Denver ? And the kids shall lead them.

The Denver Broncos can clinch a club-record fourth consecutive trip to the playoffs on Sunday, a scenario that seemed farfetched a month ago after they had lost four straight.

The ones leading the playoff push aren’t the savvy veterans who guided them into the AFC championship last year, either.

Jake Plummer? Benched a month ago, now he sees the field only to hold the ball for kicker Jason Elam.

Rod Smith? He’s having his worst season in a decade and might very well have hit the end of his career.

Left tackle Matt Lepsis? The team’s best lineman is out for the year with a knee injury. Ditto for safeties Nick Ferguson and Sam Brandon and defensive end Courtney Brown.

Mike Anderson, Trevor Pryce, Jeb Putzier and Ron Dayne? All gone.

At the vanguard now are a bunch of rookies led by Jay Cutler, who has settled in and settled down under center, displaying a powerful right arm and poise beyond his years one month into his tenure.

Although he was the last of the “Big Three” quarterbacks to get his first start, long after Arizona’s Matt Leinert and Tennessee’s Vince Young got going, Cutler is the first quarterback in league history to throw for multiple touchdowns in each of his first four games.

His eight TDs are even one more than John Elway had in his rookie season, not that anybody should be comparing him to the two-time champion and Hall of Famer just yet.

After losing his first two starts, Cutler has beaten Arizona on the road and Cincinnati at home, and he can put the Broncos in the playoffs with a win over San Francisco on Sunday.

DENVER BRONCOS TIGHT END TONY SCHEFFLER, RIGHT, celebrates with teammate Stephen Alexander following Scheffler's one-yard touchdown catch against the Cincinnati Bengals. Scheffler is one of several rookies who have put Denver on the doorstep of clinching an AFC playoff berth.

He has relied on his fellow rookies.

Brandon Marshall turned a short pass into an incredible 71-yard score in Cutler’s debut against Seattle. Tony Scheffler, Cutler’s roommate in training camp, has caught three TD passes from the former Vanderbilt star, tying a team record for a rookie tight end.

Running back Mike Bell has run for eight touchdowns, one shy of the NFL mark for an undrafted rookie set by Indianapolis’ Dominic Rhodes in 2001.

End Elvis Dumervil, the only defensive player in the 2006 draft class, leads the team with eight sacks.

“He’s shown his worth,” teammate Kenard Lang said.

They all have.

“Obviously, they have a great future in front of them,” coach Mike Shanahan said.

And they’re not waiting to start making a name for themselves.

It starts in practice, where their heads are no longer swimming with confusion from a thick playbook.

When players start to think less and react more as these ones are, “You can get away from the mechanical: ‘You must line up here, do this,”‘ offensive coordinator Mike Heimer-dinger said. “A lot of times it was spending time just where they should line up, reading the coverage. Now, they’re starting to play and run and use their ability. Now, they’re comfortable. They know where we want them.

“And when they do that, that gives you a chance to give them some plays in the scheme. You feel comfortable that they’ll get in the right spot so that you can design a couple of things for them.”