps don't mean a whole lot," he said. "It was a good win because it was this game and we'll learn from it and we have a tough test next week."
That's the attitude the rest of the locker room is taking as well. It doesn't get any better than 4-0 after four games. But even with all the records being set, the players and coaches understand that the regular season is only a quarter of the way finished.
"We're on a mission," defensive end Derek Wolfe said. "We're going to try to get to the big game. But it's week-by-week, day-by-day, practice-by-practice, snap-by-snap."
And with Manning at the helm of the offense, the team knows it has a chance to accomplish its goals.
"How that guy prepares throughout the week and how he has the offensive units preparing with him the same way, it's only going to get better," Vickerson said. "I don't see it dropping off."
