IN DEFENSE OF DENVER'S MOVES.

Byline: BILLY WITZ

Somewhere off on an island when Butch Davis gets tired of counting his severance money, he must look at the Denver Broncos defensive line and wonder who in the world are these guys?

When Davis was fired as coach and general manager of the Cleveland Browns, out the door with him went defensive-line coach Andre Patterson, who in his fifth stop in nine NFL seasons, landed in Denver.

Soon, a parade of Browns followed.

Defensive end Courtney Brown, the No. 1 pick in the 2000 draft who had ended the past four seasons on injured reserve, landed in Denver after getting released. Another high pick, Gerard Warren, whom the Browns drafted instead of Patriots Pro Bowler Richard Seymour, came for a fourth-round pick. Two veterans, Ebenezer Ekuban and Michael Myers, also arrived via a trade.

It's one thing to covet castoffs from the '85 Bears. It's another to go out and get the '04 Browns, who were dead last in the NFL against the run.

When the Broncos were steamrolled 34-10 by Miami in the season-opener, it looked like this group was working on getting another coach fired.

Not anymore.

The Broncos have recovered from the opening pratfall to win three straight games and lead the AFC West.

The catalyst for the streak might have been Champ Bailey's interception return for a touchdown against the Chargers in Week 2, and Jake Plummer has been avoiding critical mistakes. But the ex-Browns have their fingerprints all over it.

Denver is fourth in the NFL in rushing defense, even factoring in the 151 yards it allowed to Miami.

For three consecutive weeks, the Broncos have thwarted three of the NFL's best running backs.

They limited San Diego's LaDainian Tomlinson to 52 yards on 19 carries, they held Kansas City's Priest Holmes to 61 yards on 14 carries and Jacksonville's Fred Taylor to 14 yards on eight carries.

In their 20-7 victory Sunday over Jacksonville, Denver held the Jaguars to a franchise-low 12 yards rushing on 11 carries, a win accomplished despite the absence of injured cornerbacks Champ Bailey and Darrent Williams.

The Broncos were fourth in total defense a year ago, but back-to-back blowouts to the Colts in the playoffs and the free-agent departure of defensive end Reggie Hayward and his 10 1/2 sacks caused Coach Mike Shanahan to retool.

Seeking a better pass rush and bigger bodies to keep its outstanding Al Wilson-led linebackers free, Shanahan's biggest gamble is that Brown can remain healthy and that Warren - who has earned a reputation for poor work habits - can mature. Myers is being counted on as a reliable tackle and Ekuban is health insurance against Brown or former Pro Bowl end Trevor Pryce, who looks to be nearing his old form after missing virtually all of last season with a back injury.

It's still early with the Broncos, who have faded after 5-1 starts the past two years, but so far it couldn't be working better.

Probably just as Davis planned it.

Elsewhere around the league in Week 4:

-- The atmosphere was electric, but shame on the NFL for pawning off the Mexico City crowd of 103,467 as a regular-season record.

Many of the tickets - 20,000 by some estimates - were giveaways. Two of the seven sets of fans that were approached as they entered Estadio Azteca said their tickets, which had 0.00 printed under price, were given to them by sponsors.

-- After Mark Brunell's late-game magic rescued the Redskins to a win over Dallas, he was clutch again. Brunell completed 11 of 15 passes on third down, including a 30-yarder to Santana Moss in overtime that set up the game-winning field goal against Seattle.

-- It looks like another topsy-turvy year in the NFL. At the quarter pole, only four of the 12 teams that made the playoffs last season have a winning record - Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Denver and Atlanta.

-- Just how bad is the NFC North? As bad as the Packers look right now at 0-4, they are but 1 1/2 games behind the first-place and 1-2 Bears. Detroit, Minnesota, Chicago and Green Bay have combined for one victory outside the division - the Vikings win over the Saints.