As we sift through the aftermath <\/a>of the Broncos’ 31-10 loss to the Chiefs, we’re going to analyze the snap counts for any takeaways and insights into potential role changes. With 51 snaps, quarterback Bo Nix and his starting five offensive linemen played 100% of the offensive snaps.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the Broncos’ defense was on the field for 69 total snaps. With that being said, we’ll start with Nix’s backfield mates. <\/p>\n Running Backs J.K. Dobbins rushes against the Chiefs. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n J.K. Dobbins: 22RJ Harvey: 26Jonah Coleman: 3Adam Prentice: 6<\/p>\n Analysis: The Broncos had a bizarre flow in this game. New offensive coordinator Davis Webb lost sight of his run\/pass balance, finishing with just six rush attempts in the first half and 15 for the whole game.<\/p>\n When Dobbins and Harvey were called upon with a hand-off or a toss, they were productive, which makes Webb’s lack of ground usage all the more mystifying. Dobbins averaged 4.5 yards on eight carries while Harvey averaged 6.0 yard on just three totes. <\/p>\n Harvey led the way in snap share simply because he’s the pass-catcher, and that was clearly on Webb’s priority list against the Chiefs. On one hand, I understand it, given the question marks in the Chiefs’ secondary, but on the other, Webb has to do a much better job of balancing the Broncos’ offensive attack. <\/p>\n Notably, Coleman dressed but he only received three offensive snaps, and no touches. However, the rookie also played six special-teams snaps as one of two kick returners, with one attempt going for 27 yards. <\/p>\n Obviously, this game got out of whack, and in a “negative game script,” as head coach Sean Payton calls it, the Broncos had to go away from the run game from about halfway through the third quarter on. But it was disappointing to see Coleman not get any touches on offense. <\/p>\n Prentice was a gameday elevation from the practice squad, so you’d think that the Broncos had a good plan to use him. Nope. Just the six snaps and no touches, although he would have been great on a 3rd-and-1 situation where Webb called an empty set and Nix’s pass fell incomplete. <\/p>\n Wide Receivers Jaylen Waddle fails to make the catch. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n Courtland Sutton: 39Jaylen Waddle: 38Marvin Mims Jr.: 9Pat Bryant: 30Troy Franklin: 17<\/p>\n Analysis: Sutton led the way by only one snap, but he and Waddle are clearly the top two receivers, as expected. What’s interesting is how Bryant was far and away the third-highest snap-getter among the receivers, though how much that had to do with Mims’s early exit with a shoulder injury we don’t know. <\/p>\n Mims did return, but it seemed the Broncos were playing it safe with him. Meanwhile, Franklin nearly doubled Mims’s snap share, but he finished with just one target, which he caught, but was flagged for offensive pass interference. Franklin also carried the ball once for five yards. <\/p>\n Because of the Mims injury in this game, it’s too early to tell whether this is the order of things on the Broncos’ receiver depth chart. However, I feel confident in saying that Bryant is the No. 3 receiver.<\/p>\n The problem is that Sutton and Waddle combined for eight targets, which translated to just three receptions for… (checks notes)… 13 yards. Sutton looked slow out there while Waddle’s brutal third-down drop killed a must-have drive. <\/p>\n Tight Ends Evan Engram gears up for the game. | Michael Spomer \/ IMAGO \/ ZUMA Press Wire<\/p>\n Evan Engram: 32Adam Trautman: 19Nate Adkins: 13<\/p>\n Analysis: Engram led the way by a significant margin. Some of that had to do with the game flow, but Nix looked his way early, connecting on a 19-yard touchdown in the first quarter. <\/p>\n Engram finished as Denver’s leading receiver, catching four passes on five targets for 43 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Trautman received three targets, catching two of them for 10 yards. He was used as a blocker on the Broncos’ few rushing attempts. <\/p>\n Adkins wasn’t targeted, but finished with 13 snaps, many of which were as a blocker. Rookie Dallen Bentley was a healthy scratch. <\/p>\n Defensive Line Malcolm Roach misses a tackle. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n Zach Allen: 42D.J. Jones: 39Malcolm Roach: 32Eyioma Uwazurike: 41Sai\u2019vion Jones: 15<\/p>\n Analysis: As usual, Allen led the Broncos’ defensive line with 42 snaps, amounting to 61% of the action. He and Jones were on the field the most, but Uwazurike was the third-highest snap getter. <\/p>\n Roach had 32. In this game, the Broncos’ D-line rotation was a little shorter than it usually is. The Broncos like to dress six D-linemen, but they opted to sit Jordan Jackson and the rookie Tyler Onyedim in favor of Sai’vion Jones, which came back to haunt them.