Sunday afternoon can’t come fast enough for the Broncos.
Week 1 was a dud. A blowout loss at Arrowhead Stadium. The kind of game that can make even a short week to the home opener against Jacksonville feel long.
Nothing went particularly well.
“That game didn’t go for any of us as we would’ve hoped,” head coach Sean Payton said Thursday when asked in particular about Davis Webb’s play-calling debut. “I said in the meeting this morning, there was dirt on a ton of people’s hands. Starting with me. We have to learn from that. It’s a quick turnaround.
“You can’t get to the next game quick enough, and I’m sure it’s the same way for him.”
Of course, Denver’s next game is anything but easy. The Broncos host Jacksonville, a team that came to the Front Range in December last year and thumped Payton’s group.
So, it’s not just getting to the next game. It’s also playing a whole lot better.
Here’s a five-point checklist for a better Broncos outing in Week 2.
Bo Nix (10) of the Denver Broncos scrambles as R. Mason Thomas (51) of the Kansas City Chiefs pursues during the second quarter at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on Monday, September 14, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Bo Nix must play more assertively and with more timing and rhythm
Denver’s first offensive snap of Monday night set the tone. The Chiefs brought a corner blitz from both sides and forced Nix into quick-decision mode. He saw the back-side blitzer lurking pre-snap, but the front-side appeared to surprise Nix and the rest of the offense. He perhaps could have thrown into the pressure immediately and had Jaylen Waddle one-on-one with a closing defensive back. Out ahead was a ton of green grass if Waddle made the first man miss. More difficult, Courtland Sutton had a good matchup on a deeper crossing route, but Nix was sacked as he tried to elude pressure.
Overall, of course, not all of Denver’s offensive woes fall to the quarterback. Waddle, though, didn’t finish with one catch for two yards because he wasn’t open. He was multiple times. Nix missed some chances to get the ball to him, particularly when he would have had to anticipate Waddle coming free. That’ll be a learning curve with a player of Waddle’s caliber.
Nix said Thursday it’s not time to panic and that’s true. The offense will find itself in a better gear, though, if he does the things coaches talked about this offseason: Play with calm feet, hang on his first read a beat longer and trust Waddle, in particular, to separate where and when he’s supposed to.
Drue Tranquill (23) of the Kansas City Chiefs brings down J.K. Dobbins (27) of the Denver Broncos during the first quarter at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri on Monday, September 14, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
Committing to the run game doesn’t mean just blindly handing the ball off
It’s easy to say the Broncos need to run the football more and indeed, they should. Payton, though, painted a picture of why that’s sometimes easier said than done.
“I remember playing Pittsburgh one year and we were going to establish the run. The first three plays of the game, the offensive line was going to be in charge of the first down. Play one, first-and-10. Play two was second-and-10. Play three was third-and-10. Then it was like, ‘All right, enough with that.’”
Point taken, but the Broncos clearly didn’t have enough of an emphasis in their plan against Kansas City. Either that or Webb and company got away from the plan.
Payton often talks about play sequencing and the four ways to sequence first and second downs. In the first half Monday, the Broncos passed on nine of the 13 first-down snaps they had in the first half and went pass-pass on first and second down four times in seven first downs after their lone touchdown drive of the night. By contrast, they ran six times in eight first-down snaps in the second half despite trailing the entire time. Their only run-run first and second-down sequence of the game came on their second and third plays of the half after J.K. Dobbins opened the third quarter with a 17-yard rush.
Overall, on the night, Denver generated only three first downs on first down.
Another stat here: Last year against Jacksonville, both RJ Harvey and Jaleel McLaughlin averaged better than 7 yards per carry. But Denver ran the ball 19 times against 49 drop-backs
Vance Joseph’s front seven has to win on first down
Conversely, Kansas City’s running game consistently kept the Chiefs in good down-and-distance situations. This was one of Joseph’s primary points of emphasis in the run-up to the opener: Teams would be willing to plod a bit, he thought, in order to stay out of situations in which the Broncos’ defensive front could pin their ears back.
The Chiefs did it well. Only four of their 17 third-down attempts came from 7 yards or longer. Denver’s pressure rate of 34.4%, according to Next Gen Stats, was solid, but the group overall just didn’t have a ton of prime chances. And, of course, Nik Bonitto has to be more effective than he was Monday. That part will happen. He’s got too long a track record for the pass-rush juice to disappear. But if the chances decrease, so will everybody’s production.
Save the clearest for last: Denver’s tackling must be radically improved.
Yeah, uh, duh.
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