Initial thoughts from the Broncos’ 31-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1 at Arrowhead Stadium:
1. Shameful debut for D: Kenneth Walker III treated the Broncos’ defense the way Texas coach Steve Sarkisian treated Holly Rowe. The Chiefs’ new RB1 dissed them. He dismissed them. He ran away from them. And he did it all night long. With six minutes left in a laugher, Walker, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, had rambled for 173 yards on 23 carries and had scored twice. The Broncos are now 0-5 under coach Sean Payton when allowing a rusher to gain 120 yards on the ground or more. Good thing the Broncos didn’t sign Walker as a free agent. They never would’ve used him. At the half, Payton had thrown it three times more (17 attempts) than he’d run it (six rushes). On the road. Bo Nix looked like a rookie QB. Davis Webb looked like a rookie play-caller. Tom Cruise showed up. But of all the layers of awful that clouded one of the worst season-openers in recent Broncos history, the lowest of an evening of lows might’ve been the one thing apountry thought they could count on. Not anymore.
Chiefs, Kenneth Walker bludgeon Broncos, 31-10, in Denver’s ugly season-opening loss in Kansas City
2. Missed tackles were fatal: The Broncos were often their own worst enemy for most of the the opening three quarters -- especially when it came to missing tackles. Sure-handed guys routinely let Chiefs skill guys squirt free, time and again. And it was a team effort, in all the worst ways. Alex Singleton. Jonah Elliss. Jahdae Barron. But Riley Moss's whiff on the Chiefs' opening drive of the second half might've been the most painful of all. On fourth-and-1 at the Chiefs' 40, Walker stretched the Broncos' defense out to the left hashmark so only Moss was left on the edge. Moss dove at Walker's feet, and the ex-Michigan State star jumped out of it and kept going with nothing but Missouri green grass in front of him. If there was one defensive play that summed up a disappointing start for the Orange and Blue, it might've been that.
3. Where was Jaylen Waddle again? At the start of the fourth quarter, the Broncos' "X" factor, Jaylen Waddle, had touched the ball three times. He'd recorded just one reception for 2 measly yards. Waddle's drop of a hot potato from Nix with 10:02 left in the third quarter ended the Broncos' first drive of the second half. And it was a painful end, given that Denver trailed 21-7 at the time and needed a response after a long Walker run for a score. Given the stage and the stakes, Waddle's Denver debut could hardly have gone much worse. Insult to injury, ESPN's Troy Aikman said that Payton had told his wife to draft Waddle in her fantasy league. So at least Sunshine Sean has got some explaining to do on the home front before he has to face any heat from the heathen media again.
4. Kelce's hold was missed, but we saw lots of wedding photos: It's tough enough to win at Arrowhead without the zebras pulling out their red jerseys to help the home cause. In the first half, ESPN gifted us repeated shots of Tom Cruise sitting next to Taylor Swift. Then we got Jason Kelce standing next to Taylor Swift. Then we got photos of play-by-play man Joe Buck walking into Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce's wedding this past summer. But even the Worldwide Leader called out what the refs wouldn't on the Chiefs' first drive. Patrick Mahomes capped off a short field following a Bo Nix pick by scrambling 15 yards for a score and a 6-0 KC lead. That wound was bad enough, but replays instantly added to the salt. Video showed that while Mahomes ran past them, Travis Kelce had both arms wrapped in almost a bear hug around Broncos safety Talanoa Hufanga in front of the goal line. No call. Naturally.
