ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Perhaps it is the sign of the times, the pervasiveness of social media, fantasy football or simply all of the above.

But the Denver Broncos have a quarterback in Peyton Manning who is currently tied for the league lead in touchdown passes (36) and a tight end in Julius Thomas who is the league leader in touchdown receptions (12) despite missing the past three games. They have won 10 games, have a three-game winning streak and are No. 5 in the league in scoring. And on Monday, Broncos head coach John Fox still answered a question about concerns with the team's passing attack over the past three games -- all Broncos wins -- with this:

"Our passing game is fine, you never know we might put our foot on the gas and throw it 50 times," Fox said. "I can't really predict what's going to happen because a lot of it is based on what an opponent does. ...There is nothing wrong with our passing game, we've just run it a little bit more the past few weeks. Just like there was nothing wrong with our run game ... when people were blowing fuses on that."

Fox also said:

"Let me just say, I can't think of another quarterback I'd rather have than Peyton Manning," Fox said. "I would remind everybody whether it's two weeks, three weeks, at the end of the day we're not done with our body of work yet. We're just trying to win games. We've been blessed to win three in a row. We're going to lean on whatever we have to lean on and be efficient at both. Unless something else is created you're either running it or you're throwing it."

The Broncos (10-3) have played seven games against teams currently ranked among the league's top 10 in scoring defense. And while the Broncos are also 5-2 in those games, those defenses have effectively loaded the middle of the field against Manning and the Broncos' passing game, haven't sent extra rushers at Manning all that often and taken the go-ahead-and-run-it approach.

Three of those seven teams -- New England, Arizona and Buffalo -- have also each intercepted Manning twice along the way.

Toss in a stunning loss to the St. Louis Rams when the Broncos ran just 10 times, one of those a kneel-down by Manning just before halftime, and the Broncos' concerted effort to find more of a running game before the postseason begins as well as the entire stew of events and injuries in recent weeks have all impacted Manning and the offense's numbers. Julius Thomas hasn't played in the past three games because of a left ankle injury and Demaryius Thomas played in Sunday's win against the Bills with an injured right ankle that had been stepped on by a teammate during last Wednesday's practice.

Two players who have been the team's No. 1 running backs at different points this season -- Montee Ball and Ronnie Hillman -- have missed the past three and four games respectively.

Granted, folks aren't used to seeing Manning held for fewer than 180 yards passing in consecutive games -- he had 179 yards in the win against Kansas City and 173 in the win against the Bills on Sunday. It's the first time that's happened since he had 192 and 95 yards passing in the last two games of the 2008 regular season when the Indianapolis Colts had their playoff seed wrapped up.

Sunday was also the first time Manning had not thrown a touchdown pass in a regular-season game since Nov. 14, 2010, against the Cincinnati Bengals. So the questions about Manning's age (38), his arm strength late in the season in the post-spinal-fusion part of his career and the Broncos' general reliance on Manning in putting up historical numbers in the offense over the past three seasons all swirl around the Broncos' past three wins.

"But I think you do whatever is necessary to win the game," said wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders. "I'm pretty sure a lot of teams would want to be where we are. ...And Peyton? Peyton can get our offense in the right play every time and everybody knows what he can do throwing the football."

Sunday, in a key AFC West showdown against the Chargers in San Diego, will be another test for the Broncos. Chargers defensive coordinator John Pagano has traditionally been more aggressive than most rushing Manning with a variety of defensive looks. Manning, however, has topped 300 yards in his two previous visits to San Diego since he signed with the Broncos in 2012.

"We're going to do what's necessary to win football games, it just so happens over the last few weeks, we've leaned a little more on one side," Fox said. "But as long as it's effective that's what helps you win games."