The Denver Broncos took on the Kansas City Chiefs on the road at Arrowhead Stadium to start the season under the bright lights of Monday Night Football. When the clock struck zero, the Broncos found themselves on the wrong side of the scoreboard and were embarrassed 31-10. Here are some instant reactions from tonight’s performance.
An unimpressive debut for Davis Webb and the Broncos’ offense
One of the big storylines fans across Broncos Country had their eyes on tonight was how the offense would look with the return of Bo Nix and Offensive Coordinator Davis
Webb calling plays. The Broncos vowed to start off fast. Alas, that didn’t happen. Truth be told, they were awful. Color me unimpressed and very concerned with what transpired this evening.
Nix started out rough tossing an interception right into the hands of rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane while targeting Courtland Sutton on the first drive of the game. On the second drive of the game, he rebounded and helped guide the offense on 10-play, 63-yard scoring drive that ended in a 19-yard touchdown strike to tight end Evan Engram.
After that? It was Murphy’s Law for Nix and the offense. In their four second quarter drives, they ran just 22 plays for 51 yards. Penalties and a key drop by Pat Bryant on third down stalled two drives. On another, the Broncos went empty set on third and short and Jaylen Waddle couldn’t get enough yards on his reception to move the chains.
Overall, the Broncos toted the rock just six times in the first half for 23 yards. Considering the stakes of the game and being in a hostile road environment, opting not to establish the run was a bad choice by Webb. Even Head Coach Sean Payton mentioned his disappointment in that in a post-half time sideline interview.
Things didn’t look much better in the second half. Waddle had a key drop on the team’s opening drive of the second half and was essentially invisible all game long. How about shooting themselves in the foot in the red zone after Brandon Jones’ interception on the subsequent drive? Just comical. It’s amazing that they had two weeks to prepare for the game after the preseason and ended up looking this flat.
Moreover, I didn’t like the number of personnel changes and how long it took for the Broncos to snap the ball. It’s just the first week, but it’s clear Webb and his players on offense have a lot to work to do. Credit to Steve Spagnuolo for a good defensive game plan for Kansas City—they showed up and played well and had Nix rattled all evening long.
Poor tackling and execution plague Broncos’ defense
With Patrick Mahomes coming off an ACL injury, there was no doubt the Chiefs were going to show a dedication to the run. They utilized extra lineman early and often along with a healthy dose of carries from free agent acquisition Kenneth Walker III. The results speak for themselves—they dominated the Broncos’ defense with their ground game.
While the Chiefs’ offense struggled to get things done through the air in the first half, Walker’s rushing prowess was hard for the Broncos to stop. By the end of the first half, the Super Bowl MVP had 89 yards on 14 rushes. His dominance continued with a 60-yard touchdown scamper on 4th and 1 on the Chiefs’ first drive of the second half. He would finish the game with 23 rushes, 173 yards, and 1 touchdown and added 3 catches for 18 yards and 1 touchdown through the air.
This was one of the most undisciplined efforts I’ve seen from the defense in quite some time. You’d have to go back to the 70-point debacle versus the Miami Dolphins in 2023 to see such poor execution. Cornerback Riley Moss had two blown missed tackles which resulted in touchdowns for the aforementioned Walker and wide receiver Rashee Rice.
He wasn’t the only one. A handful of other players on defense failed to execute at a high level. I’d highlight inside linebacker Alex Singleton as a terrible performer tonight as well. Anyone care to remind me why they brought him back and rewarded him with an extension? He look
This was an embarrassing performance by Vance Joseph’s defense. Sure, it didn’t help that the offense put them in bad situations, but I expect better from a group who has been of the best in the National Football League the past two seasons. They’ll have their work cut out for them on a short week preparing for a Jacksonville Jaguars offense who looked great against the Cleveland Browns on Sunday and put up the most points against Denver last season in December.
Miscellaneous thoughts and tidbits:
- There really isn’t anything positive to write home about. However, two players I thought looked fairly decent with their opportunities were Evan Engram and RJ Harvey. Perhaps the Broncos will try to find a way to get them more involved in the offensive plans moving forward.
- The Broncos offensive line ranked highly last year. But tonight was a rough outing for them. One area they struggled with routinely was picking up interior pressure and blitzes by Spagnuolo’s defense. This caused Nix to bail out of the pocket early on numerous occasions and contributed to his erratic play. I’m slightly concerned this formula will be something other defensive coordinators will take note of and exploit moving forward.
- The Broncos had just 177 yards of total offense. They were an appalling 2 of 12 on third down conversions. Completely unacceptable. Meanwhile, the Chiefs racked up nearly 400 yards of total offense and were 9 of 17 on third down. They had 19 first downs compared to just 9 for Denver.
