The NFL got weird over the first month this season. Take this stat for example: Three of the league’s weakest offenses, teams ranked among the bottom four in yards gained — Los Angeles Rams (32nd), Minnesota Vikings (31st) and Green Bay Packers (29th) — are a combined 9-2.

But do not assume the inverse is true, that good offenses make for bad teams. The Atlanta Falcons are streaking into contention. Behind quarterback Matt Ryan and wide receiver Julio Jones, who combined to break NFL records last week against Carolina, the Falcons sprinted through four weeks.

And odd as it seems, the Broncos for the first time this season will face a team with a winning record when the Falcons travel to Denver for a Sunday kickoff. The Broncos (4-0) have faced four opponents who are a combined 5-11, and two of those teams were in the playoffs last season.

“It never comes down to just the defense or just the offense,” Falcons coach Dan Quinn said Wednesday. “So when you’re really firing on all cylinders, those are the teams that are hardest to deal with.”

Despite facing, and fending off, formidable passers in Cam Newton, Andrew Luck, Andy Dalton and Jameis Winston, Denver’s defense will face its stiffest threat against the Falcons.

Atlanta’s Ryan this season has completed 101-of-140 passes, good for a ridiculous 72.1 percent completion percentage. He’s thrown for 1,473 yards — averaging a first down for every pass (10.5 yards per attempt). Last week, Ryan tore up the Panthers for 503 yards and four touchdowns.

Jones, Atlanta’s top receiving target, caught 13 passes for 300 yards last week. The Ryan-Jones combo is the first in the NFL since 1966 to combine for more than 500 yards passing and at least 300 yards receiving.

But the Panthers played a primary zone defense against Atlanta, allowing Ryan to set up the pass with the pass — short dunks on shallow crossing routes to draw Carolina in, then long passes down the sides for big gains. The Broncos play primarily a man-to-man type defense.

The architect behind Atlanta’s surge is offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan, son of former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. Kyle learned his offensive chops working under Denver coach Gary Kubiak in Houston, when Shanahan was wide receivers coach, then quarterbacks coach, then offensive coordinator under the head coach.

“There’s influence from it,” Ryan said of Kubiak’s offensive coaching tree. “Gary’s a great coach, a very good offensive mind… We tend to do a few things differently, but at the core, there are a lot of similarities.”

The Falcons lead the NFL in yards per game (478.8, the only team averaging more than 400) and passing yards (354.2, the only team above 305). The Broncos, though, rank second in the NFL in pass defense (169.5 yards against) and fourth in total defense (283.2). And Denver’s defense leads the NFL with 41 quarterback hits.

A tired football adage, that a great defense beats a great offense, will be tested.

“Growing up as a defensive coach, I certainly have a great regard for their defense,” Quinn said. “They are really good ball hawks.”