<\/p>\n Jackson and Onyedim are significantly better run defenders than Sai’vion. With how Kenneth Walker III romped all over the Broncos’ defense, it probably would have helped to have two of their better run defenders available.<\/p>\n Plus, having a sixth D-lineman available would have helped keep everyone else fresh as the Chiefs’ ground game began to wear the Broncos down. Other than that, the only real takeaway is hwo Roach and Uwazurike are still splitting the snaps at John Franklin-Myers’s former starting spot upfront. <\/p>\n It will be interesting to see who dresses next week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. <\/p>\n Outside Linebackers Jonah Elliss gets ready to launch. | Scott Winters \/ IMAGO \/ Icon Sportswire<\/p>\n Nik Bonitto: 36Jonah Elliss: 40Que Robinson: 32Dondrea Tillman: 32<\/p>\n Analysis: Elliss led the way with the outside linebacker snap share, which is interesting. Bonitto barely out-earned Robinson and Tillman. <\/p>\n The Chiefs game-planned to take Bonitto out of the game, and it mostly worked, though he made a play or two against the run. Although none of the Broncos’ rush linebackers were able to notch a sack, Elliss and Robinson led the way with three pressures, per Pro Football Focus, while Bonitto had two pressures. <\/p>\n Tillman didn’t register a pressure, but he did finish with six tackles, the second-most on the team. <\/p>\n Inside Linebackers Emmett Johnson stiff-arms Alex Singleton. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n Alex Singleton: 68Justin Strnad: 55Jordan Turner: 2<\/p>\n Analysis: Singleton only missed one snap, finishing with 15 tackles. In the box score, he looked great, but in reality, he was a disaster, missing countless tackles against the Chiefs and being caught out of position often. <\/p>\n Strnad saw 80% of the defensive snaps, and he was only marginally better than Singleton, finishing with just two tackles. It was interesting to see Turner get two defensive snaps, while Karene Reid only saw the field on special teams. <\/p>\n Turner is a stack linebacker, so it’s no wonder he saw action ahead of Reid, given how proficient the Chiefs’ run game was. <\/p>\n Cornerbacks Riley Moss misses a tackle on Xavier Worthy. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n Patrick Surtain II: 69Riley Moss: 69Ja\u2019Quan McMillian: 49Jahdae Barron: 4<\/p>\n Analysis: Surtain and Moss saw 100% of the defensive snaps, and while both played well in coverage, their execution against the run left much to be desired. Moss, in particular, missed multiple tackles, two of which led to touchdowns, while tying with Tillman for the second-most tackles on the day. <\/p>\n McMillian saw plenty of action as the Broncos’ nickel corner, and while he had a nice pass break-up, he too was guilty of slipshod tackling. Barron only saw four snaps, while Kris Abrams-Draine’s contributions were on special teams only. <\/p>\n Abrams-Draine fielded a punt early on while Mims was in the locker room being checked out by trainers. It was a fair catch. <\/p>\n Safeties Brandon Jones returns an interception. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n Talanoa Hufanga: 69Brandon Jones: 65<\/p>\n Analysis: Hufanga did not leave the field on defense, while Jones missed only four snaps. Both were complicit in the Broncos’ missed-tackle epidemic<\/a>. <\/p>\n Jones did have an interception, returning it 20-plus yards to the Chiefs’ 5-yard line. Alas, the Broncos’ offense wasn’t able to capitalize fully, settling for a field goal. <\/p>\n The Broncos dressed three other safeties \u2014 Devon Key, JL Skinner, and Tycen Anderson \u2014 though none of them saw action on defense. I was a bit surprised that Key didn’t get any defensive action, which may hint at why the Broncos were so keen on bringing Taylor Rapp back to the practice squad. <\/p>\n![\"J.K.](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m2knntmsc08492mnrb.jpg\" "\\"J.K.")
<\/p>\n![\"Jaylen](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m2knn1etnf48ngac0z.jpg\" "\\"Jaylen")
<\/p>\n![\"Evan](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m2k4ss50egqmfa1ewj.jpg\" "\\"Evan")
<\/p>\n![\"Malcolm](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m2knjp1tqeqmq96w22.jpg\" "\\"Malcolm")
<\/p>\n![\"Jonah](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01khy52qv0v5vrbx96zq.jpg\" "\\"Jonah")
<\/p>\n![\"Alex](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m2knaxhkhxr6jpe8tj.jpg\" "\\"Alex")
<\/p>\n![\"Riley](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m2kna36f5n8cj7f379.jpg\" "\\"Riley")
<\/p>\n![\"Brandon](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/01m2kn97zcv1s8qygdzf.jpg\" "\\"Brandon")
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