The Kansas City Chiefs ran over, around and through the Denver Broncos' defense on Monday Night Football in Week 1.
KC's offense rushed for 220 yards and two touchdowns as Vance Joseph's unit missed tackles at a historically bad rate. Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker led the charge with 23 carries for 173 yards, including a 60-yard touchdown.
"The big run was the one that hurt, and he bounces outside," coach Sean Payton said of the play after an eventual 31-10 loss. "We don’t set an edge and we miss a tackle. That one hurt. I don’t know how many yards [it was].”
Denver wasn't surprised by Kansas City's approach. They simply didn't execute the plan to stop it.
“I think when you invest that much money into a player — [add a] Super Bowl champion,
draft one — we felt they were going to be under center more; and they did, effectively," Payton said.
This is an alarming trend for the Broncos' defense. Before allowing 220 yards on Monday, Denver allowed 141 yards to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship game and 183 yards to the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs. That's a three-game average of 181 rushing yards allowed per contest.
"[T]hat has to be something that we are better at," Payton said of defending the run.
Up next, Denver will host the Jacksonville Jaguars, who rushed for 126 yards in their Week 1 win over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Broncos' run defense hits troubling 3-game trend
