Numbers and records to watch as the reigning Super Bowl champions prepare to take on the Panthers on Thursday:

8: Super Bowl champion repeats. The last two franchises to do it were New England in 2004 (Super Bowls XXXVIII and XXXIX) and Denver in 1997 (Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII).

3: Super Bowl champions to open the following season with a different quarterback. Dallas (Super Bowl VI) went from Roger Staubach to Craig Morton, in 1972. Denver (XXXIII) went from John Elway to Brian Griese in 1999. And Baltimore (XXXV) went from Trent Dilfer to Elvis Grbac, in 2001. On Thursday, Siemian will be the fourth, taking over for Peyton Manning after Super Bowl 50.

36-19-1: Broncos’ all-time season-opener record (.655), which ranks second in the NFL and first in the AFC.

1: Time Super Bowl participants from a previous season have faced off in Week 1. Kansas City and Minnesota met in Super Bowl IV, then met in the 1970 opener (Sept. 20, 1970) at Minnesota.

44: Players in Broncos history who have started at quarterback. Siemian will be No. 45.

0.0: Passer rating of John Elway in his Sept. 4, 1983 debut at Pittsburgh. The statistic, however, can be misleading. Elway was injured and played only a half before Steve DeBerg took over. The Broncos won, 14-10, and Elway finished 1-of-8 in passing for 14 yards, zero touchdowns and one interception in his limited time.

5: Sacks needed by outside linebacker Von Miller (60) to move past Lyle Alzado (64.5) and rank No. 5 on the Broncos’ all-time list. Simon Fletcher (97.5), Karl Mecklenburg (79), Barney Chavous (75) and Rulon Jones (73.5) round out the top five.

2: Sacks needed by outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware (134.5) to pass Jared Allen and Julius Peppers (136) and move into ninth place on the league’s all-time list. Ware needs 7.5 to moved past Michael Strahan (141.5) and into No. 5 on the list.

1: Victory needed by coach Gary Kubiak to tie defensive coordinator Wade Phillips (16 wins from 1993-94) for seventh place on the all-time list for a Broncos head coach.

7: Catches needed by receiver Demaryius Thomas (456 career receptions) to pass Ed McCaffrey (462) for the fourth-most in Broncos history. Thomas needs 252 receiving yards to move past Lionel Taylor (6,872) at No. 3 and nine receiving touchdowns to move past Shannon Sharpe (55 TDs) at No. 2, respectively, on the team’s all-time lists.

82: Rushing yards needed by running back C.J. Anderson (1,607 career yards) to move past Olandis Gary, Gaston Green and Gerald Willhite and into 15th place on the Broncos’ all-time list.

5: Consecutive AFC West titles for the Broncos (2011-15), tied with Oakland (1972-76) for most in the division.

62: Combined years of coordinator experience — Wade Phillips (25 years), Joe DeCamillis (24), Rick Dennison (13) — on the Broncos’ staff, the most in the league.

30: Aqib Talib’s career interceptions, the most of any cornerback since he entered the NFL in 2008.