Denver didn’t score a touchdown until the final 4 minutes, 5 seconds of a 24-14 loss to the 49ers, mustered just three points total in the first three quarters and overall did nothing to quell concerns about a unit that����ap been more down than up over the season’s first month.

Here are seven thoughts on a game that was a rugged fight for most of the afternoon and then all Niners down the stretch.

1. Sean Payton’s next move will say a lot about where he thinks Davis Webb is as a play caller

The Broncos head coach late Sunday afternoon did not sound like a man inclined toward patience.

He has stood up after each of Denver’s four games so far and handled at least a handful of questions about Denver’s offense.

After a 24-14 loss to San Francisco, he got a lot.

Broad and specific. About scheme and about players. About attitudes and adjustments and rushing and passing.

And also about play-calling.

Will Payton consider taking the play sheet from his 31-year-old protégé and offensive coordinator, Davis Webb, after four games and 13 first-half points? The Broncos will wake up Monday morning averaging 18.5 points per game over the first almost quarter of the season and will find themselves ranked in the 20s or worse across a broad spectrum of offensive statistical measurements.

Has Payton seen enough to consider reconsidering?

“Yeah, like I said, it����ap too early,” Payton said. “It’s a fair question. I appreciate it. It’s tough to discuss any of that right now.”

The coach veered into broader themes before returning to the more specific query.

“To your original question, we always look at everything in each game and that’s how we’ll approach this one.”

That answer, quite notably, did not constitute a hard no.

Payton said, pointedly, that he’s concerned with where the offense finds itself overall through the first quarter of the season.

“We’ve had some opportunities, but there are a handful of things that aren’t clicking,” he said. “We’ve got to figure it out fast because we’re going into Week 5.”

What the veteran head coach does next will say a lot about where he believes the unit����ap struggles stem from.

Payton’s options aren’t limited to simply taking the play-sheet out of his coordinator’s hands.

He can shake up his depth chart. He can say, in no uncertain terms, that the Broncos must play more like they did on a fourth-quarter touchdown drive in which Nix, at one point, handed the ball off five out of six snaps.

This passing chart from QB Bo Nix shows why it's been so hard for Denver's offense to generate explosives.

One completion past 10-yards down the field.

— Sam Jane (@sam_jane230)

They need something, though, and whether Payton decides they need a few small somethings or a big change will be fascinating.

So far, defenses are too often dictating the game. In the best-case scenario, Webb, Nix, and Denver’s offense would run teams or attack them aggressively enough to force a reaction. They would be pushing and pulling on defenses until they became structurally unsound and cracked wide open.

Instead, defenses look comfortable against Nix. Content to play back, allow him to check it down and bet that the Broncos won’t run the ball enough to get burned by playing light personnel and light numbers in the box.

Nix himself said last week that he needed to force teams out of that posture. Then San Francisco mostly just did the same thing.

“If you’re going to see a defense stay high and stay deep, then there needs to be this efficiency we’re talking about right now,” Payton said. “In other words, that game was playing out as our defense was playing. At halftime, you’re watching the way that game is unfolding, I would say you’re encouraged with the offensive (drive) starts that we’’ve had. We just didn’t have enough answers to get past that to get a lead.”

Does Payton think the ultimate reason those answers are not being found is a little bit of play-caller and a lot of other things mixed in? Or will Payton decide the Broncos aren’t putting players in the right spots often enough to have a realistic chance at success?

Perhaps the biggest indictment so far this season is that the Broncos have what looks like a dangerous set of offensive skill talent (plus an expensive, veteran offensive line), yet they aren’t explosive at all. The Broncos are a small-ball offense right now. They have to work really hard to make most good things happen and they have to string several hits together.

Against the run of good defenses the Broncos have faced so far this season, that hasn’t consistently been good enough.

Payton has always considered the first quarter of the season to be a key benchmark in figuring out who a particular team is. Nobody needs to be a finished product at this point, but Denver’s offensive problems have been sticky and solutions have proved elusive.

Nix, meanwhile, reiterated his confidence in Webb when asked.

“I’m real confident in him,” the third-year quarterback said. “I think when you look at the overall landscape, we’ve played four of the top teams in the league, and not easy for a first-time OC as young as he is to go against some of the, quite frankly, the best teams in the league. So, he definitely is going to continue to work to put us in the right spots.”

Denver’s 62-year-old head coach has seen enough ebbs and flows in his career to not rush to major changes right out of the starting gate. But now he must find answers before one month of offensive malaise becomes two, or threatens to kneecap a deep, talented team’s prospects.

Which buttons will he push?

2. The Broncos might have a running back problem. Again.

During Denver’s second offensive possession of the game, the offense made some headway downfield. It overcame an early penalty when Nix hit Tyler Badie for 25 yards on third-and-3. Then Badie churned for four more on third-and-2. Nix hit Marvin Mims Jr. for 10 on third-and-8.

On the Broncos’ sideline, running back J.K. Dobbins was not happy.

He stalked around. Tried to get into the game a couple of times. Exchanged heated words with running backs coach Lou Ayeni.

Finally, on the 11th play of the drive, he got a carry. It was negated by a Mike McGlinchey holding penalty.

Dobbins’ first official carry didn’t come until Denver’s fourth possession when he opened a drive by rushing for no gain.

Dobbins avoided reporters in the postgame locker room, so it����ap not entirely clear what he was thinking early in the game. He did end up with a team-high 11 carries, though Harvey had 17 touches (seven carries and 10 catches) and likely at least as much overall playing time.

What is clear regardless is that Dobbins has not been his normal, productive self over Denver’s first four games.

Through Dobbins’ first four games last season, he carried the ball 57 times for 323 yards (5.7 per carry) and three touchdowns.

Through Dobbins’ first four games this sason, he’s carried the ball 46 times for 161 yards (3.6 per) and has not yet found the end zone. Nearly exactly half the rushing yards on a handful fewer carries.

Not only that, but the explosion is missing, too.

Over Dobbins’ 10 games last year, he had six outings with multiple 10-plus-yard runs. That includes the first 11 in the first four games of the season.

No Broncos rusher had a carry longer than 9 yards on Sunday against the Niners and Dobbins now has just two carries of 10-plus yards through four games this year. He hasn’t had a 10-plus yard carry since the 10:10 mark of the first quarter in Week 2 against Jacksonville.

Payton said during the week that Dobbins, a full practice participant Wednesday through Friday, is healthy. Overall, the offensive line metrics look good and coaches have said they like that group’s performance so far.

Certainly, a lack of overall commitment to and conviction in the run game has hurt the unit as a whole. And yet, Dobbins’ touches aren’t radically different than they were at this stage last year.

His production is.

That����ap a concern for Denver, especially considering rookie Jonah Coleman must miss two more games before he’s eligible to return from injured reserve.

3. Denver has to find a way to get Jaylen Waddle going.

Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, the Broncos’ prize offseason acquisition, is supposed to be a ceiling lifter. An offense changer. A security blanket and a dynamic threat.

Through four games, however, he has not had that kind of impact.

Some of that is on him and he acknowledged as much Sunday after he dropped another pass.

“I think it����ap just execution,” he said. “That����ap ultimately what the game comes down to, especially with the offense that we want to have. Execution is the formula.”

Some of it, though, is a combination of Nix not getting him the ball in situations where he’s available and perhaps also not enough emphasis on manufacturing touches for him.

The results are stark.

Against Jacksonville, the former first-round pick had eight catches on 10 targets for 138 yards.

In Denver’s other three games combined, Waddle has eight catches on 16 targets for 47 yards. On Sunday, he caught five of six passes for just 35 yards, though Waddle did log his first touchdown.

Waddle has played in 82 games as a pro, all in Miami before four with the Broncos. His 138 yards in Week 2 was the fifth-most of his career for a game. His other three are all in the bottom 18 — or 22% — of his single-game totals.

That’s not going to work for the Broncos’ offense, given how much they are trying to design their approach around him. It is especially not going to work if that production isn’t being gobbled up by another receiver and the rushing game is often stuck in neutral.

4. Once again, penalties took a toll on Denver’s early offensive work

At the risk of piling on, penalties continue to hamper an already struggling offense’s ability to find success.

Denver’s final count of seven penalties for 44 yards isn’t a glaring number — it still stands in stark contrast to San Francisco’s one for 5 — but a modest yardage total undercounts the impact penalties had on Denver’s offense early in the game.

The Broncos overcame the first, an illegal motion on receiver Marvin Mims, Jr., to build a promising second drive. McGlinchey’s holding penalty later in the possession, though, pushed Denver back to first-and-20 from the San Francisco 43 and ultimately stalled a drive that ended with a 52-yard Wil Lutz field goal on fourth-and-11.

On each of the offense’s next two drives, false start penalties on left tackle Garett Bolles turned third-and-shorts into third-and-long. When the first penalty turned 2 yards into 7, a Nix incompletion followed, and the Broncos punted. Then Nix scrambled for 7 after a third-and-1 became third-and-6. But the drive stalled out just on the other side of midfield anyway.

5. Dre Greenlaw was a thorn in Denver’s side. How can anybody be surprised?

Former Broncos linebacker Dre Greenlaw had a terrific game, racking up 12 tackles and, in the process, consistently jawing at Broncos players and, particularly, head coach Sean Payton.

Denver inside linebacker Alex Singleton, who paired with Justin Strnad to turn in a really good outing against the Niners, laughed off any notion that such a performance — and such emotion — would catch anyone off guard.

“It was so surprising,” Singleton said with a big dollop of sarcasm. “I’m happy for him. I love the way he plays, I think I said that all of last year.”

Greenlaw praised Broncos players but was harsher on Payton himself. The veteran linebacker last year because of his injuries — that timeline would include a late-season run of four games before Greenlaw injured his hamstring.

