KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bo Nix pulled his back off the Arrowhead Stadium grass and stared into a sea of red-clad fans roaring in delight at his demise.
Nix sat there for just a moment, as if he was in disbelief after fumbling for the third time and being sacked for the fourth in Monday night’s 31-10, season-opening loss to the Chiefs.
How could a return to action he had anticipated for so long go so poorly?
“Pretty pitiful, actually,” Nix said.
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Perhaps the only solace for the Broncos after a season of sky-high expectations opened with a flop is those sorts of sad adjectives belonged to everyone. Misery had plenty of company. Nix, in his first game since he had two offseason ankle injuries, was sacked on the game’s first play. He threw an interception on his first pass attempt. There were dropped passes and ill-timed penalties. The Broncos missed 28 tackles, according to Next Gen Stats. Not even their infamous 70-20 loss in Miami three years ago, three games into Vance Joseph’s return to Denver as defensive coordinator, featured that many whiffs. The Broncos were pushed around and outclassed by a Kansas City team that sent a clear message: The Chiefs want their AFC West crown, the one the Broncos ripped away last season to snap a nine-year run by the red-and-gold, back.
“They came in here and they whooped our butt,” safety Talanoa Hufanga said.
A Week 1 result can’t sink a season. But it can increase pressure and scrutiny. That will be especially true for new offensive coordinator Davis Webb after the Broncos’ offense sputtered in ways big and small Monday night.
Webb, after receiving the play-calling baton from head coach Sean Payton in the spring, represented one of the only major changes for Denver this offseason, a bright young coach put into the role to help Nix and the offense reach another level. That could very well prove to be the case, but it wasn’t in the opener. The Broncos went a combined 2 of 13 on third and fourth downs. Most of the team’s seven penalties came on the offensive side of the ball, including a handful that wiped out scoring opportunities. Denver did not produce a single play of at least 20 yards and averaged only 4.7 yards per pass attempt. The Broncos’ big offseason addition, wide receiver Jaylen Waddle? He had one catch for 2 yards.
On a weekend in the NFL that featured record scoring numbers across the league, the Broncos mustered their lowest scoring output in a regular-season road game since at 41-10 loss to Baltimore in Week 9 of the 2024 season. The fourth-quarter magic painted across so many of Denver’s victories last year never even threatened to show up at Arrowhead Stadium.
“I just felt like it was penalty after penalty after penalty,” said Nix, who fumbled as many times Monday (three) as he did during his entire rookie season in 2024. “Nobody has good plays to call when you’re in second-and-long and third-and-long. I mean, the play sheet is very small. We just didn’t put anybody in a good spot today. We really didn’t.”
It was a disappointing debut for new Broncos offensive coordinator Davis Webb. (Aaron Ontiveroz / The Denver Post)
The most curious aspect of Webb’s first night in the play-calling seat was Denver’s pass-run imbalance when the game was still to be decided. The Broncos were either tied or trailing by one touchdown throughout the first half. Yet, when the second quarter ended, the Broncos had dropped back to pass 19 times and handed the ball to their running backs only five times, including only three carries for starter J.K. Dobbins. It wasn’t until Kenneth Walker’s 60-yard run gave Kansas City a 21-7 lead early in the third quarter — on a fourth-and-1 play, no less — that the Broncos started consistently trying to run the football. Payton noted that some of the pass attempts were the result of Nix choosing to keep the ball on calls that had run-pass options, but the bottom line was that Denver couldn’t match the Chiefs’ physical tone on the ground.
“They rushed the ball well and we didn’t,” Payton said. “That starts with me. That starts with our coaching staff. … Regardless of who is calling the plays, if you’re the head coach, it’s frustrating; it’s disappointing. I don’t know that the feeling is any different, whether you’re calling them or not.”
Nobody on the offensive side of the ball for the Broncos sounded alarms after the game. They have too much experience and too many proven playmakers to believe games like the opener will be the norm. And they have too much confidence in Webb to believe a rocky night against the Chiefs and maestro defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was indicative of who he will be in that role going forward.
Nix said Webb will respond to Monday’s letdown “exactly like he would have responded with a win.”
“He would have said it wasn’t good enough and that we’ve got to find ways to get back and continue (to improve) the next week,” the quarterback added. “He’s going to move on really well.”
Webb took over for a coach in Payton who would at times last season write “Run The Ball!” on his play sheet as a big-picture reminder of how the Broncos needed to play. His review of Monday’s game will reveal opportunities that were missed early against the Chiefs. Another note that needs to be jotted down in the debrief: Denver can’t have another game in which Waddle and Courtland Sutton combine for only three catches and 13 yards.
The explosive plays and points need to be found quickly. The Broncos next host a Jaguars team that gave up only 10 points in its Week 1 opener against the Browns and gave Denver’s offense fits when the two teams met last December. There is no let up after that, with games against the Rams, 49ers, Chargers and Seahawks rounding out a grueling six-game gantlet to begin the season.
There is no panic. There is also little time to lose in what Payton calls “the race to improve” early in the season.
“The culture that’s been building here for four years, we come back from this stuff,” tight end Adam Trautman said. “We always have and that’s what I expect out of us.”