1 – Tackling “What tackling?” everyone who watched the game was likely asking, could really be all 3 of the takeaways from the Week 1 effort by the Broncos in KC. But, sadly, there were other issues in addition to how badly the team tackled. 28 missed tackles from one of the leagues best tacking teams inexcusable. In the locker room postgame, the players were as perplexed as all of Broncos Country, but that weren’t panicking, despite, their inability to corral the newest Chiefs offensive weapon, Kenneth Walker III. Cornerback Riley Moss, one of the surest tacklers at his position in the NFL is confident, his unit will return to form, “I know us as a defense, and I know the foundation of our defense, and I know that we’re all good tacklers, and that’s just something we’ll have to have an emphasis on,” he said. “You can’t allow this to bleed into next week. Personally, I didn’t tackle well enough, I’m gonna fix that this week…I can make those plays, that’s just frustrating.” Linebacker Alex Singleton, the team’s leading tackler the 3 of the last 4 seasons shared a similar sentiment to Moss saying “We’re gonna be fine, we’re gonna work on it this week, and we’re gonna be fine…we’ve gotta look at ourselves, just get off the field, put ourselves in better positions. When you dig inside the numbers, it isn’t pretty. Per NextGen Stats, 28 missed tackles and 248 yards off those missed tackles is the worst defensive performance by any defense since 2018. In fact, it’s the most missed tackles in franchise history for the Orange and Blue(and all white, Monday night).

Walker, finished with 173 rushing yards on 23 carries, including a 60-yard TD run early in the 3^rd. On his own, the reigning Super Bowl MVP broke half of those 28 missed tackles. So, the Broncos better solve their tackling issues sooner than later, because the running back they face this week, was 2^nd on the list of tackle breakers in Week 1, Jacksonville’s Bhayshul Tuten who shook off 7 tackles against the Browns.

2 – Physicality is something all football coaches preach, and it’s something that has been a calling card for the Broncos in the Sean Payton era. Just like his mentor, Bill Parcells, Payton’s first order of business in Denver was fortifying the trenches. The Broncos had the best offensive line in football a year ago, and Left Tackle Garrett Bolles and Right Guard Quinn Meinerz were both 1^st Team All-Pro at their respective positions. The fact that they are 2 of 5 returning offensive linemen for a 3^rd straight season, is a rarity in the NFL, and should’ve been a tone setter Monday night. But Denver’s Oline, as well as their Defensive front both got pushed around, and, like the poor tackling, it was alarming. “They came out punched us in the mouth, we gotta respond. Credit to them.” Sean Payton knew they would emphasize running the ball, and winning at the line of scrimmage, and not just because QB Patrick Mahomes was coming off a season-ending knee injury, but because it was clear to him that KC, also brought back Offensive Coordinator, CU Buffs legendary running back,  Eric Bienemy, to help establish the ground game. So, the Bronco head coach wasn’t surprised at all, by the Chiefs effort to run the ball, “No, I think when you invest that much money into a player- Super Bowl champion, draft one..and we felt they were going to be under center more; and they did, effectively.” And on the other side of the ball, that aforementioned Broncos steady Oline couldn’t help get anything going at the line of scrimmage, and they allowed QB Bo Nix, who was only sacked 22 times a year ago, to be taken down 4 times. Last year, he was only sacked twice in a game, 2 times all year. And even though Payton often cites sacks as QB stat, it was clear the Broncos pass protection was not up to its normal standard.

3 – Execution, is a vague term, because it can encompass every part of every play in football, but, as legendary USC Coach John McKay once said, when asked about his team’s execution, “I’m in favor of it!” Payton didn’t go there, but he could have. The Broncos execution, especially at critical moments was poor to say the least, and something that every player we spoke to postgame mentioned the team’s mistakes, rather than blaming their approach. “I think you learn how important it is to not kill yourself,” Nix said, “That goes without saying, but when you do that in a game like today, it just raises that a little higher. I just felt like it was penalty, after penalty, after penalty. Nobody has good plays to call when you are in 2nd-and-long, 3rd-and-long. The play sheet is very small. We didn’t put anybody in a good spot today. We really didn’t.”

Nix mentioned the penalties, and on the surface, 7 isn’t a terrible number, and it’s the identical number of yellow flags the Chiefs had called on them as well, but it was when they occurred that hurt the Broncos, most notably, when they looked to be getting back into the game in the 3^rd quarter following safety Brandon Jones’ interception returned to the KC 5-yard line. And on 1^st and goal, instead of picking up 3 yards, 2^nd-year wideout, Pat Bryant was whistled for his second holding penalty of the game, taking Broncos back 10 yards. That was kind of a microcosm of the game in so many ways, every time Denver would take 1 step, or, in this case, yard, forward, they would inevitably take 2, rather 5 or 10 yards back. The team’s best player, cornerback Pat Surtain like his teammates said the blame falls squarely on he and his teammates, saying, “We had the right gameplan, we just didn’t execute.”