At one point during the game, Greenlaw made a tackle along Denver’s sideline and pointed right at Payton and yelled. Payton nodded in return. After the game, Greenlaw had to be corralled by fellow linebacker Fred Warner because he was jawing at Payton again while the teams were shaking hands.

Dre Greenlaw had even more words for Sean Payton after the game. You can see/hear Fred Warner clearly pulling him away.

— Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean)

Greenlaw didn’t hold back to The Chronicle, calling it “disrespect for disrespect” and adding that Payton didn’t call him to tell him that the Broncos were cutting him in March and instead he found out from his agent.

Greenlaw said he told Payton to “get the (expletive) off the field.”

Payton spoke before those comments were published and, as he consistently has since Greenlaw was cut in March, praised the linebacker.

“I said this to Kyle (Shanahan) afterwards, I think the world of (Greenlaw),” Payton said. “I really love everything about him and he plays with that emotion. So, it����ap all good.”

6. Monday night will be a special one for Payton

Sunday’s game did not go the way Payton or the Broncos wanted. On Monday night, though, the Denver head coach will take a trip down memory lane.

The “Monday Night Football” game is Atlanta at New Orleans and there’s a 20th anniversary celebration of the Saints’ return to the Superdome for their first home game after Hurricane Katrina, which was Sept. 26, 2006.

That, of course, was Payton’s first year as a head coach.

Payton on Monday is joining ESPN2’s ManningCast during the game, which means he’ll have a chance to talk with Peyton and Eli Manning — New Orleans natives themselves — about the game and about his ties to the city.

Among others joining the broadcast is Steve Gleason, the former Saints safety who blocked a Falcons punt in the opening minutes of that game in 2006 in what became one of the most enduring NFL moments of the past two decades.

The Saints held their entire training camp and played their entire preseason slate away from New Orleans that summer while repairs continued. Then they won their first two regular season games on the road ahead of an anticipated home debut.

Payton took the team to practice at the Superdome a couple of nights before the game, and after practice, he gathered the team and had the lights shut off.

“Up on the big screens they played the video — a lot of people have probably seen that video,” linebacker Scott Shanle said this week. “It starts off hovering over the dome. So we watched that and his whole thing was, ‘it����ap going to be a special night, but it����ap going to be more special if we win.’ For guys like myself, Drew (Brees), all these guys that were new to the team — we had very few holdovers from the Haslett era. If you looked around, (holdovers) Deuce McAllister, Mike Karney, Will Smith, Charles Grant, these guys had tears running down their faces.

“You knew everything they had gone through. For us, we watched it on TV, you know? But to know they were displaced for a year, they were in San Antonio, what the city went through, you knew it was more than a normal football game.”

Shanle said he saw the night as the Superdome and the city being healed. It also was the loudest environment he’d ever heard, especially when Gleason blocked the punt in the opening minutes and it was recovered for a touchdown.

“There are certain moments that you replay in your head and you can hear, feel and touch from your playing days,” Shanle said. “As soon as you asked, ‘What was that like?’ I can hear the noise of the block. Like a shotgun blast. Boom. You see the ball bounce, Curtis DeLoatch scooping it up, dunks it over the goal post. …

“I’ll say unequivocally, people ask me what the loudest game I played in was and it����ap not even close. The first series of the game on the field standing there against Atlanta, seeing (Falcons QB Mike) Vick’s mouth move and him trying to audible. I felt like I was vibrating on the field.”

7a. Webb wanted more CFL football. Instead, the Broncos did almost nothing but plod

How can a 47% outing on third down be a bad thing for Denver’s offense?

Well, because they faced 17 third downs on the day.

“I think it shows us converting, but it just shows that we’re in way too many third downs,” Nix said.

This is a recurring theme for the quarterback. On Wednesday, in the lead-up to the game, Nix said he felt the Broncos had to convert on third down over and over to move the ball.

“Are we getting first downs early in drives, or are we having to go first down, second down, third down?” he asked rhetorically then. “That����ap just exhausting as an offense in general. So the best teams that start fast, they typically just stay out of third down.”

Webb and Payton call that “CFL football,” after the Canadian league, where teams have only two downs to get a first down.

The Broncos, though, haven’t done much of that and, strangely enough, didn’t, except for one fourth-quarter drive in which they ran the ball five times in six plays.

Denver didn’t get a first down from anywhere but third down until late in the third quarter, when RJ Harvey got 2 yards on a second-and-1 snap.

7b. It has been tough sledding so far this season for Broncos wide receiver Courtland Sutton.

The ninth-year pro posted back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons in quarterback Bo Nix’s first two years as Denver’s starting quarterback, but his production has lagged early this year. Sutton, now through four games this season, has nine catches on 20 targets for 86 yards after just one catch (four targets) for 4 yards against the San Francisco 49ers. Sutton has topped 86 yards in 20 different single games in his career, including five last year alone. He hasn’t had a dry spell like this one over a four-game stretch since November of 2021.

“I’ll have to go back and watch,” Nix said of Sutton’s lack of production against Sutton. “I have the same angle the whole game. Interested to see what actually goes on and how they’re doing a good job of covering him. I don’t know, that’s a week-to-week thing. I know we targeted him today. We just need to connect it a little bit more.”

Sutton has come out of lulls in production before and gone on big runs in the passing game. The Broncos don’t absolutely have to have that, but they do need more from their veteran offensive skill players and more from their passing game overall.

7c. Mims’ fumble on a third-quarter punt return loomed large in the game and it was very close to not being a fumble at all.

The Broncos’ ace return man was tackled in the open field by 49ers defensive back Siran Neal and started to go to the ground. He had a hand flat on the ground as well as the back of the hand and the wrist of the arm he was carrying the ball in. The ball popped free and Neal recovered it. The officiating crew ruled the play a turnover right away and that decision stood upon review. Payton said he didn’t have a good look at it live and his staff was looking at the play for a potential challenge after it happened, but the league also automatically reviews all turnover plays.

Some of the Broncos coaching staff didn’t see a close replay of the ruling until after the game and at least one couldn’t believe it was ruled a turnover. The broadcast had doubts, too, including the CBS broadcasters.

“His forearm is down,” color commentator Trent Green said, and play-by-play man Kevin Harlan agreed. “It’s Denver’s ball.”

Rules analyst Gene Steratore said on the broadcast that the wrist is akin to a hand rather than the forearm and that was likely the justification for the call being confirmed, but, “personally, it feels like he is down by contact.”

Except he wasn’t. And it turned into a 60-yard field-position swing. At the time, the Broncos defense started the second half with two three-and-outs and pinned the Niners deep. Once San Francisco was set up at the Denver 28-yard line, though, the Niners offense punched in the first touchdown of the day to take a 10-3 lead.

1. Did Mims really fumble?: Social media howled that the Broncos “got away” with a pass interference call on the Rams late last Sunday that helped Denver pull off another home comeback. Well, the football gods must have kept that receipt, because the officials in Week 4 sure made up for whatever favors were left at Empower Field in the second half. With 9:40 left in the third quarter, Broncos returner Marvin Mims was ruled to have fumbled away a 49ers punt, appearing to lose the ball as the pigskin and his forearm touched the ground.  To the naked eye, he was down by contact. On most of the TV replays, he looked down by contact.  CBS rules analyst Gene Steratore said on the broadcast that he felt “Mims was down by contact,” while also noting that rules consider a wrist to be a part of the hand, and that a hand down can cause a fumble. The hosts had the ball at the Denver 28, and scored the game’s first TD nine plays later.

2. Bo Nix, checkdown artist? If you want to know why the Broncos’ No. 10 isn’t universally considered a “franchise” quarterback outside ����apountry, and why his critics call him a checkdown artist, Sunday is a perfect example. Despite a decent stat line in San Fran against a decent, physical Niners defense (25-42 passing, 214 yards, one score, no picks), the devil for No. 10 was in the details. Of those 25 completions, 14 were to Broncos running backs. Backs and tight ends wound up being targeted 20 times on the day. The old adage is that you can only take what a defense “gives” you, but Nix repeatedly missed mid-range throws that were either more than 12 yards beyond the line of scrimmage or over the middle of the field. At one point, even CBS analyst Trent Green, a former Chiefs and Rams QB, noted how many chances Nix missed between the hashmarks.

3. PS2, Moss dinged: With 38 seconds left until halftime in a 3-3 game and the Niners driving, ����apountry could feel their collective hearts trapped in a community’s throats. Cornerback Patrick Surtain II, the Broncos’ best player, appeared to tweak his right lower leg in a non-contact play while backpedaling on a 49ers drop back. As Brock Purdy completed a 24-yard pass to the Niners’ 42-yard line, Surtain began to hobble, and after the play, in the first of several scary moments, he collapsed to the ground. The 2024 NFL Defensive Player of the Year was able to stand up again and put a little weight on his right leg but couldn’t walk back to the visiting locker room without two Broncos staffers helping him with every slow step. Neither PS2 (ankle) nor CB2 partner Riley Moss (rib) were out with the starting defense on the Niners’ second drive of the second half. When it rains … you get a CB combo of Kris Abrams-Draine and Jahdae Barron.

4. First-half penalties: The worst enemy for the Broncos’ offense in the first half, given the benefit of hindsight, was probably the Broncos themselves. At the break, Denver had five penalties compared to just one for the hosts. And the timing of those flags was even worse, as the laundry proved to be drive-killers. After linebacker Alex Singleton forced a turnover on downs at the Denver 34, the Broncos worked a third-and-2 at the 42 with 13 minutes to go until halftime. But a false start by left tackle Garett Bolles made that a third-and-7 at the 37; Nix was flushed out of the pocket on the ensuing play, and the Broncos had to punt. On the Broncos’ next possession, Denver faced a third-and-1 at the visitors’ 39 with 9:06 left — only for Bolles to jump again, turning a short-yardage dive into a third-and-4.

