Englewood, Colo. ? Will the real Denver Broncos please stand up?

The Broncos (7-5) are the NFL’s biggest brainteaser, having made a habit of beating better teams, especially on the road, and losing to lesser ones, particularly at home.

Some days they’re brilliant, effective and efficient. Other days, they’re bumbling, fumbling, crumbling.

They’ve won three straight road games, including last week’s 34-17 walloping of the resurgent New York Jets, which came on the heels of their third straight loss at home, a 31-10 defeat to lowly Oakland.

“This team is funny,” quarterback Jay Cutler said as the Broncos prepared to face Kansas City, a 2-10 team that beat Denver by two touchdowns in Week 4. “I think we’ve learned our lesson of taking teams lightly. I don’t think that’ll happen this week. But if we turn the ball over and give them some momentum, anything can happen.”

At one point, the oddsmakers in Las Vegas got it wrong six straight weeks with the befuddling Broncos.

Would it help if everybody picked against them this week?

“Absolutely, please do,” Cutler replied. “I don’t think it would hurt at this point. List us as underdogs. That would be great.”

No chance: The Broncos are listed as better than a touchdown favorite.

Given their track record, though, would it really be a bad bet to go with the Chiefs?

Maybe it’s youth — a dozen rookies have seen significant action for the Broncos so far.

Maybe it’s injuries — they’ve already placed 13 players on IR, including four tailbacks. A fifth, Selvin Young, has one carry in two months. Injuries have also sidelined defensive stalwarts Champ Bailey (groin), Nate Webster (knee) and D.J. Williams (knee) for more than a month.