Johnny - are you always one of those monday morning QBs that select pregamers are known for after a loss? (The Cards are easy to scheme for... Whatever. You never said that prior to the game you Monday Morning QB. Bogus team my ass. I've never seen you post your predictions here.)
Anyways, despite your MMQB tendencies, the Broncos took on an outmatched NE offensive line with a QB who is not mobile. NE's O-line is probably as good as AZ's O-Line, so the fact the Broncos lit up NE defensively means squat. CAR's O-line is top 5 in the league, and maybe even the best.
There's a reason why CAR is favored by -4 early, and it's because they're simply better than DEN on both sides of the ball.