Hey Parker, apologies if this question has already been asked, but why does Bo Nix have so many passes batted down at the line? Is it something that he’s doing, or just bad luck? Appreciate your great work!

— George P., Seattle (not a “12”)

Hey George, thanks for writing in and for the interesting question. Nix has had four batted-down passes so far this season, according to Pro Football Reference. Through three weeks, only Jared Goff (five) has more.

Nix had the second-most passes batted down his rookie year with 16 (Cooper Rush had 17 in only 12 starts that year). Last year, though, that number dropped to 13, which was ninth-most in football.

One thing to keep in mind on this: Nix has thrown a lot of passes his first two years. A whole lot. He led football with 612 attempts in 2024 and was sixth as a rookie with 567. Just for kicks, our incredibly large and accomplished stats department here at The Post — me hamfisting Google Sheets, to be precise — threw together Bat% (batted balls per passing attempt) using Pro Football Reference data for the past two full seasons. Nix had the sixth-highest Bat% as a rookie and was No. 14 last year.

So I think the first takeaway is, yes, he’s had a bunch of batted passes, but it doesn’t look like an outlier trend or something that Nix really struggles with compared to other quarterbacks in football.

In general, the most consistent indicator for batted passes is just where your release point is. You can be 6-foot-1 and have a high release point and be fine or be 6-4, release the ball low too frequently and get the ball batted down more frequently. Obviously, though, really short quarterbacks, even with a high release point, are at a disadvantage.

Other times, a quarterback doesn’t get himself into the proper throwing lane, making it easier for the defensive lineman.

Of the couple Nix had against the Rams, one was Kobie Turner just doing a good job getting to Nix and getting the ball as it came out of his hand. That ball floated and was intercepted by Josh Wallace. On another, Nix climbed in the pocket but then attempted an awkward, off-balance dump-off and it got batted away easily. That����ap more the result of a broken play. He had one knocked down in the Chiefs game that was a good job by the defensive lineman leaping high. Nix on that one turned all the way back to his right and loaded up, which might have given Peter Woods enough time to realize what was happening. Sometimes, when a play is extended, an offensive lineman has a tougher time keeping the defensive lineman from getting his hands up.

Overall, Nix has more passes batted down than the average NFL quarterback, but having four early in this season looks more like a bit of an anomaly than a concerning trend. We’ll see if that holds over the coming weeks.

Since Bo Nix is a slow starter out of the gate, why don’t the Broncos run the ball more in the first two quarters to let him establish some kind of rhythm? Then, in the second half, let him throw a lot more in the third and fourth quarters of games?

— Mustapha A. Faal, Aurora

Hey Mustapha, thanks for writing in and for the good question. Part of it is that the Broncos have been bad at running the football on early downs early in games. It����ap great to want to run the football early on — doubly so if it does indeed help settle your quarterback into a game — but if you run twice and end up in third-and-long, that����ap not good for anybody and actually makes life more difficult for the quarterback.

The Broncos have played three different kinds of games so far, but over those three games they are clearly running the ball less and worse in the first half than in the second.

Here are the run rates and per-carry numbers for Denver through three weeks:

Week 1: First half — 24% run, 3.8 per carry. Second half – 41% run, 4.2 per carry

Week 2: First half — 41% run, 2.9 per carry. Second half – 53% run, 4.2 per carry

Week 3: First half — 38% run, 2.6 per carry. Second half – 44 % run, 3.4 per carry

Those numbers are even more striking because the Broncos have trailed by multiple scores in the second half of each game they’ve played this year and yet they’ve run it more frequently and better in the second half of each game so far.

What it looks like from here is multiple questions: How can the Broncos be more efficient running the football — and moving it in general — early in games? And how can the Broncos get Nix into rhythm earlier in games? If the answers to those questions are linked, that����ap great. Generally, the early/late theory applied with Nix in the first half of the 2025 season when the Broncos were one of the most efficient running teams in football.

One consideration: Perhaps involving Nix in the run game a bit more, in a deliberate way, could help Denver on both fronts.

By my count, four of his 12 credited “carries” through three games are actual run calls. The rest are sneaks, kneels, scrambles and a dropped snap. Of the other four, three have had read-option looks where Nix might carry it, or he might hand it off to a back, depending on the look. None of the four have been in the first quarter. Perhaps there’s a designed run call for Nix somewhere in Davis Webb’s openers this week or somewhere along the way soon.

Be honest now. Before the season, did you have the Broncos at 2-1 on your bingo card? And what����ap been surprising so far?

— Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.

Hey Ed, no risk of revisionist history here. We’ve got plenty of evidence. But, as always, data interpretation can be a flexible pursuit! I did indeed pick the Broncos to start 2-1 in our preseason magazine when I went through the schedule week by week. I am also 2-1 in the weekly picks that we do as a staff.

Neither of those quite tell the whole story, though. In our preseason magazine, I picked Denver to win its first two and lose to the Rams. So 2-1, yes. But am I Nostradamus? Perhaps not quite. In our weekly picks, I have — maybe slightly surprisingly — picked Denver to win all three games. Obviously was wrong out of the gate, but have rebounded since then.

There’s a lot of early season noise, so it����ap a little too soon to be truly surprised about anything, I think. I will say, I expected a faster start from the offense and a little bit stouter work from Denver’s run defense. But they’ve also faced really good opponents so far and they’ve won two of three. When you consider the way the first three games have gone, my broadest takeaway is there’s a lot of room for improvement and that����ap a scary thought given who they’ve already beat. Of course, having room for improvement and actually getting better are different conversations. We’ll see how much progress Payton’s team can make. ���’s historically been terrific in October after figuring out his teams through September.

OK, Parker. We’re three weeks in. What do you think about this team so far? I feel like it’s the same team we had last year, with better receiving options and a pass rush that’s finding itself. What do you think?

— Mark, Arvada

Yeah, Mark, that����ap not a bad summation. They’ve shown a knack for making big plays when they need to, but it doesn’t feel like either side of the ball is fully in rhythm through three games. Opponent quality has something to do with that. You’re talking about three potential Super Bowl contenders out of the gate and another on deck Sunday at San Francisco.

One question I have is where the run game will come from over the next few weeks. J.K. Dobbins does not look like himself fully, RJ Harvey has not, to this point in his career, been a down-in, down-out runner and Jonah Coleman is out until at least Week 7 against Arizona.

There have been moments where the defense has not looked like it����ap all the way back to 2025 form both against the run and the pass, but there are also encouraging signs, too. Four takeaways through three games won’t blow anybody’s doors off, but even that is a 23-takeaway pace. The Broncos had 12 last year.

To my eye, the defensive front has missed Jonathon Cooper, who is on the commissioner’s exempt list and facing a mid-November trial in Arapahoe County on a felony domestic violence charge and other lesser charges.

At the same time, according to Next Gen Stats, the Denver defense ranks sixth in overall pressure rate (39.5%) despite facing top-flight quarterbacks and, so far, posting the third-fastest average time to throw (2.67 seconds) in the league.

It’s clear we miss John Franklin-Myers and maybe Dre Greenlaw. The middle linebacker spot is a real problem. Singleton was out of position the entire first half. I know they like him personally, but we need a better player in that spot. And I really question if Riley Moss can get better or maybe this is just who he is as a cornerback. And don’t say it’s because Pat Surtain is on the other side. Last night Pat couldn’t shut down Davante Adams, so that’s no excuse for Riley.

— Anthony, Venice, Fla.

Thank goodness the Ponies showed up against the Jags. But after another sub-starter-level game, I’m still left scratching my head over what it’s going to take to acquire at least one average ILB? The sight of Alex Singleton grasping at air while fruitlessly chasing the latest player assignment to elude him can no longer be ignored!

— William Christensen, Orem, Utah

Hey Anthony and William, going to take these questions together since they are somewhat similar.

I think Denver has missed some of John Franklin-Myers’ pass-rush juice, but of all the players mentioned, I’ll stick with what I said above: the biggest absence so far has been Cooper. ���’s not off the team, of course, but it����ap also not clear when he might be on the field for the Broncos again.

Greenlaw is playing great so far this season for San Francisco, and he’s apparently OK after going down with an injury Sunday against Arizona. It����ap unfortunate for the Broncos and Greenlaw that it just didn’t work out in Denver. Part of it is that he very clearly is more comfortable with the 49ers, and he’s said as much since returning there, both in news conferences and to The Athletic’s Mike Silver. Missing as much time as he did here — Greenlaw was rehabbing all of OTAs and minicamp, then really only had a few days of training camp before going down again and missing six weeks to start the season — put him in a spot where he just was never able to get going fully.

The inside linebacker conversation generally is not new. Some people refuse to believe that, on the whole, Vance Joseph is happy with the work Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad do. They are not perfect players. Coverage is not Singleton’s strongest attribute. Occasionally, teams get them in bad matchups. But A) there are not a bunch of inside linebackers walking around the other 31 buildings in the NFL who snuff out running backs and tight ends week in and week out, and B) Singleton and Strnad are productive players in their own right. Strnad, in particular, had a bunch of really good reps in coverage against the Rams. He had one bad one where somehow he ended up one-on-one in the slot against Davante Adams, curious in part because Surtain was lined up to Strnad’s outside against a tight end and they didn’t switch. That one went for a massive gain.

Aside from that, I don’t think it����ap as bad as a lot of people make it out to be.  Are they the Broncos’ best position group? No. Have they been beat? Absolutely. There was a play Sunday on the Rams’ final drive where Singleton bailed out of a simulated pressure look and busted it toward the flat because it looked like Kyren Williams was releasing there. Williams cut hard to the middle of the field and was wide open for 19 yards on third-and-10. Offenses clearly try to scheme them up to get matchups against them. But part of that is because the Broncos have proven guys in the secondary that most coordinators and play-callers — not Sean McVay on Sunday — are reluctant to test too frequently.

