Sean Payton has some explaining to do.
After winning 14 games, snatching the AFC West crown, and coming one Bo Nix injury away from the Super Bowl, the Denver Broncos laid an embarrassing egg to open the 2026 season. Under the primetime lights of Monday Night Football, the Broncos were trounced by the Kansas City Chiefs 31-10.
As we sift through the aftermath of the Broncos’ season-opening loss, we can officially wave bye-bye to the prospect of Payton’s team starting fast this season. In the face of a tough first eight-week schedule, the Broncos really needed to come out of the gate hot; instead, they turned in arguably the most embarrassing performance of the Nix era.
It’s hard to point to anything good from this game, but there was a silver lining, as you’ll see in Week 1’s good, bad, and ugly.
The Good: Special Teams and Returners
Outside of one 19-yard Marvin Mims Jr. punt return that was called back by a Tycen Anderson hold, the Broncos’ special teams were very good in Week 1. Kicker Wil Lutz nailed his extra point and field-goal attempt, while punter Jeremy Crawshaw averaged 52.3 yards per attempt, with a long of 68 yards.
The best third-phase aspect, arguably, was the Broncos’ returners. After exiting the game temporarily with a shoulder injury, Mims returned to return two punts for 36 yards, averaging 18 per attempt.
In the kicking game, RJ Harvey averaged 27.8 yards on four returns, while the rookie Jonah Coleman had one return for 27 yards. It wasn’t anything to write home about, but in a storm of swirling excrement, the Broncos’ special teams somehow managed to avoid getting freckled in their Summit White uniforms.
The Bad: The Offense
Let’s just say it: Nix was terrible against the Chiefs. He threw a bad interception on the Broncos’ opening possession, and very uncharacteristically, he put the ball on the ground three times, though he only lost one fumble.
As a passer, Nix was pedestrian, going 17-of-28 for 131 yards and a touchdown, finishing with a rating of 69.2. He looked skittish and unsettled, and after a long offseason punctuated by two separate ankle surgeries, the rust fell off in chunks.
However, Nix was not helped by his new play-caller, Davis Webb. The Broncos’ young offensive coordinator was shockingly bad in his first game as the primary play-caller.
Webb lacked situational presence of mind, and failed to involved his two top receiving weapons. Courtland Sutton and Jaylen Waddle finished with a combined eight targets, which translated to three receptions for 13 yards. You read that right.
Adding insult to injury, Webb completely ignored the run game while the Chiefs absolutely romped up and down the field with Kenneth Walker III. The Broncos had a grand total of six rushing attempts in the first half, and finished the game with just 61 ground yards on 15 attempts.
When the ball was handed off to a running back, J.K. Dobbins and Harvey made hay, averaging 4.5 and 6.0 yards per carry, respectively. Alas, Webb didn’t give them the opportunity to make a greater impact and cook.
On a 3rd-&-1 that Denver absolutely had to have, Webb called an empty set, with no running back in the backfield. The Chiefs, completely unfearing of any rushing threat, pinned their ears back and blitzed Nix, who was flushed from the pocket to throw incomplete. Punt.
What makes it all the crazier was the Broncos’ decision to elevate fullback Adam Prentice from the practice squad. He was completely squandered at Arrowhead Stadium.
And finally, the Broncos’ offensive line should be ashamed of itself. Nix was under constant pressure when he dropped back, and while he didn’t acquit himself well in those situations, it’s hard to fault him too much when the offensive line could not pass protect a Chiefs front seven that nobody really fears, outside of Chris Jones.
The Broncos converted just 2-of-12 third-down tries. And they were stopped by the Chiefs on nine consecutive third-down attempts. Embarrassing.
The Broncos’ offense was so bad in Webb’s debut as the play-caller that Payton must be harboring some serious doubts about whether he made the right decision to relinquish the play sheet. It’s early, and Webb will get the chance to bounce back, but Payton had better have his finger close to the panic button, ready to take back the play sheet if the Broncos turn in another stinker like this offensively.
The Ugly: Broncos’ Tackling
The Broncos allowed an unprecedented 248 missed-tackle yards to the Chiefs, according to Trevor Sikkema â the most ever allowed in a single game in the Next Gen Stats database. Per Sikkema, Denver had a 29.8 missed-tackle percentage.
It wasn’t just the linebackers â though Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad were two of the perpetrators. Every man on the Broncos’ defense contributed to this historical abomination.
The defensive line couldn’t wrap up, and nor could the edge defenders or defensive backs on the perimeter. Even the safeties, as the last line of defense, couldn’t be trusted to tackle, as evidenced by Brandon Jones’s major whif on Walker’s 60-yard touchdown romp.
Walker rushed for 173 yards on 23 attempts. The Chiefs totaled 392 yards, and if you removed the 248 missed-tackle yards, the Broncos only would have allowed 144 yards, and it would have been a completely different game, even in the face of the offense’s struggles.
Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph has bounced back from collective humiliation before, and he’ll have to do it again if the Broncos are going to recover from this. Joseph must rally his unit and stanch the bleeding or else Denver’s next five opponents are going to feast on this defense.
It was only one game, but the Broncos are already on DEFCON 4 alert.
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