The Packers are just one of three 3-0 teams in the NFL, and unless the wheels fall off of their well-oiled ship, they should be 4-0 after Sunday's game with the Denver Broncos (1-2).

To be sure, Denver has had their chances in both of their losses, but controversial decisions from the sidelines and failure to execute between the lines has produced a third-place result in the AFC West.

Just three games into his tenure in the Mile High City, coach John Fox has already begun feeling the wrath of a rabid fan base that hasn't had much to cheer about in the last five seasons. Fox has faced the ire of a faction of fans clamoring for Tim Tebow to be installed as his starting quarterback rather than the embattled Kyle Orton.

Last week at Tennessee, Fox decided to try go up by a touchdown by kicking a chip-shot field goal on fourth and goal with 13:34 left in regulation. Instead of going through with it, however, he called kicker Matt Prater back off the field and decided to go for six. The move backfired when Willis McGahee was stuffed for no gain, giving the ball back to the Titans.

Two possessions later, Tennessee quarterback Matt Hasselbeck marched the Titans down the field 95 yards for the eventual game-winning touchdown.

What may help bolster the anemic Denver running attack (if that's what you want to call it – they rank 28th in the NFL in rushing yards) will be the return on Knowshon Moreno. Moreno sat out last week with a hamstring injury, but returned to practice this week and is expected to start. Last week, however, the Packers allowed just 13 yards rushing total; 11 of them came from Jay Cutler on broken plays.

Also on the Broncos injury front, Denver star cornerback Champ Bailey practiced this week on his injured hamstring and reported no severe pain. Pass rush-specialist Elvis Dumervil is questionable with a bad shoulder that has hampered him since Week 1. Friday in practice Dumervil tweaked a calf muscle, but says he wants to play.

The Packers are struggling with injuries of their own this week as well. After spraining a knee last week against the Bears, right tackle Bryan Bulaga will be held out of Sunday's game; Marshall Newhouse, who played well at Chicago after Bulaga got hurt, will get the start. Also, Ryan Grant, who ran for 92 yards on 17 carries last week, bruised his kidney, ruling him out for this Sunday's game as well.

Green Bay's offense has been operating at peak efficiency, with Aaron Rodgers easily outpacing every other quarterback in terms of rating at 120.9. As has been the trend for some time now, most offenses are pass-first; in terms of total offense, Green Bay is ranked 8th heading into Sunday's game, Denver is ranked 27th. Not surprisingly, Orton's 79.1 quarterback rating corresponds to the failure to rack up points, as well as for the fans to implore Fox to make a change under center.

Defensively, the Packers clamped down on Cutler last week, relatively speaking. After getting gashed for over 400 yards in the first two weeks, Cutler was held to under 300.

Overall, however, those first two weeks did in Green Bay's total defensive rating to the point that even with last week's performance; the Packers are still ranked 29th in the NFL, and 31st in pass defense. The only team worse than Green Bay? New England.

The trend that we are seeing is that apparently defense doesn't matter in 2011.

Key matchups:

Denver CB Champ Bailey vs. Aaron Rodgers and his wide receivers. As mentioned above, Bailey is returning from a sore hamstring, and will be tested early and often. Rodgers loves to wing it all over the field, and Denver will need Bailey as healthy as possible if they hope to contain the reigning Super Bowl MVP.

Denver LOLB Von Miller vs. Green Bay RT Marshall Newhouse. With Dumervil's injuries, the pass rush has fallen to Miller. How Newhouse will fare for a full game is unknown at this point, but his early returns were promising. The entire Packers offensive line has to help Newhouse out – in one way by not getting flagged for all of the false starts that plagued them last week.

Green Bay TE Jermichael Finley vs. Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers was sharply critical of Finley's continual mental mistakes this week, even though some of those mistakes turned into touchdowns vs. Chicago. Rodgers is correct – the only thing holding Finley back from superstardom is Finley himself.

Key games around the NFL:

Detroit (3-0) at Dallas (2-1) - The most bandied about question in the e NFL so far this season is "Is Detroit for real?" We'll know a lot more after Sunday's game at Dallas. The Cowboys have been a perennial underachiever. Can Detroit's staunch defense and all-world quarterback leave 4-0 and give the Packers a true run for their money? I think they can. Prediction: Detroit 28, Dallas 20

Minnesota (0-3) Kansas City (0-3) - How are these two teams considered "key matchups?" Simple. One of them will see their entire season get flushed down the toilet very soon. Starting 0-4 when you were considered to be up-and-coming (Kansas City) or on the brink (Minnesota) one year earlier gets people fired. How many more leads can the Vikings squander is something we all would like to know. Prediction: Minnesota 23, Kansas City 21

New York Jets (2-1) at Baltimore (2-1) – Last season, these two teams slugged out a 10-9 Baltimore win. The Jets defense isn't playing well this season, particularly their once-stout run defense. New York is allowing over 136 rushing yards per game and has surrendered 5 rushing touchdowns. Containing Ray Rice will be difficult. Prediction: Baltimore 19, New York 10

For what it's worth:

Sunday marks the first day that NFL teams will be wearing pink in support of breast cancer. Last season the promotion, properly, was limited to one pinked-out home game and one pinked-out road game for each team. I don't think you are going to find anyone that is pro-breast cancer, but it got to be too much when the entire month was dedicated to NFL players looking like Pepto Bismol bottles. We are all down for the cause, but isn't there a better way to support awareness of all cancers?

My prediction: Packers 38, Broncos 23