A rude Week 1 awakening

Denver opened the season with a 31-10 loss to Kansas City on Monday Night Football. The Broncos made a statement, just not the one they wanted.

The tackling fell apart

Pro Football Focus charted 24 missed tackles. Next Gen Stats went further with 28 and a 29.5 missed-tackle rate.

No answers either way

Offense and defense both came up empty. Denver was outclassed, outcoached, and out-prepared from the opening whistle.

“The Broncos were outclassed, outcoached, and out-prepared by the Chiefs”

Worse than the 70-burger

This wasn't the 70-point loss to Miami in 2023, but in many ways it felt worse. Jacksonville is next, on a short week.

How the grades work

Every snap gets evaluated. Players start at 50 and move plus or minus three points per snap, with a 15-snap minimum to qualify.

Quinn Meinerz, offensive MVP

Graded 70.2. He allowed no pressure and was the most consistent run blocker on a line that mostly struggled.

Denver didn't trust its best blocker

On 3rd-and-1, Davis Webb called an empty passing set instead of running behind Meinerz. The throw fell incomplete.

Que Robinson, defensive MVP

Graded 67.8. He beat the Chiefs again after a strong showing last year, adding three pressures on Mahomes and steady run defense.

Bo Nix bottomed out

Graded 24.5. Late throws, poor ball placement, a bad interception, and three fumbles with one lost. He looked lost more than once.

“He also looked like he was playing in mud up to his ankles.”

The ankle is the worry

Nix couldn't outrun defensive linemen. Coming off a fractured ankle, that lack of speed is the thing to watch next.

Bolles held his side

Graded 65.1. The left tackle pass protected well even as the Chiefs aimed pressure looks at him. Run blocking dragged the number down.

Engram finally shows up

Graded 64.3, possibly his first appearance in the positive column. On an offense that stunk, he stood out consistently.

Bonitto bent the game plan

Graded 64.2 with two pressures. Kansas City built its offensive plan around neutralizing him and the Denver pass rush.

Zach Allen, one-man line

Graded 63.7 with three pressures and two sacks. The Chiefs ran away from him, and no other Denver lineman made them pay.

D.J. Jones got moved

Graded 21.6. He lacks the length and mass for double teams, and shooting gaps took him out of position where the Chiefs attacked.

Singleton waved it off

Graded 27.4. The game plan usually hides his flaws, not this time. Postgame he said Denver will be fine, three years into a tackling problem.

Trautman's cheap re-signing

Graded 28.9. Denver passed on free-agent tight ends to save under $1 million a year, and got one of the league's worst blocking tight ends again.

Franklin's rough cameo

Graded 34.6 on barely 15 snaps. He misread blocks on a carry and drew offensive pass interference for pushing off on a chain-moving target.

Short week, long list

Jacksonville arrives before Denver has time to rebuild anything. Tackling, the offensive line, and Nix all need fixing at once.