The Broncos’ defense had an almost daily routine last season of declaring the world had underestimated its ability to destroy things — mostly quarterbacks but also the fantastic hopes and dreams of opposing fans. On a team led by Peyton Manning, the defense was the headliner and it wanted all to know.

But there was another story from the Broncos’ Super Bowl-winning season. One that only offensive line coach Clancy Barone could appropriately tell.

And so he does.

In NFL Films’ “Worth the Wait: Gary Kubiak and the 2015 Denver Broncos,” Barone unloads.

“Our Pro Bowl left tackle goes down,” he begins as the film shifts to a close-up, slow-motion clip of Ryan Clady. “So the guy that we drafted (Ty Sambrailo) to maybe compete for the third tackle spot comes over and plays left tackle. All right, we’re looking for a third tackle. We call Ryan Harris, who’s up in Westminster, Colorado, changing — swear to god — changing diapers. He’s on the street. He has not seen the weight room since December. Here’s the future world champs and I have Evan Mathis join us eight days before opening kickoff and we’re meeting at 5:30 every morning going over the playbook. He doesn’t know s*** from Shinola.”

“To me that’s a hell of a story for a team that wins the world title.”

Barone’s revolving door of an offensive line was one of the many stories that unfolded throughout the season and one of many that NFL Films captured and recently strung together to honor the Broncos’ championship run and storied career of its quarterback.

Wednesday, a day before the Broncos’ season-opening rematch with the Panthers, NFL Network will air two hour-long films that focus exclusively the team and their quarterback, followed by a fourth on Oct 12. (A fourth film, “Top 10 Peyton Manning Games,” will also air 8 p.m. Wednesday, but spans the quarterback’s entire career.)

Two — “Worth the Wait” (6 p.m. Wednesday) and “America’s Game: 2015 Broncos” (7 p.m. Wednesday) — review the Broncos’ road to Super Bowl 50, using unseen footage and exclusive interviews with coaches and players to tell the tale of their championship ride.

The other goes back in time to the summer of 2013, when Manning maniacally — as only he can — prepared for his record season with the Broncos. Aptly named “The Timeline: Peyton Manning’s Summer School” (Oct. 12, 6 p.m.), the film, which has already aired on NBC, goes behind the scenes of his workouts at Duke with coach David Cutcliffe, brother, Eli, and a small contingent of receivers.

In advance of Wednesday’s premiere, producers from NFL Films spoke to The Denver Post and provided clips of the documentaries.

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WORTH THE WAIT

Over the last 50-plus years, most under the direction of Ed Sabol’s late son, Steve, NFL Films has amassed 123 Sports Emmys and enough film to wrap around the globe a few times. That film, as well as the digital recordings on tapes and drives, are stored in the company’s Mount Laurel, N.J., vault, some with the label: “Do not use. Not for air.”

Such was the case for parts of “Worth the Wait,” which includes interviews with general manager John Elway and every Broncos coach, many of whom had coached for decades before winning their first Super Bowl ring last February. Last season was as much a reunion for the coaching staff as it was a championship run, and their tales of their piecemeal offensive line, league-leading defense and, of course, their management of the quarterbacks only added to the significance of the victory.

Perhaps no moment leading up to Super Bowl 50 was more significant than a sideline interaction between Kubiak and Manning during a loss to the Chiefs last November. The two were mic’d up, but their conversation was promptly stashed away for months.

“That didn’t see the light of day at all last year,” said Adam Ryan, the film’s co-producer. “We just sat on it because we thought it was best for all involved that we not show that in the heat of the moment.”

Manning had just shattered Brett Favre’s all-time passing yards record — and had thrown four interceptions, taken two sacks and reached a 0.0 passer rating by the third quarter. The wired conversation lasted only a few seconds but turned out to be one of the most significant moments in recent team history: Kubiak told Manning, a future Hall of Famer, he was benched.

