The Denver Broncos had plenty of fallers and losers against the Kansas City Chiefs, here's the rundown.
The Denver Broncos had plenty to be unhappy about after their 31-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night, but they’re not playing the blame game. There’s certainly plenty of blame pie to go around, though, and Sam Jane of the Denver Post was more than willing to pin the blame tail on several Denver donkeys who didn’t play well in the publication’s weekly stock report.
Bo Nix, QB
Nix said he wasn’t “necessarily filled with rage” after the game, but this was a bad performance that was oddly passive as well. Nix was 17-for-28 for 131 yards for a passer rating of 69.2.
The Broncos could have used more of Nix’s trademark passion, and they definitely could have used fewer turnovers, as he coughed up the football three times and threw a bad interception to open the night. Just as importantly, Nix often didn’t seem to know where Kansas City’s pass rushers were coming from, and he accounted for just 11 yards in his throws that were pressured, per Jane.
In the Trenches, Nearly Everyone
The Broncos hit the trifecta in this cateory, as they coun’t run the ball, couldn’t protect Nix and they rarely pressured Mahomes. If you want to go 4-for-4, they also couldn’t stop running back Kenneth Walker III, as many of the tackling attempts were of the “JV vs. varsity” variety.
“We didn’t play well enough, we didn’t execute well enough and that’s how you get your [expletive] kicked in the NFL,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said.
Alex Singleton and the Linebackers
No one tackled well on defense, but the linebackers were particularly bad in this category. Singleton and fellow linebacker Justin Strnad split the goats horns, with Singleton missing a total of five tackles on the night.
But Singleton didn’t seem all that concerned about this going forward.
“We’re going to be fine. We’re gonna work on it this week, we’re going to do what we need to do and we’re going to be fine,” Singleton said.
Davis Webb, Offensive Coordinator
Webb got sped up big-time in this game, as he seemed so eager to dial up big plays and score points that he seemed to forget that the Broncos are trying to fix their running game and become more balanced this season.
Some of this is fixable, but there are concerns. Jane questioned why Denver went empty on fourth-and-1 and failed to convert on a pass attempt to Sutton, and he noted that the screen game was non-existent. J.K. Dobbins played the role of invisible running back, and there was some brutal pre-snap confusion in the second half that cost the Broncos a timeout they could have used had they actually come to play.