Did Talanoa Hufunga work on his hands in the offseason? It felt like he came close to several picks last year but couldn’t pull any in. He could’ve had four against the Rams. Far and away the best pickup we had last year.

— Mike, Denver

He sure did, Mike. Thanks for writing in.

Hufanga was a regular on the JUGS machine during training camp, which is when we’re most frequently able to see these guys in practice settings.

Hufanga spoke pretty openly at the start of the summer, too, about how one of the things he struggled with last year was still working to fully recover from his 2024 wrist injury, which involved torn ligaments and required surgery. That kept him off the JUGS machine for most of the offseason leading into last year and he said it also affected his hand-eye coordination.

Hufanga, though, was clear in taking responsibility for not catching the ball more last season.

Then he had his hands on two earlier in the game against the Rams, too.

When he caught them late, though, they obviously made a massive impact.

It was Christmas Day, 2022, and the NFL’s newest ownership group had a standalone game against a familiar opponent.

Literally.

Stan Kroenke, Rob Walton’s cousin by marriage, owns the Rams along with several other sports franchises — the Nuggets and Avalanche in Denver among them — and built what is, to date, the crown jewel of NFL stadiums.

Stan and his wife, Ann Walton, greeted Walton along with Greg and Carrie Penner on the field after holiday celebrations and before the first meeting of their football teams.

The day quickly spiraled for the Broncos and their new owners, though, from family Christmas to a bitter Welcome to the NFL moment and a franchise-rattling embarrassment.

In many ways, that 51-14 blowout set in motion the events that led to Penner hiring Sean Payton. It set the table for a foundational reset of the club’s football operation and a string of decisions that put the Broncos back on their feet much sooner than most expected. Under Payton, the Broncos have returned to being postseason regulars and, in January, they came within perhaps a Bo Nix ankle injury of playing in the Super Bowl.

As the Broncos and Rams prepare to meet Sunday night at Empower Field, the first game between the clubs since that day late in 2022, Denver has pulled astride Los Angeles on the football field. More impactful in the long term, however, is the reality that these ownership groups, bound by blood, are set to square off across conferences, across professional sports, and across Colfax Avenue for years, decades, and likely generations to come.

The Christmas Day ’embarrassment’

Justin Strnad knew this one was different.

Even in a league driven by parity and a weekly raft of close games and dramatic conclusions, blowouts still happen. It����ap part of every sport and the NFL is no exception.

Losing by 37 on Christmas, on national television to a team owned by your owners’ cousins and playing with a backup quarterback who had been with the club for three weeks? That is not a frequent occurrence.

“I remember that day just getting on the plane and being like, ‘Dude, that was bad bad,’” Strnad told The Post.

Indeed it was. It also turned out to be the final straw for head coach Nathaniel Hackett.

The Broncos, at 4-11, flew back to Denver as a snowstorm snarled travel across the country. Greg Penner had planned to wait until the end of the season to decide whether to give the rookie head coach a second season. That seemed unlikely, given Hackett had been hired before the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group bought the team and the season had gone off the rails quickly, despite the blockbuster acquisition of quarterback Russell Wilson and other marquee signings like Randy Gregory.

Still, Penner is a notoriously disciplined decision-maker and he had no reason to expedite this one. Until Christmas Day.

Not only did the Broncos get blown out, but they melted down on the sideline. Teammates scuffled. Microphones caught guard Dalton Risner yelling at backup quarterback Brett Rypien. Running back Latavius Murray told The Post recently that he got into it with Risner, too.

Gregory had missed 10 games due to a knee injury and returned for one game, but was reluctant to play on Christmas due to knee soreness. He was cleared and made active against the Rams, however, so he set about protesting. Gregory drew two personal fouls and spent most of his 11 snaps clearly trying to instigate fights with Rams players before finally succeeding after the game ended.

Hackett left his postgame news conference and walked back to the locker room with his shoulders slumped and hands stuffed in his pockets, eyes locked on the ground in front of him.

Perhaps by then he knew. Murray certainly did.

“When you’ve been around long enough, you definitely kind of know that, man, there’s certain games, certain moments where you’re kind of like, ‘Damn, man, this could be the end of it for him,’” he said. “I saw it in London when we came back with the Raiders and Dennis Allen was let go when we got whooped up pretty bad in London.

“Sometimes an owner, it can be a game where it����ap just like, enough is enough.”

That night, Penner arrived at that very conclusion. Diligence and patience gave way to anger and resolution in the span of an evening.

Hackett was fired the next morning.

One day later, Penner called the loss “an embarrassment to our organization” and said he hadn’t gone into the week thinking about making a coaching change but that “after the effort that we put forward on Sunday and some of the things that were going on off the field, we just felt like it was time to make a decision.”

The text

Around that very time, Murray texted his old head coach, Sean Payton.

The veteran running back says now that he felt bad that Payton construed the text as being delivered before Hackett was fired. Murray remembers sending it after arriving back in Denver, not from Los Angeles.

Regardless, the veteran back — a rare stabilizer that fall for the Broncos after Javonte Williams’ gruesome early-season leg injury — couldn’t shake the idea that Payton was just what Denver needed.

He wasn’t the only one, either. In fact, he said he reached out to Payton with Wilson’s encouragement.

“Russ is assuming he’ll be around and I’m thinking I would love to be back, especially if Sean gets the job,” Murray said. “So I reached out to him and I said, ‘Hey, my quarterback out here would love to have you.’” Wilson himself called Payton a “genius” after a late-season game when discussing head coaching candidates.

Payton’s response to Murray: “Be careful what you ask Santa for.”

Murray relayed the same message about Payton being the Broncos’ answer to general manager Geroge Paton and to Penner himself, too.

“I wasn’t doing it selfishly, but when they were talking about culture and details and all those things, I love other coaches, but being around Sean, I just knew,” Murray said. “I just couldn’t see him being in any situation or any position and not changing it to that way.

“He just is that guy.”

A Payton turnaround

Payton, of course, became the Broncos’ guy several weeks later when Denver completed a trade with New Orleans for his rights.

It wasn’t because Murray lobbied for him, of course, but the veteran back hit the nail on the head in terms of his evaluation. Penner wanted experience throughout the hiring process. Jim Harbaugh would have provided that and it was a testament to how impressive DeMeco Ryans was that Penner was drawn to him strongly despite Ryan’s status as a potential first-timer.

Payton was hired in late January 2023. The ensuing overhaul has been from the studs up — and it has worked.

Since the day Payton arrived, the Broncos have turned over the roster, wiggled out from under Wilson’s massive contract extension, found an apparent long-term answer at quarterback, built one of the deepest rosters in football and made the playoffs the past two seasons.

From Week 1 of the 2023 season, the Broncos are 33-20 in the regular season. The Los Angeles Rams during that same stretch? 33-20 in the regular season. Both teams finished as runner-up in their conference last year. They are each off to 1-1 starts this year and opened the season with poor performances, but they are each expected to be power players and Super Bowl contenders going forward.

“Obviously, the culture change that Sean brought when he got here was radically different than what we’d had,” said Strnad, a Denver fifth-round draft pick in 2020 who played for Vic Fangio and Hackett before Payton. “The accountability, the discipline that is instilled in everybody — in this program, the way Sean runs it, if you’re not on your Ps and Qs, you’re going to stick out like a sore thumb. ���’s done a great job of changing it.”

Payton, of course, wasted little time engendering change. Ironically, Murray wasn’t offered a contract to return in 2023 and Wilson lasted just one year.

Murray’s departure stemmed from age rather than fit. But Wilson and Payton didn’t work together and many others lasted a year or less. The Broncos cut Gregory and veteran OLB Frank Clark within weeks of the 2023 season opening. Jerry Jeudy, Justin Simmons and many others were jettisoned, too.

“When you say stop progress, it����ap in every sense of the word,” Payton said on a podcast with Jason Garrett about players who don’t help a turnaround. “The calories burned on them, etc. And there were a number of them in the first year. A number. Way too many.”

The Broncos played the reset game aggressively, which included absorbing Wilson’s $85 million in dead cap space. Payton and Paton identified players they believed fit, stockpiled them and then locked them in contractually. Now the club has one of the highest continuity rates in the NFL and many of the players who bought into Payton’s way in 2023 are still around.

There are 10 on the 53-man roster today who made the initial 53 in 2022 under Hackett: Strnad, Garett Bolles, Courtland Sutton, Quinn Meinerz, Luke Wattenberg, Pat Surtain II, Nik Bonitto, Eyioma Uwazurike, D.J. Jones and Alex Singleton. They are all starters, along with Jonathon Cooper, who is currently on the commissioner’s exempt list.

Upon his arrival, Payton told the players that he and his coaches would judge them based on what they saw going forward rather than on any preconceived notions.

“That����ap something that is actually true when he says that,” Strnad said. “I feel like you hear coaches say that a lot. A coach will get a new job somewhere and they’re like, ‘Oh, everyone’s at zero.’ Really, though, they want their guys and people don’t really get a fair shake. Honestly, I had those thoughts when Sean got here of, like, am I going to get a fair shake in training camp? And I’ll say, these guys, him and (defensive coordinator Vance Joseph), they really go by what they see.

“It����ap shown with who has been kept here, signed here and brought in.”

If Payton wins another Super Bowl, the first line of his football resume will forever say that he was the first coach to win one with two different clubs.

Even if he doesn’t, however, among the enduring parts of his legacy will be that he took two different wayward franchises and built them into winners. He took over a team in New Orleans coming off a three-win season and the fallout from Hurricane Katrina, and quickly built it into a contender, leading the Saints to their first and only Super Bowl trophy after the 2009 season.

