Swarmed by more than two dozen reporters and cameras zoomed in to capture his every word, cornerback Chris Harris stood on the side of the Broncos’ practice field at Dove Valley last month to offer his latest state-of-the-team address.

Only one preseason game had passed and the Broncos still were searching for their next starting quarterback and their 53-man roster. But the defense — the one that led the NFL in multiple categories last season and steered Denver to its third Super Bowl championship — clearly still was destructive, if not dominant. Its leaders still were in charge, and still leading a charge that began in 2015.

“There’s a standard here as you step on the field as a Broncos defender,” Harris said that day. “Playing defense here is kind of like the old days with the Ravens and even the old Chicago Bears when they had that type of standard. That’s our standard here. You come here, that’s championship-level defense.”

For the Broncos, championship-level defense means allowing only 283.1 yards per game and making 52 sacks. It means hitting Tom Brady 20 times in the AFC championship game and Cam Newton 13 times in Super Bowl 50. It means picking apart team after team, with a pick-six here, a strip sack there and applying suffocating pressure that cannot be quantified even with the best of NFL measurements.

For the Broncos, the standard includes a punishing, relentless attack that borders on dirty and offers no apologies.

In the 21-20, season-opening victory against the Panthers on Thursday, Denver’s defense upheld its standard — in the second half, anyway — by overcoming mistakes with big plays, takeaways and ruthless hits. The latter, the Broncos say, was born of necessity as they faced Newton, a dual-threat quarterback with the frame of a tight end, the power of a linebacker and the legs of a running back.

“That’s the only way you can stop a guy like Cam Newton,” Harris said. “Hit him. He’s unstoppable, so whenever he does try to run like a running back, you got to punish him.”

For the most part, it worked.

According to Pro Football Focus, Newton was pressured on 12 dropbacks and completed only three attempts for a mere 40 yards, while taking three sacks and posting a 48.4 quarterback rating. He also didn’t complete a pass targeted for more than 20 yards.

The Broncos of 2016 are, so far, much like their 2015 team. But to accompany the statistics and the victory are the permanent images of Newton lying helpless on the ground after taking at least four helmet-to-helmet hits in the second half, when the Broncos say they turned up the aggression.

“We play hard and we talk about playing hard all of the time,” coach Gary Kubiak said. “And as I said, that was a challenge. When you play that guy (Newton), he is such a great player. He’s the top player in football, and they’re designed runs for him and you’d better tackle him like a back and you’d better treat him that way or you’re going to have a long night as a defensive football team.”

Two of those helmet-to-helmet collisions could result in hefty fines by the NFL. Inside linebacker Brandon Marshall launched at Newton as he scrambled on a third-down play in the third quarter, then Darian Stewart did the same in the fourth, drawing a roughing-the-passer penalty that was nullified by Newton’s intentional grounding.

“We hear what everyone says. We’re not going to stop being aggressive. That’s what we do and that’s what has us No. 1, so we’re going to continue to play football,” Stewart said. “Anytime you get contact on a helmet, there’s going to be something coming.”

Yes, the Broncos of 2016 are also much like those of 2015 with their early reputation of being dirty. Remember when the Broncos produced 17 takeaways that led to 51 points in the first six games last season? Remember how they seemed on the verge of becoming the Oakland Raiders of the 1970s with a growing list of penalties and fines?

For the Broncos, playing in Wade Phillips’ 3-4 defense that spotlights its pass rush and relies on an air-tight secondary, there’s pride in punishment. There’s a belief that living on the edge and straddling the line of dirty and dominant is the most effective and truest way to the top.

After all, it worked once. And, after a first half riddled with mistakes and communication issues Thursday, it worked a second time in their reunion with Newton.

Inherent in the Broncos’ standard is satisfaction in suffering.

“That’s what we are. We’re going to bring that every week,” Harris said. “That was the whole 2015 Broncos, and it’s going to be the same thing in 2016. We feel like nobody in the league can hit like us, tackle like us, and that’s why we always try to send a message every time.”

Denver starts with D

Denver’s defense picked up where it left off last season, holding the high-powered Carolina Panthers to 20 points in the NFL season opener Thursday night. How that game compared with the Broncos’ performance on defense last season:

Yds. allowed Pass yds. Rush yds. Sacks Pts 2015 avg. 283.1 199.6 83.6 3.3 18.5 Super Bowl vs. Car. 315 197 118 7 10 Thursday vs. Car. 333 157 176 3 20

Nick Groke, The Denver Post