Denver was down to its third quarterback, had two backup tackles on the offensive line, was without two of its top four wide receivers and couldn’t (or wouldn’t) use three wide receiver sets.

No excuses.

“We still put 11 guys out there against their 11,” Rod Smith, one of the healthy receivers, said after the Broncos lost, 26-6, to the bruising Ravens. “We just didn’t perform.”

A month ago, Denver was 4-0 and looked like an elite team. The Broncos still looked that way even after they lost by a point in Kansas City on the most miraculous of Dante Hall’s return touchdowns this season.

Now, at 5-3, they’re just trying to hang on until they get their bye in two weeks — they play New England at home Nov. 3.

“This is the National Football League. Injuries happen. You just have to play with what you have,” coach Mike Shanahan said.

This is a critical period for a team that thinks of itself as one of the league’s top franchises. Since John Elway retired after he led the Broncos to their second of two Super Bowl victories in 1998, they’ve made the playoffs only once. They are a slightly above average 39-33 during that period and they go into this week’s game looking not only at injuries, but at the precedent of a year ago.

Last season, they were 6-2 after eight games and were at home facing an Oakland team that had lost four in a row after a 4-0 start. The Raiders won, 34-10, and went on to the Super Bowl, and the Broncos finished 3-5, missing the playoffs at 9-7.

The only positive in Sunday’s loss was that it was more competitive than the score despite the absence of Jake Plummer, the starting quarterback; Steve Beuerlein, his backup; linebacker Ian Gold, out for the season with a knee injury; left tackle Ephraim Salaam; and wide receiver Ed McCaffrey. Matt Lepsis, the right tackle, was ejected in the second quarter, and linebacker John Mobley went out with a scary neck injury just before halftime.

Still, they entered the fourth quarter down just 9-6 before everything fell apart for quarterback Danny Kanell, who spent the last two seasons in the Arena League and minor-league baseball. The most costly play was a pass he aimed for Smith that was picked off by Ray Lewis. Lewis rambled 37 yards to the Denver 20 to set up a touchdown, and the game was essentially over.

Kanell, who finished 16-of-31 for 114 yards and had a dismal passer rating of 33.5, said he wasn’t nervous; he felt fine; he wasn’t rusty.

“I never saw Ray, and the wind got it,” said Kanell, who began his career with the Giants, playing in the Meadowlands, where the winds almost always play a factor. “I played at Giants Stadium, so I know about the wind. I never should have thrown it like that.”

The fact that Kanell is playing at all is a bigger problem for the Broncos. Their biggest plus is that after this week’s game, they have the bye. By then, Plummer just might be recovered from the broken foot incurred when he got off a couch in his home two weeks ago.

Yes, that’s how bad things are for the Broncos.