“There’s a very clear and precise type of player that we look for with him and we don’t really compromise on that,” said Denver’s offensive line coach Zach Strief, who has been on Payton’s staff here from the start and before that played 12 years for him in New Orleans. “You put enough of the right types of people in a building together and your culture will build itself.”

That culture has already shown through this year when the Broncos bounced back from getting blasted by Kansas City in Week 1 to beat a quality Jacksonville team last weekend.

“It����ap why a lot of these players are here from a make-up standpoint,” Payton said after beating the Jags. “They’re not here for the wins. They’re here for some of the bumps that we know are going to come.”

A broadening board

In the more than three years since Payton was hired, the Broncos have found stability in their football operation.

Penner oversees Payton and Paton and this offseason gave them matching five-year contracts through 2030.

The ownership group has put more than $100 million into Empower Field upgrades, built a state-of-the-art team headquarters and training facility that opened this summer and identified Burnham Yard as its preferred site to build a new stadium and surrounding mixed-use district.

The Broncos are a rising power in the NFL.

They are also going to be seeing a lot of the Kroenkes, and not just at Thanksgiving.

Last year, Kroenke Sports and Entertainment announced plans for a massive development project around Ball Arena downtown. A matter of months later, the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group made Burnham Yard its preferred site. The proposed districts are separated, quite literally, by Metro State’s campus.

The districts are so close together that when the Broncos owners started buying up properties around Burnham Yard in 2024 using nondescript LLCs, at least one tenant with a business near the defunct railyard told The Post they figured it was Kroenke behind the torrent of purchases. In a development master-planning document filed with the city last year, KSE said its project could unite several neighborhoods, including La Alma-Lincoln Park, which is directly east of the Broncos’ proposed site.

The Broncos are hoping to have a stadium built and the initial phase of their district up and running by the 2031 NFL season, though there are still many hurdles to clear before they get the green light to start digging. Phase 1 of the Ball Arena plan is on a similar timeline and includes a hotel, a pair of apartment buildings and a roughly 5,000-seat concert venue. KSE, too, plans to develop River Mile, though company officials have recently said they consider it, for now, more of a long-term play, with their emphasis on the Ball Arena project.

Several people involved with, around and familiar with the pair of projects see an arms race brewing between the Penner Sports Group and KSE. While the districts are different in styles and density — KSE’s will ultimately be more residential-heavy, and Burnham Yard has more of an entertainment emphasis based on current plans — Denver has finite capacity and is capped in market size in a way that Kroenke was not when he built SoFi Stadium and the surrounding district in the Los Angeles area.

“These guys are smart,” said Brad Segal, president of Denver planning firm Progressive Urban Management Associates. “They’re putting hundreds of millions of dollars — billions — into these developments.

“But they’re either going to cannibalize and/or compete because there are limitations with the size of the market.”

Neither KSE or the Broncos made executives available for this story.

Fred Ortiz is the global director of sports and entertainment at the architecture firm HKS, which designed SoFi and also AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. In Arlington, there are multiple sports franchises that have built in close proximity to each other and largely coexist, he said, though with some scheduling conflicts and natural competition.

“There’s an arms race here,” Oritz said. “Is Kroenke going to take what he has infused into these other teams he runs, like with SoFi, for example, and what����ap he learned from SoFi and how is that going to make its way into this development in Denver? Is he going to be the bully?”

Last summer, Sue Powers, the president of Urban Ventures in Denver, told The Post that she thought the Ball Arena and Burnham projects could be somewhat complementary but that they’d be watching each other to see what each did.

“I think they’re fundamentally different,” Segal said. … “What the Kroenkes are doing is extending the vitality of lower downtown across Speer and feeding on that. Whereas the Broncos are creating something from the ground up, really brand new.”

If nothing else, the families will end up competing for labor. With the initial phases of the projects on similar tracks, there is a whole lot of construction on deck over the next half-decade and beyond in, really, a fairly compact part of the city.

“Denver’s a big market, but at some point you’re labor constrained,” managing director at the real estate consulting firm RCLCO Erin Talkington, a stadium district expert, said. “When you start to think about the different trades and specialties locally that can work on that scale of venue, and when you’re building a couple at the same time, you start to realize that you have a good labor pool, but it����ap not infinite.

“And to get it all, you’re going to pay for it.”

America’s pastime and Denver’s future

While each group worked through the myriad steps toward breaking ground on their districts earlier this year, they also each added a new sport to their respective portfolios.

Penner Sports Group bought a 40% stake in the Colorado Rockies in April. Then, last month, Kroenke agreed to purchase the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, adding yet another piece to the family chessboard. PSG is just a partner to Rockies owner Dick Monfort for the foreseeable future and Penner has waved off any talk of what happens down the line, but from the moment they bought the stake this spring, questions have persisted about whether they may one day become the club’s controlling owners. Those questions aren’t going anywhere.

The Rockies represent the Penners’ first known foray into sports beyond football, whereas KSE owns teams in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLS, and the Premier League, as well as in other, lower-profile leagues.

It all represents substantial proliferation in a relatively short amount of time. Less than four years ago, the Walton-Penner Family Ownership Group was the new kid on the NFL block, taking its medicine on Christmas Day in Southern California.

Now it’s a bona fide power in the NFL, both on the field and off. The Penners are undertaking a major project in Denver and have expanded to baseball, too. On the other side of every endeavor, some more directly than others, is Kroenke.

They are after the same championships in football and, soon, in baseball. They share fanbases locally, to be sure, but they will soon be after the same foot traffic on Denver’s western flank. They are both headlong into what is widely regarded as smart business these days in pro sports, but, as Josh Kroenke acknowledged in a video last year, it also amounts to a project rooted in the idea of legacy.

Such will be the case, if each side has its way, for a very long time on the Front Range.

Here are 7 thoughts after the win, which sets up a massive “Sunday Night Football” tilt coming up at home against the Los Angeles Rams.

1. If Davis Webb’s adjustment period to calling plays in the NFL amounts to five quarters, the Broncos are going to be just fine

Davis Webb’s play-calling debut last week did not go the way he hoped.

Of course, nothing went the way the Broncos wanted at Arrowhead Stadium in Week 1.

When Denver started Week 2 with three consecutive punts, just two first downs and a pair of critical penalties — all accentuated by smatterings of boos from the Empower Field faithful — the notion started to creep in that perhaps another dud was at hand for Webb and the Denver offense.

Instead, the first-year play-caller’s group started to show signs of life fairly quickly, even if it also spent a couple more possessions shooting itself in the foot.

Slowly but surely, Denver’s offense found its footing. It found first downs and completions and run concepts the group wanted to get back to.

Then, at long last, the end zone. Twice.

By the end, Webb and the Broncos offense had put on a second-half clinic. Denver’s final four drives ended in a field goal, a pair of touchdowns and then a perfectly executed 4-minute, 41-second put-away drive.

“That����ap the best feeling in the world if we don’t have to go back onto the field on defense and the offense wins the game for us,” inside linebacker Alex Singleton said.

It was probably the best feeling in the world — or at least of the day — for Webb to see his group come to life over the course of Sunday afternoon.

“He stuck to the plan,” quarterback Bo Nix said of Webb. “He stuck to his game plan and he continued to — even though at the beginning we didn’t have a lot of success and we didn’t move the ball like we wanted to and go down and score a whole bunch of touchdowns in the first quarter, he just stuck to the game plan. By the second half, he was calling the plays and doing a really good job of getting us in good spots.”

The learning curve for Webb isn’t about football aptitude. ���’s answered those questions throughout his career as a player and coach and is universally regarded as a whip-smart football mind.

The hard parts about calling plays are about sequencing and setting up opponents. Sniffing out the other side’s plan quickly, giving your players answers to the test and then also having a feel for how the game is going in all facets. Finding a solution when things aren’t going well, and keeping the mojo when they are. Dialing up the right call at the right time but also avoiding the wrong call at the wrong time. Winning on third down and in the red zone.

Knowing when to keep pressing on a bruise and when to change up.

After Monday’s loss at Kansas City, Webb said one thing he took away from his first time calling plays in a live environment was not to wait if he had a play he really liked. Shoot it early and don’t risk getting to the end of the game with good ideas sitting in your pocket.

Ultimately, he still had to have patience against Jacksonville. The Broncos didn’t get into a rhythm until the second quarter, and even then, drives didn’t turn out the way they wanted to.

Overall, though, the drive chart looked good after the opening three punts, despite a first-and-goal breakdown and a Nix interception in the red zone.

Denver’s final six drives:

* Eight plays, 58 yards (two first downs), field goal

* Eight plays, 76 yards (three), interception

* Eight plays, 45 yards (two), field goal

* Ten plays, 64 yards (five), touchdown

* Five plays, 56 yards (five), touchdown

* Ten plays, 59 yards (three), end of game

That����ap doing work against a good defense. Five straight drives into prime scoring chances and then a put-away march.

“He responded the right way,” head coach Sean Payton said of Webb. “The meetings, how he handled the schedule and then the first half and all of that. You keep grinding at it. Things really picked up in the second half and that was important. There was a certain way we wanted to play this game. I’m pleased that we were able to play that game, especially in the second half.”

Plus, despite the up-and-down nature of his first six-plus quarters, Webb showed confidence in crunch time.

On a critical third-and-3 on Denver’s final drive of the night, Webb and the Broncos offensive staff pegged Jacksonville as almost sure to be in man coverage and dialed up a double-move for star wide receiver Jaylen Waddle (eight catches for 138 yards).

A wide open Jaylen Waddle picks up a key first down

JAXvsDEN on CBS/Paramount+
Stream on

— NFL (@NFL)

Waddle was so open that Nix just had to lay the ball out for him. Even a cautious underthrow led to a 29-yard gain and a fresh set of downs.

