The Broncos have made an art of winning close games. They win, but they barely win. For the past 13 months, dramatic Sunday afternoons have been the norm on the Front Range.

 After struggling to conquer the Colts and, especially, the Panthers, the Broncos arrived in Cincinnati as 3.5 point underdogs.  Skepticism followed the Broncos to Ohio. The Super Bowl champs have struggled to find believers outside Colorado.

The Broncos demolished the doubters with a 29-17 win over the Bengals. This was a steady, convincing victory. The Broncos defense is as mighty and violent and frightening as last season.

And the offense is improving each week. The Bengals rank among the NFL’s top teams, but there was little drama in the fourth quarter. For once, it was calm Sunday afternoon on the Front Range.

 Three reasons why the Broncos won:

One – Trevor Siemian

Siemian is blessed with Zen-like poise. He’s laboring under intense pressure, with tens of thousands watching at the stadiums and millions watching on TV, but he plays as if he’s tossing footballs in the backyard with his friends.

 His poise traveled to Cincinnati. The run game faltered, sputtering to only 2.3 yards per carry, but the Siemian-led pass-attack soared. He completed 23 of 35 passes for 312 yards, 4 touchdowns and a 132.1 rating. He hit eight different receivers with passes. He made the grumpy duo of DeMaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders happy.

Siemian-mania has arrived in Colorado. Expect to see a host of No. 13 jerseys in your neighborhood soon.

Two – The defense

The Broncos have held opponents to 20 points or fewer points 16 times in the past 22 games. In the second half, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton placed only three points on the scoreboard, dooming his team to defeat.

Three – Emmanuel Sanders and DeMaryius Thomas

 Siemian was often sensational, but he had help. His two long touchdown throws to Sanders and Thomas were slightly underthrown, but it failed to matter.

Sanders was so wide open that he could wait for the pass, and Thomas used superior size and muscle to wrestle the ball away from Chris Lewis-Harris and come down with the football and a touchdown.