Well that didn’t go as planned.
While most of us expected a new offense under Davis Webb, instead we got a discombobulated play-calling effort and absolutely zero offensive efficiency on the night. We should certainly be talking about that tonight, but the real issue was on defense.
I’m not sure what the record is for missed tackles, but Denver’s defense tonight may have come close to it. This tweet below dropped in the third quarter and they missed plenty more tackles before the night was over. All kinds of bad for the Broncos and there isn’t much to say other than to see if they can improve on all of these issues within the next six days…
Broncos vs. Chiefs final score
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### Team ### 1st ### 2nd ### 3rd ### 4th ### Final
Denver Broncos 7 0 3 0 10
Kansas City Chiefs 7 7 10 7 31
First Quarter
The game started out looking like a disaster for Denver. An ugly interception by Bo Nix followed by a power run game from Kansas City that resulted in a Patrick Mahomes scramble and score to put the Chiefs up early. Nix settled in, however, and responded with a strong drive going 5/5 for 55 yards and this 19 yard touchdown strike to tight end Evan Engram
Both teams drew blood early and it looked like the game would turn into a dogfight.
Broncos 7, Chiefs 7. Full first quarter recap.
Second Quarter
The game quickly devolved into a defensive battle in the second quarter with both teams trading punt after punt after punt. It wasn’t until late in the first half that a team got an offensive drive moving with the Kenneth Walker just dominating the Broncos’ defense to get the team into scoring position. Denver’s defense seemed to have forgotten how to tackle on that drive with so many missed tackles including a short pass to Rashee Rice who turned those missed tackled into a 13-yard touchdown catch and run.
Overall, it was an ugly half of football for the Broncos offense outside of that one scoring drive. Many of the issues we complained about much of last season remained an issue through one half of the first game in 2026.
Chiefs 14, Broncos 7. Full second quarter recap.
Third Quarter
As frustrating as the offense was in the first half, the defense probably had the most concerning issues show up. After Kenneth Walker housed a fourth and one for 60 yards, this little stat showed up in my feed that made me even more irritated…
Walker would add two more missed tackles on that fourth down run. Not ideal.
A fantastic punt by Jeremy Crawshaw pinned the Chiefs to their own three yard line. On their first play, Mahomes would gift the break the Broncos needed with a deep pass that was intercepted by Brandon Jones and returned all the way to the Chiefs five-yard line.
However, much like the Broncos offense all night. They flubbed the opportunity and nearly fumbled it back to Kansas City. Instead, they were fortunate to escape the drive with a Wil Lutz field goal. They would give it all back with more missed tackles resulting in a 59-yard catch and run by Travis Kelce. Denver would hold to a field goal, but man, this defense couldn’t tackle to save their lives in this game.
Chiefs 24, Broncos 10. Full third quarter recap.
Fourth Quarter
A Bo Nix strip-sack fumble to end the third quarter gave the Chiefs great field position early in the fourth quarter. And while I’m not sure how many different ways I can talk about how the Broncos’ defense couldn’t tackle to save their lives - they would add several more missed tackles on this drive that would end with the Chiefs going up by three scores to put the blowout into full effect.
When the offense wasn’t stinking up the joint, the defense was missing multiple tackles per play. The rest of the fourth quarter was played, but the outcome was fairly obvious by the late third quarter.
At 0-1, the Broncos need to turn things around quick because it doesn’t get much easier next week.
Chiefs 31, Broncos 10.