“We knew they were going to be in man,” Nix said. ”(Waddle) got out there and double-moved them, ran a great route and at that point, (I just) keep him away from the post safety, get the completion, get a first down and then you can ice the game.”

That was a long way removed from Webb’s reaction after a bizarre broken play on third-and-goal in which a pitch from Nix to running back J.K. Dobbins had no chance of success. The offensive line got going in staggered fashion and a first-and-goal from the 1 turned into a field goal.

The broadcast showed Webb, furious, yelling unprintable words into his headset.

That drive, though, was the start of good things for Denver’s offense overall.

“We all re-evaluated after that first game,” right guard Quinn Meinerz said. “We had to do a better job of staying in front of the sticks … The thing with play-callers is we need to instill confidence during the week. We need to instill confidence on Install No. 1 when we came in for practice on Thursday, on Friday and on Saturday. I think we had a really good week of practice and then had some good runs early in the game.

“It����ap just about building confidence.”

It won’t be all smooth sailing from here, but in an early season where everything is new for the play-caller, finding success is important not only for positive reinforcement but because figuring out adjustments and answers on the fly is, in many ways, the name of the game. Confidence, Payton frequently says, is born of demonstrated ability.

“What he’s doing is not easy,” tight end Evan Engram said of Webb. “First time doing it — obviously he’s had opportunities in the preseason, but that was live bullets last week and we played a good team and they played a good game. We all had plays and things we’d take back.

“That����ap how he’s built. ���’s going to respond. He looked himself in the mirror and owned everything last week, as everybody did. That����ap one of my favorite things about this team is we’re all able to humble ourselves and fix what we need to fix for the betterment of the team.”

2. Jonah Coleman took full advantage of his first opportunity. More are probably coming

Broncos rookie running back Jonah Coleman moved up the depth chart by default on Sunday.

He might continue rising based on his own performance in Week 2.

Coleman was in line for a big role behind J.K. Dobbins against Jacksonville because RJ Harvey was inactive due to a hamstring injury.

Then, by the fourth quarter, Coleman was the featured back after Dobbins, too, had a hamstring issue that kept him from returning to the game.

The fourth-round draft pick out of Washington showed he’s capable of helping the Broncos’ offense from the jump.

Coleman didn’t finish with eye-popping numbers — 10 carries for 39 yards plus three catches for 19 — but the eye test doesn’t lie. All but six of Coleman’s rushing yards came on Denver’s 4-minute, 41-second closeout drive, including a pair of 12-yard bursts.

In his three catches, the bowling ball back showed soft hands and the ability to catch and transition into a runner.

He scored his first touchdown and made a heads-up play to get down in bounds ahead of the 2-minute warning, as well.

The bottom line: He had the kind of look the Broncos were hoping for — and projecting eventually — when they picked him on Day 3 of the draft back in April.

“I saw a future starter,” running backs coach Lou Ayeni told The Post earlier this month of his pre-draft study on Coleman. “A three-down guy. I think the biggest thing is, when you watch all these backs, they’re all going to be productive, they’re all going to be good with the ball in their hands. It����ap what he did when the ball wasn’t in his hands.

“He took a lot of pride in pass protection.”

He also showed some pass-catching ability despite the more between-the-tackles build.

“I thought he had really soft hands,” Ayeni said, “but you never really know. It showed right away in rookie minicamp.”

The Broncos also expected Coleman would have some wiggle and tackle-breaking ability, but they don’t tackle live in camp and they had no joint practices.

It took all of a couple snaps in the preseason opener against Atlanta before Webb and Payton got on the radio and said they’d seen enough. Get Coleman out of the game.

“���’s thighs, butt, ass and shoulder pads,” Ayeni said. “���’s going to be a tough tackle. You saw that when we went live. ���’s moving the pile forward.

“Add those things together, you have a really good player.”

A player who’s already a key on the Broncos offense and is going to continue to be, especially if Dobbins, Harvey or both miss more time.

3. Alex Singleton is oft-maligned for his coverage work, but he made a heck of a play Sunday

Inside linebacker Alex Singleton is a regular target not only by opposing offenses but by fans, too, when it comes to his coverage work.

Singleton and other defenders steadfastly maintain that coverage responsibilities aren’t always as straightforward as they look on television.

Just because he or another defender ends up chasing somebody after a completion doesn’t mean that completion was necessarily his fault.

At the same time, it����ap been clear for some time that teams target Singleton and fellow inside linebacker Justin Strnad in the passing game. Some of that is because there are matchups and completions to be found. Some of that is because almost anything is better than testing Pat Surtain II in coverage.

One of the underrated plays of the Broncos’ defensive effort Sunday, though, was Singleton’s work in coverage.

He had a hand in Jacksonville ending up first-and-goal at the 3-yard line on the Jags’ opening possession of the second half because of a personal foul, though he was clear in what he thought about that.

“Their coaches like to complain about people hitting people,” he said after the game. “I got a fine last year for it. I’ll probably get this one rescinded too.”

Alex Singleton asked about the red zone stop after his personal foul. The first part of his answer: "Their coaches like to complain about people hitting people. I got a fine last year for it. I’ll probably get this one rescinded too.

"They like to complain as you watched today."

— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel)

Strnad and Que Robinson dropped Chris Rodriguez for a 2-yard loss, then safety Brandon Jones made a goodopen-fieldd tackle on Byshal Tuten for no gain.

Third-and-goal from the 5.

Lawrence looked to the middle of the field where Singleton was patrolling.

The funny thing about the play: Singleton made it by hardly going anywhere. He backpedaled briefly at the snap into the shallow part of the end zone. He and Strnad kept their right and left positioning as receiver Brian Thomas Jr. and running back LeQuint Allen ran crossing routes past each other in an attempt to get somebody to bite.

Lawrence threw the ball to Allen, but Singleton closed on him and punched the ball out at the goal line.

Allen might have scored had he caught it and, if not, Jacksonville may well have gone for it on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1-yard line early in the third quarter and already leading 10-3. Instead, the Jags settled for a field goal from the 5-yard line, led 13-3 and the Broncos stayed within striking distance.

4. An up-and-comer to watch on Payton’s staff: OLB coach Isaac Shewmaker

Payton’s staff features several up-and-coming coaches, most notably Web, as well as quarterback coach Logan Kilgore and others.

Another one squarely on the list: Outside linebackers coach Isaac Shewmaker.

���’s been on Payton’s staff from the start despite the fact he only graduated from Alabama in 2019. ���’s seen by many around the league as a future coordinator candidate, perhaps sooner rather than later.

Joseph had Shewmaker call plays in at least one of Denver’s preseason games, too, another sign the Broncos think he has a bright future.

���’s “a brilliant football mind,” All-Pro corner Pat Surtain II said in January.

And, according to the All-Pro defensive tackle, he’s in charge of putting the Broncos’ red zone plan together each week.

“We had a really good plan going into it,” Allen said after Sunday’s win against Jacksonville.

Shewmaker’s got a big challenge on his hands this season with Jonathon Cooper on the commissioner’s exempt list. The Broncos have got production out of the younger guys in his room so far this summer and he got Nik Bonitto looking more like himself on Sunday against Jacksonville.

One of the next questions: How much longer can Que Robinson play behind Jonah Elliss?

Both are getting regular work in the rotation, but Robinson has played fast and aggressive through two games this fall. Elliss hasn’t been bad, but teams have tried to attack the edge on him and he looks perhaps a half-step slow so far this fall.

This summer, Shewmaker told The Post he has a lot of trust in both guys and also in Dondrea Tillman.

Shewmaker said then that the Robinson, the second-year man out of Alabama, “is a really good run defender. The strength and size he has, there’s not going to be many tight ends that can block him. Not many tackles that can block him one-on-one, either. All that goes back to just eye placement and the fundamentals.

“As the game slows down, he’ll continue to get better with all of that stuff, but I thought he was really good last year.”

���’s been really good so far this year, too. He should continue to see more and more time.

5. Broncos perhaps got a bit predictable in the red zone, but Jourdan Lewis also made a heck of a play on Bo Nix’s interception

Nix has grown accustomed to making red-zone magic with Courtland Sutton over the past two seasons and he thought more was at hand late in the first half Sunday.

The Broncos trailed 7-3 and faced a third-and-goal from the 8-yard line with 2:15 left before halftime.

Nix had trips to his left and wanted Sutton, aligned in the slot, the whole way. Troy Franklin and Jaylen Waddle, lined up outside to Sutton’s left, each ran quick out-breaking routes to try to draw Jacksonville’s defenders up. Sutton ran to the back corner of the end zone for a jump ball from Nix.

It����ap a concept the Broncos use regularly and one that has paid off in the past. Perhaps it was a touch too predictable, too.

As Nix got to the line of scrimmage, CBS broadcast analyst Ross Tucker said, “Sutton is the contested catch guy of these receivers. ���’s lined up in the slot of the three receivers. Maybe a slot fade to No. 14?”

Jacksonville cornerback Jourdan Lewis thought the same thing.

Lewis was lined up over Waddle, the No. 2 receiver in the formation, and watched as Waddle ran the out-breaker in front of him. Instead of jumping it, though, Lewis reacted by falling back off of his coverage and toward Sutton in the back of the end zone. It put him in perfect position to jump up and pick the pass off. Nix might have still found a touchdown had he put the ball up higher and further toward the back corner, but overall Lewis made a terrific read and a heads-up play.

Jourdan Lewis jump ball INT in the end zone

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“It was a zero look, and we were far apart,” Payton said.

Nix after the game lauded Jacksonville defensive coordinator Anthony Campanile as “one of the best up-and-coming DCs in the league. He gives you a lot of different things, gives you a lot of looks and he lets their team play.”

He and Lewis got Nix in the red zone, but Nix struck back for 17 straight points to close the game.

