The Denver Broncos pulled a no-show against the Kansas City Chiefs, but there were some bright spots.
The Denver Broncos didn’t have many players who actually showed up and played well against the Kansas City Chiefs in their Monday night debacle, but Sam Jane of the Denver Post did flag a few risers in his weekly stock report.
Zach Allen, DT
The Chiefs were prepared for Allen, but he still managed to get a pair of sacks, even if one came on a play where Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahome seemed trip over one of his offensive lineman.
The other sack was legitimate, though, and the Chiefs showed their respect for Allen by often using a second blocker to chip him to make sure he couldn’t slow down or stop running back Kenneth Walker III. The idea was to expose one of the weaknesses of the Denver defense, which is that the Broncos are generally undersized, with Allen being one of the big exceptions.
Their plan worked to perfection, especially when the Chiefs were able to establish Walker. They went to him over and over again, and as a result the pass rush never appeared because Kansas City didn’t have to throw all that much.
Evan Engram, TE
This one was a pleasant surprise, as Engram was basically a forgotten man in training camp as the Broncos focused on integrating new receiver Jaylen Waddle. But Engram capitalized on his “forgotten man” status during the lone TD toss from quarterback Bo Nix, as he was close to wide open in the end zone.
Engram played a total of 32 snaps on Monday, which was more than tight ends Adam Trautman and Nate Adkins. He had four catches for 43 yards, which led the team, but the Broncos don’t want to see him attain that status again this week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. If they do, it’ll be another long day indeed.
Pat Bryant, WR
The selection of Bryant here is a backhanded indictment of just how bad the Broncos were offensively. He did have three catches for first downs on Denver’s lone touchdown drive, as Jane noted, but four catches for 42 yards hardly qualifies as a big day. Bryant also got flagged for a bad penalty on a hold inside the 5-yard line that kept the Broncos pinned deep in their own end.
Jeremy Crawshaw, P
As Jane noted, it’s never a good thing when your punter is one of your best players, but Crawshaw was a difference-maker as he averaged 52.3 yards on six punts and pinned the Chiefs inside the 20-yard line three times.
