Voices around the NFL may think the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are in trouble at 1-2 with last year's two Super Bowl teams coming up on the schedule the next two weeks.
Jameis Winston sees the situation a lot differently.
The Bucs second year quarterback, who leads the NFL with eight touchdown passes, feels Sunday will be a chance for the Buccaneers to showcase what they're all about when they take the field against the 3-0 Broncos.
"When you look at the stretch with Arizona, the Rams, Denver, and Carolina, arguably the (four) best defenses in the NFL, it's a challenge," Winston said. "And that's what all of us have to be able to come together and be like, 'we take on that challenge'. This is a great opportunity that we're given.
The Broncos will be without 9-time Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware, who is recovering from a fractured forearm.
But the Bucs will still have their hands full against a top-tier pass rush that ranks second in the NFL with 12 sacks.
"Really good pass rushers with Shane Ray (3 sacks last week in his first career start) and Von Miller (leads the NFL with 5 sacks)," Buccaneers tight end Cameron Brate said. "So we're just going to have to really attach the game plan and be ready to stop those two guys and score some points."
"We need to be concerned about what we can do as a plan to negate some of their skill set on the other side of the ball," offensive coordinator Todd Monken said. "But more importantly- what do we do well? And not worry about the other things that we can't control."
The Buccaneers have given up 101 points this season, the most in the NFL. Defensive tackle Clinton McDonald and the rest of the Bucs D expect to rise to the challenge facing a team that has won eight straight games (including the playoffs), the longest current winning streak in the league.
"To get a win in the NFL is hard enough, McDonald said. "But to get a win on a Super Bowl caliber championship team- it'll be a very exciting time for this town, a very exciting time for this team, and it shows that we're going in the right direction."
The Bucs D will need to stop reigning AFC offensive player of the week Trevor Siemien, who became the first player in NFL history to top 300 passing yards and throw four touchdown passes without an interception in his first career road start in a 29-17 win at Cincinnati.
Siemien starred at Olympia High School in Central Florida before heading to Northwestern University, where he was college teammates with Bucs tight end Danny Vitale.
"He's a guy who's just a raw talent," Vitale said. "I think he just ended up in a great situation as well. So I'm not surprised at all (at Siemien's success), to be honest with you."
Ball security will be critical this week, especially with the league's sack leader Miller coming around the edge.
The Buccaneers are last in the league with a -6 turnover differential, and Winston has turned the ball over seven times in the last two weeks alone.
That can't happen if they Bucs want to knock off the defending Super Bowl champs.