6. Once again, penalties nearly derailed the Broncos

Not all penalties in football are created equal. The Broncos got their money’s worth in the first quarter, and not in a good way.

Denver committed three penalties in the opening 7:50 alone and they all cost the home team in big ways.

The first, an illegal formation infraction on the offense, turned a third-and-6 into third-and-11 and scuttled a drive.

The second, an illegal contact penalty on Riley Moss, wiped away what would have been one of the biggest plays of the game. Nik Bonitto stormed off Trevor Lawrence’s left edge and sacked him, knocking the ball free. Alex Singleton recovered it, setting up Denver in great position. However, Moss grabbed Jakobi Meyers’ jersey and got caught doing it.

The Jaguars ended up punting three plays later, but it was a chance to shift momentum early.

Then the Broncos looked like they were going to move the ball from their own 12 on the next drive, but a Pat Bryant holding penalty — his third in less than five quarters to start the season — turned a third-and-2 into second-and-18.

The Broncos cleaned up some of the penalty issues as the game went along and the results followed.

Overall, though, Denver is once again looking like one of the most penalized teams in football. Through two games, the Broncos have had 17 penalties enforced against them for a total of 105 yards.

7. A timely outing for Denver’s defense in another way

The Broncos’ defensive rebound was important for many reasons, of course.

One that����ap more on the fun end of the spectrum rather than the actually impactful on the field: They put together a terrific performance on coordinator Vance Joseph’s 54th birthday.

Joseph, the beloved leader of one of the NFL’s most disruptive groups over the past two seasons, got a postgame cake and everything.

For his birthday, the Broncos got Joseph an interception, a pair of sacks and a 19.8 second-half passer rating from Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence.

Oh, and a win.

They’d played much better than Monday night����ap Kansas City disaster class through 30-plus minutes Sunday against a dangerous Jacksonville offense, and yet a 10-3 game felt in danger of slipping out of reach when the Jaguars set up shop, first-and-goal at the 3-yard line early in the third quarter.

Denver’s offense to that point hadn’t figured out how to get out of its own way. Vance Joseph’s group had mostly held Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence in check, but he sliced and diced the Broncos in the red zone back in December on this same field.

Instead of breaking, though, the Broncos bowed up.

A red-zone stop and a Riley Moss interception later in the quarter wrestled momentum to the home sideline for good and jump-started a run of 17 straight Broncos points to flip a tenuous early-season moment into a 20-13 Denver win and a collective deep breath from ����apountry.

“We’ve been proving that for the past three years now,” All-Pro defensive tackle Zach Allen said after his team improved to 1-1 on the young season. “It was kind of funny how everybody was freaking out after one game. It����ap been slow starts four straight years now.

“Luckily we got back on track today.”

Flushing the Monday night disaster

On a short week, the Broncos didn’t have any use for the old 24-hour rule after getting manhandled by Kansas City in prime time Monday night.

Instead, they opted for about a one-hour rule.

Some Broncos defenders filtered out of the cramped visiting locker room at Arrowhead Stadium quickly after that 31-10 loss, while others lingered. Most were straightforward with reporters, expressing confidence they’d find solutions quickly.

Alex Singleton and others didn’t wait to start the search.

Singleton said he, fellow inside linebacker Justin Strnad and the rest of Denver’s starting secondary got on the bus, fired up their iPads and watched the destruction back immediately.

By the time the buses left the parking lots, they’d seen enough to decide that if the defense tackled better — and how could it tackle any worse, really? — the production would turn around quickly.

“It was embarrassing and we knew it was,” Singleton said Sunday evening. But it was also so elementary that it didn’t require anything resembling wholesale changes.

The Broncos’ charter landed back in Denver shortly after 1 a.m., meaning players and coaches didn’t get back to their cars at the team facility until the wee hours of Tuesday morning. Before heading home for some shut-eye, Singleton and Joseph had a quick parking lot chat.

“It was just, ‘Bring these guys together and we’ll go play our brand of football,’” Singleton said of Joseph’s message. “That����ap what we were able to do today.”

From the jump, really.

The Denver defense forced punts on Jacksonville’s first two drives of the afternoon before surrendering a 72-yard touchdown drive that was set up by a 32-yard completion to Parker Washington in which he ran free through the middle of Denver’s defense.

“We believe in what we’re running,” Singleton said. “We made some adjustments early in the second quarter and we were able to pretty much shut them out after that.”

Indeed, the Jaguars took the ball into scoring territory three more times but came away with just six points, including a missed 54-yard field goal, in the fourth quarter.

“I thought they were outstanding,” head coach Sean Payton said of his defenders.

Denver defense is built for ‘the bumps’

The Denver offense turned Moss’ interception and the missed field goal into touchdown drives of their own, revving into gear just in time.

In that way, it looked a lot like so many of the Broncos’ wins in 2025. Dominant defense and a late surge from quarterback Bo Nix.

“It����ap why a lot of these players are here, from a make-up standpoint,” Payton said of his team. “They’re not here for the wins. They’re here for some of the bumps that we know are going to come. It was much better, obviously, defensively, better in the second half offensively, and on special teams. It was a good team we played.

“It was a good win.”

Perhaps, ultimately, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the Broncos defense played well. Overwhelmingly, that����ap been the way of the world for them over the past two-plus seasons. At the same time, however, the challenge on this day was two-fold: First, Week 1 wasn’t just bad. It was as thorough a breakdown in basic tackling as you’ll find in the NFL. Then, the not-too-distant visage of Lawrence ripping up essentially this same defense for 279 yards and four total touchdowns in clinical fashion last December loomed fairly fresh in the club’s collective memory.

In that game, Lawrence and head coach Liam Coen engineered four touchdowns in five red zone trips, by far the worst day of the season for the Broncos’ otherwise league-leading defense in that department.

This time around, Denver was much stingier thanks, in part, to a red-zone plan put together by outside linebackers coach Isaac Shewmaker.

In that game, the Jaguars converted 8-of-15 third-down chances and rolled to 346 offensive yards. On Sunday, they converted three of their first five third-down attempts but then went just 2-of-7 the rest of the way, finishing with 268 total yards.

On that day, the Broncos’ defense wilted and an 11-game winning streak ended. This time around, it rose to the occasion and kept a losing streak from taking root.

This time, the defense held serve in the home opener.

This time, it helped the Broncos get back on track — and delivered the team to its first normal game week of the season on more stable ground.

“It����ap early in the season,” defensive lineman Eyioma Uwazurike said. “Whether you like it or not, in the first couple of games, there’s going to be mistakes until everybody settles into their role. Definitely, we did a good job correcting a lot of the stuff from last week and carrying into this week.

“We’re going to do the same from this game and carry it into the next game.”

�³���:��2:05 p.m. Sunday

�³�����:��Empower Field at Mile High

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Broncos-Jaguars series: Jacksonville was the only team to defeat the Broncos at Empower Field last season, handing the Broncos a 34-20 loss in December. The two teams have played only 16 times, with a dead even split of eight wins apiece. The met in the playoffs in consecutive years in 1996 and 1997 — Denver beat the Jaguars 42-17 in the ’97 AFC Wild Card game and the Jaguars defeated the Broncos 30-27 in an AFC Divisional matchup the year prior.

In the spotlight: Can the Broncos’ stop Jacksonville’s play-action?

In late April, the Jaguars surprised NFL observers when they took Texas A&M tight end Nate Boerkircher in the second round of the draft. Boerkircher was viewed as a Day 3 prospect, but the Jaguars’ front office insisted he would help transform their offense into a more flexible, better-blocking unit.

In Week 1, the pick seemed to pay off. The Jaguars used multiple tight ends on 60.4% of their plays against the Cleveland Browns, the second-most of any team in the league. Last year, Jacksonville used two tight ends or more on just 24.9% of its formations, according to SumerSportsc. .

That led to more plays under center for quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who attempted the fourth-most play-action passes in Week 1, according to Next Gen Stats. On Lawrence’s 10 play-action passes against the Browns, he went 6-of-10 for 70 yards and a touchdown. Last season, Lawrence attempted the sixth-most play-action passes in football.

The Jaguars love to run Brian Thomas Jr. on crossing routes and utilize Lawrence’s legs on rollouts. Parker Washington has become a dangerous weapon and Jakobi Meyers is reliable underneath.

Denver defended play-action relatively well last season. Only two quarterbacks — Jaxson Dart and Jalen Hurts — finished with 100+ ratings on play-action passes. But the NFL is shifting more and more toward heavy formations and play-action passes. Kansas City’s offense was under center on more than 43% of Mahomes’ dropbacks against the Broncos, a single-game high for the Chiefs in a Mahomes start, .

Broncos defensive tackle Zach Allen called play action, screens and complex running games “the flavor of the year with the offenses.”

“Not just in our game, but you look across the league with a lot of good defenses and it was really similar. … It’s our reality. We have to figure out a way to win first downs so we can do what we do best,” .

Play action can slow the impact of opposing pass rushes, as Jaguars coach Liam Coen has noted in interviews. Coen was complimentary of Denver’s defensive line in his press conference this week, calling Allen one of the most “underrated players” in football and that Nik Bonitto has an excellent jump off the line of scrimmage — particularly at home. In what should be a raucous environment at Empower Field, the Broncos’ defense could thrive if it forces Jacksonville into third and longs. Otherwise, it might be another difficult day.

Who has the edge?

