Well I tried giving you the benefit of the doubt, but I think as much as you attempted to include bias in your comments, the fan in you is strong.
first, the Saints and bucs werent "streaking", the Saints just finished a 2-5 stretch to start their worst season with brees at the helm, and the Bucs were piling up points on bad teams and giving up even more to good ones.
Secondly, yes you did play an easy schedule. A Very EASY SCHEDULE. We dont blame you for this, its not your fault, but lets not make mountains out Bengals here. Losing against high quality opponents is not a badge of honour, its a sizeable question that doesnt have a feasible answer at this time. Beating the Bengals(?!?) on the road, and the artist formally known as the Ravens doesnt exactly instill confidence at this point. The great thing about football is you always get to prove yourself again, and Denver will have to do exactly that.
What i do agree with is that denver has used the season to get better and work out the kinks in their system, becoming Colts west. They needed the easy schedule for the time to build up to allow Peytons receivers to earn his trust and defense to have the confidence to pin their ears back and get after the QB.
Fortunately, the Pats have not only gotten better since we played last, but also healthier, which means we also are in great position to prove ourselves worthy of the opportunity to show up and earn respect. They will most certainly be up for the challenge of Manning, Manning will most certainly be up for the challenge of the Pats. The question will be, if it gets to that point, whether the rest of the broncos are as well.