Some six weeks later, practice film from inside the Broncos’ field house showed Manning announcing his return.

“During the workout, he sent me a signal to the film: ‘Hey, we’re No. 1,'” Kubiak recalled during Manning’s retirement announcement in March. “You could take it that way. I took it as ‘I’m ready to play, Coach.’ So I was heading home that night, I texted him, I said, ‘Hey, the workout looked great today, and, oh, by the way, I got the signal.'”

The signal was one of the last in Manning’s career. That workout was one of the last he’d take in the Broncos’ field house.

But the road there was long and winding.

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AMERICA’S GAME

For Manning, the road to Denver started with four neck surgeries.

“I had a doctor tell me, ‘Hey, you never know. You might wake up tomorrow and it’s going to all be back, your strength and the feeling in your fingers,’” Manning said in the film. “I was waking up every day thinking, ‘Today’s the day.’ Around 1 o’clock in the afternoon everyday, I was like ‘Today is not the day.’ It was a disappointing way to go through each day.”

For DeMarcus Ware, the road to Denver started in Dallas, with injuries, too, playing a part in his release by the Cowboys.

In “America’s Game,” which mixes game footage with player interviews to offer a different perspective on not just the 2015 season, but series of events leading up to it, Ware and Manning both open up about the injuries that led them to Denver and sidelined them for a string of games.

Turns out Andrew Luck wasn’t on the only quarterback bruised and battered after their Week 9 matchup at Indianapolis.

“I had never missed a Wednesday and Thursday, ever, ever in my career,” Manning said, recounting the fallout from his foot injury. “I did not practice on Wednesday and Thursday. Went out there Friday to practice. I had another injury that kind of occurred during the practice. I had a rib injury of all things that kind of showed up. I remember kind of saying, ‘Boy, I hope this isn’t what I think is — I hope my body is just not all of a sudden falling apart.'”

Manning was diminished physically, but the Broncos’ defense only seemed to improve, and “America’s Game,” relying heavily on recollections from Ware and Von Miller, provides new details on their postseason run that wreaked havoc on opposing quarterbacks.

But as “America’s Game” goes deep into the rise of the defense and tail end of Manning’s career, “The Timeline” goes behind the scenes before Manning’s finest season.

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THE TIMELINE

Manning built a legacy on his work ethic. He took pride in being almost obsessive-compulsive with his routines and studying habits, but most were only heard about and re-told by coaches and teammates.

“The Timeline,” a behind-the-scenes look at his 2013 offseason, unveiled just how detailed his game preparation really was. That summer, Manning readied for what would be the greatest season in history for a quarterback (5,477 passing yards and 55 touchdowns) and an offense (606 points).

Stored away for years under the disguise label, “The M&M Project,” for Peyton’s twins, Marshall and Mosley,” the estimated 60 hours of tape footage spanned the amusing moments — Eli loudly eating chips during film study with Peyton and Cutcliffe — to the maniacal ones, with Peyton spending hours on perfecting his plant foot during dropbacks.

“He wanted some footage to show his kids some day of how he prepared to do his job,” said co-producer, Chris Barlow. “At the time, we didn’t what what it was going to be or what it was going to be for. It was just basically a chance for us to capture football history, and if we find a way to found a way in the future to turn it into a program, great.”

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"Just run gotty" Peyton Manning's lingo stretches far beyond "Omaha!" #TheTimeline pic.twitter.com/jpUp6RFQ3P — NFL Films (@NFLFilms) August 24, 2016

It wasn’t until Manning announced his retirement this past March that NFL Films asked him if they could cull it together for a documentary.

“He’s a perfectionist in everything he does,” Barlow said. “Coming back from the first shoot with Keith Cossrow, my co-producer on this, we were just amazed that anyone could love their job as much as he did. And that just stuck with us right away. You don’t meet people who truly love what they’re doing as much as Peyton did. And when we started making this film, we wanted to make sure that came across.”