DENVER -- One could feel the calmness in the Atlanta Falcons' approach, from the way Matt Ryan took the field for warm-ups to the way the Falcons attacked the vaunted Denver Broncos defense on their very first drive.

If there were any doubts whether the Falcons could contend with the defending Super Bowl champs, those doubts evaporated into the Mile High air when Ryan connected with speedy running back Tevin Coleman for a 48-yard pass play, helping set up Devonta Freeman's opening 1-yard score on a gutsy fourth-down play less than five minutes into the game.

Running back Tevin Coleman dives for a touchdown in the third quarter of the Falcons' 23-16 victory over the Broncos. Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

Yes, the life was sucked out of the crowd and the Broncos early by a Falcons team looking to show the NFL world this hot start is no fraud. The Falcons are now 4-1 and have won four in a row after humbling the previously unbeaten Broncos Sunday, 23-16.

Remember, the Falcons were 5-0 last season before finishing 8-8 and missing the playoffs. What's going to stop them from suffering the same type of implosion?

"I recognize the question, and the answer is it's a different outfit," Falcons coach Dan Quinn said. "I recognize where you're going with it, but it is a different group. We are a mentally tougher group than we were. And we have real ability to understand how we have to reset to get ready to go right back to that process."

So knocking off the champs means the Falcons are legit Super Bowl contenders, right? Well, let's pump the brakes on those thoughts. The players sure are taking such an approach.

"We don't listen to the outsiders, man," said free safety Ricardo Allen, who had an interception that set up a touchdown. "Once you start to do good, everybody starts to blow the smoke up you. And then you start doing bad, then everybody leaves.

"What we realize, man, is that we're here as a team. We're a brotherhood and we play for each other. We don't care what the outsiders say. We enjoy our fans, but we're here for each other. Every game is a new game. We don't think we're better than anybody. We just come out and play ball and play hard."

The Broncos played with a rookie quarterback in Paxton Lynch, who looked clueless at times, starting for the injured Trevor Siemian. But the Falcons winning the first half of this grueling, back-to-back trip out west was another step toward earning more respectability.

Beat Russell Wilson and the Seahawks in Seattle next Sunday and "Super Bowl contender" will become a normal part of the vocabulary when discussing the Falcons. You don't beat teams like Carolina, Denver and Seattle in consecutive weeks by accident.

But, again, the Falcons won't get ahead of themselves.

"I feel like we're a great team," Freeman said. "Now we've got to go beat Seattle. We want to compete for each other and get to the playoffs. But first we have to win one game at a time. At the end of the year, we'll be where we need to be if we continue to do that."

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Maybe the most promising aspect of Sunday's win, outside of the tremendous all-around performances by the running backs, was how the defense showed up strong. Former first-round draft pick Vic Beasley Jr., who has been the target of criticism for having less of an impact than most anticipated, had a breakout performance with 3.5 sacks. He showed his tremendous speed off the edge and made the day that much more difficult for the inexperienced Lynch. And if the Falcons, who had six sacks against the Broncos, can establish a consistent pass rush to pair with that potent offense, there's no telling what type of success this team could have this season.

The pass rush helped cover up the variety of injuries at linebacker, although safety Kemal Ishmael filled in nicely calling the signals at linebacker. And the combined 286 yards and two scores for Coleman and Freeman helped the offense flow without Julio Jones being a major factor for the second time this season. Jones didn't have his first catch until the third quarter and finished with two catches for 29 yards. Ryan finished the game completing 15 of 28 passes for 267 yards with a 31-yard touchdown to Coleman.

Freeman and Coleman now have a combined 1,000 yards from scrimmage through the first five games. According to ESPN Stats & Information, they are the third running back duo with at least 400 yards of scrimmage each through five games since 2001, joining Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams of the Dolphins (2009) and Deuce McAllister and Reggie Bush of the Saints (2006).

We'll see what's in store next for the Falcons, but it's hard to doubt them now.