The beat down at the hands of the Chiefs was a slap in the face for the Denver Broncos.
That, per Broncos head coach Sean Payton.
It wasn’t just that the Broncos were beaten, but they played terrible football along the way. Luckily, they know what they need to do to fix their issues.
Broncos 31-10 loss was a slap in the face
Denver’s loss to open their 2026 season was embarrassing to say the least.
They couldn’t tackle on defense. All 220 Chiefs running yards came after contact. Bo Nix was incredibly uncomfortable on offense, fumbling three times (losing one) and throwing an interception. His QBR was the lowest of his career. And play calling was questionable from Davis Webb in his first game in the role. Denver abandoned the run early and Nix was rushed relentlessly.
“Certainly a slap in the face,” Payton said on Tuesday. “When you come off training camp and your offseason program, it’s one thing to lose in a hard-fought game where you feel like you played well. I don’t feel like we played up to our standard, and certainly that starts with us as coaches, myself. So yes, it’s disappointing.”
The Broncos shocked the world last year. They went 14-3, secured the No. 1 seed in the AFC, and made the Championship Game.
That was last year. It was an historically bad AFC year due to injuries and other reasons.
And last year’s team surprised a ton of opponents with their fight and late-game heroics.
But last year’s success doesn’t guarantee future results.
Luckily, Sean Payton knows what this team needs and how to fix what sunk them in Kansas City.
Third downs need to be more manageable
One thing that was clear while watching the game was the Broncos were in third-and-long a lot.
To wit, 9-of-13 third downs in the game were 3rd and 5 or longer for the Broncos. Some of those were because of negative plays created by the Chiefs defense. Others were because of penalties committed by Denver.
“I think part of it was certainly the downs and distances that we put ourselves in. So when you end up in some of those second-and-long or third-and-longs, however you get there, minus plays, penalties, there’s a number of reasons,” Payton explained. “Then all of a sudden, the job description for [Bo Nix] gets much more difficult. So if there was one thing that gave you a pretty good reflection on how the game went, and how poorly we played, and how well Kansas City played, if you just look at the third-down numbers, those guys were converting third-and-2, 3, 4 at a pretty good rate. I don’t think we converted a third down in our last 10 attempts.”
On the game, Denver went 2-12 on third downs. That’s 16.7%. Last year, the Broncos were 11th in the league at 41.2%.
If they want to play winning football, the Broncos not only have to convert on third downs more often, but set themselves up with shorter distances to gain.
And while we all know Nix struggled mightily, part of that issue was the Broncos lack of balance in the play calling. Part of that is dictated by being down multiple touchdowns for basically the entire second half. But Payton wasn’t happy with the lack of running either way.
“Our run-pass ratio was skewed and off,” Payton said. “As that unfolds and you get into where you’re throwing the ball, then it becomes more challenging. The way that game unfolded, all of the sudden there were a number of series where you felt one-dimensional. I think that added to the problem.”
Last year, the Broncos were one-dimensional in a lot of games too as Payton has historically abandoned the run in favor of the pass. This time it was Webb doing so.
If a team isn’t threatened by your running game, they can play more aggressively against the pass and overwhelm a quarterback.
The good news is Denver knows where they need to improve. Offensively, that’s by committing fewer penalties for shorter third down situations and they must find some semblance of balance in the play calls.
They’ll get a chance to put those ideas to the test this week as the 1-0 Jacksonville Jaguars come to town. Kickoff is 2:05 p.m. MT on CBS and Paramount+.
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