When Broncos run: The biggest part of this question is not what happens if Denver runs, but whether Denver will run the ball. The Broncos attempted just six runs in the first half against the Chiefs, when the game was well within reach. Coach Sean Payton said the team called some run-pass-options that ended up in Bo Nix throws, but Denver looked like it did not trust its running game. The Jaguars held talented Browns running back Quinshon Judkins to only 33 yards on 12 carries, so it could be tough sledding for Denver this week too. Slight edge: Jaguars

When Broncos pass: Nix is coming off arguably the worst game of his career. If he plays the way he did Monday night, the Broncos have no real path to a win against the Jaguars. But Denver’s offense has too much of a proven track record to overreact to one game. Nix played well against the Jaguars in the contest last season, and Jacksonville’s defense surrendered a 72% completion rate to Browns’ Deshaun Watson, albeit most of it coming in the fourth quarter. Edge: Broncos

When the Jaguars run: Walker’s Week 1 performance was shocking. The Broncos missed nearly 30 tackles, which players expect to be cleaned up this week. Walker’s also the “most talented pure rusher” in the league, according to Denver linebacker Justin Strnad. Bhayshul Tuten, who forced several missed tackles in Week 1, and backup running back Chris Rodriguez Jr. are a solid backfield duo, but they’re not the reigning Super Bowl MVP. I think the Broncos’ defense will take the Week 1 showing personally and play much stouter on Sunday. Edge: Broncos

When Jaguars pass: There aren’t many quarterbacks playing better football than Lawrence. The former No. 1 pick has put together all the tools that made him such a tantalizing prospect out of Clemson. Over the Jaguars’ past nine regular-season games, he’s thrown for 2,254 yards, 23 touchdowns and just five interceptions. Jacksonville lost running back Travis Etienne Jr. this offseason, but its wide receiver trio of Jakobi Meyers, Parker Washington and Brian Thomas Jr. fits Coen’s offense well. The Broncos’ pass defense played well against the Chiefs, but the Jaguars’ passing game is humming. Edge: Jaguars

Special teams: Cam Little owns the NFL record for the longest kick, hit the league’s longest outdoor kick and once hit a 70-yard field goal in preseason. And none of those records came at altitude. If this game is close, which most analysts expect it to be, Little’s long-range leg could be a weapon for Coen. Logan Cooke is also a solid veteran punter for the Jaguars. Edge: Jaguars

��Dz����󾱲Բ�:��Payton and Coen have some striking similarities. Coen used Payton’s comments about Jacksonville being a “small market” to motivate his team, a move Payton seemed to admire. Coen spoke glowingly about Payton this week, saying he’s learned “so much football” from the Broncos coach. He said he’s modeled some of his play calling after Payton.

Sean Payton joked to Liam Coen "I'm coming for you this year" at the NFL's owner's meeting, Coen said.

Coen said he's modeled some of his play-calling after Payton. Said he's learned a ton from coach. Last year obviously had the "small-market" drama lol.

— Sam Jane (@sam_jane230)

“You just listen to the stories and a lot of it is insightful in ways. You can learn something from every conversation from him,” Coen said.

But Coen’s on a strong stretch as a coach right now, while Payton turned over play-calling duties to new offensive coordinator Davis Webb. Advantage to the young guy. Edge: Jaguars

Tale of the tape

By the numbers

60.4%: The number of times the Jaguars ran a play from under center in Week 1, the fourth-highest in the NFL.

2:��Targets and receiving yards for Jaylen Waddle in the Broncos’ season-opener. Expect Denver to involve its prized acquisition more in Week 2.

25.9%:��Denver’s stuff rate, where the ball carrier is tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage, on Jacksonville runs in the Week 16 matchup last season.

121:��R.J. Harvey’s all-purpose yards against the Jaguars last year, a career-high.

X-factors

�����DzԳ��Dz�:��Alex Singleton. The maligned linebacker had a difficult day against the Chiefs, missing five tackles and struggling in coverage. He seemed unbothered by the difficulties wrapping up Kenneth Walker II postgame, saying “we’re gonna be fine.” The Broncos will need their veteran linebacker to play a complete game against a Jacksonville team that frequently uses play-action and motion to try and deceive opposing linebackers.

Jaguars: Brian Thomas Jr. Patrick Surtain II guarded Thomas for most of the matchup last season, holding the LSU product to two receptions for 18 yards on three targets. It’ll be interesting to see whether defensive coordinator Vance Joseph elects to implement the same strategy again this year, or if he’ll leave Surtain on one side of the field with Washington’s rise. If he does, Thomas has the potential to hit a few big plays on crossing routes and deep balls. The wideout did pop up on the injury report with a shoulder injury this week, but Coen said he expects him to play.

Post predictions

Parker Gabriel, Broncos writer: Broncos 21, Jaguars 20

Sean Payton’s team should come out and play mad. The defense will tackle better, almost by default. The offense should find more chances to sustain drives than it generated Monday Night. The Jags, though, have the weapons to drop Denver to 0-2. If that happens, there’s trouble on the Front Range. The bet here is the Broncos stave it off. Barely.

Sam Jane, Broncos writer: Jaguars 27, Broncos 24

I think the Broncos will play much better than they did on Monday night. The problem is, I believe the Jaguars are a sleeping giant in the AFC. Lawrence is on a heater right now, and Washington’s emergence has given him a true No. 1 receiver. Denver should tackle better and Nix can’t play much worse. It’ll be a close game throughout, but Little’s powerful leg will hit a game-winning field goal to send Denver into a 0-2 hole.

Troy Renck, columnist: Broncos 27, Jaguars 26

Good teams respond from bad games. This Sunday, we are about to find out if the Broncos are a legitimate AFC force or will be scrambling to reach the playoffs. Since 2020, when the field expanded, teams that open 0-2 reduce their postseason probability to 15.7%. This is not a get-right game. It is a matter of an attitude adjustment, of showing toughness. Get Bo Nix under center, run the ball, and set up play action. And go back to fundamentals on defense, where tackling, not sacks, matters more than anything else. There is no such thing as a must-win game in Week 2, but this about as close as it gets when looking at opponents ahead.

Sean Keeler, columnist: Broncos 24, Jaguars 23

The Broncos aren’t as bad as they looked at Arrowhead, but they can’t be as awful as the Browns, right? Right? I don’t care if Davis Webb or Sean Payton are calling the offense — run the dang ball. Over Jacksonville’s last 18 regular-season games, opponents are 2-1 when recording 26 or more rushes in a game, and 1-7 when that number is 20 carries or fewer. Nix and Payton rallied from an 0-2 hole two years ago, but those are rare beasts. Over his career, Sunshine Sean’s opened a season 0-2 seven times. Only five of those teams went on to reach the playoffs, and the ’24 Broncos were one of them.

Nate Peterson, sports editor: Jaguars 34, Broncos 24

Yes, one week isn’t a reason to overreact, but these same Jags came into Denver last year and tattooed the Broncos. On a short week, Denver is already at a disadvantage. Denver should tackle better, should be more committed to the run, and Jaylen Waddle should catch more than one ball for 2 yards, but it’s still not going to be enough to avoid an 0-2 start. Get ready for it to get weird early in Denver.

Everything was supposed to go numb. Instead, everything went dumb.

The Broncos played one of their worst games under Sean Payton, outcoached and outclassed in every way.

While Bo Nix looked lost, indecisive, immobile, and careless with the ball, he has not been the popular target of ����apountry’s wrath. That has been reserved for the defense, and specifically linebacker Alex Singleton.

Attention for players on this team can get messy in a hurry.

Last season, Singleton was considered a warrior for missing 23 days and one game after undergoing surgery for testicular cancer. After one game this season, he is the reason Kenneth Walker III is a future Hall of Famer.

“I don’t think that’s fair at all,” cornerback Pat Surtain II said of Singleton being the focus of complaints. “It was the whole defensive effort. Everybody, holistically, must bring it all together. That’s the standard we set for each other.”

Singleton makes for an easy mark because he is the nerve center. He calls the plays. And when he misses a tackle — Pro Football Focus put the number at five on Monday — it happens in space for everyone on earth to see.

The team stats on Singleton did not match external numbers, but no one played well regardless of the final count. After the game, Singleton insisted the team would be “fine” following a week of practice. It came across as dismissive. But there were really only two options: fall on the sword or look forward.

And whatever you do, stay off social media.

“I don’t look at it,” Singleton told me on Thursday.

His agent, Paul Sheehy, does. And he is not a fan of the media discourse.

“The level of sheer ignorance of Broncos bloggers and self proclaimed ‘journalists’ continues to amaze and has never been higher,” Sheehy tweeted Thursday. “I get it, rage baiting a passionate fan base gets clicks, but it doesn’t take away from the ignorance or incompetence on display.”

He might want to hide his eyes from the comments on my account when I reposted this.

Sheehy has a right to stick up for his client. He also is not going to win this argument. Not this week, even if some of the flak reserved for Singleton is off base.

Something I learned years ago is that just because players run after a ball carrier or a receiver does not mean they were responsible.

Coverages are nuanced with targets getting handed off. So, man becomes a matchup zone. Or quarters is activated depending on the route. This is why athletes take issue with so many thinking they are experts because they have an All-22 subscription.

They don’t know the play call. But even if a player recognizes the analysis is wrong, there is little recourse since it would likely require calling out a teammate to prove the point.

On good teams, the blame game is left to the media. When fingers start pointing in the locker room, the season takes on a dark energy that is difficult to overcome.

If Monday taught us anything, it is that the Broncos cannot win when the defense doesn’t show up.

The offense does not look ready to carry the water by scoring 25 points per game. Nix has never played this poorly given his experience and the setting. And Davis Webb leaned on a script that did not reflect the plays this team repped during media viewing in training camp.

Going 2-for-13 on third and fourth down is not acceptable. Not giving J.K. Dobbins back-to-back carries until the second half is unthinkable. And treating Jaylen Waddle as a decoy purchased at Cabela’s is unforgivable.

The defensive struggles were amplified by three-and-outs.

Last year, the D held the rope against teams like the Titans, Jets, Raiders, Chiefs and Chargers in low-scoring, unsightly games. Expecting that to happen again is foolish given the Broncos’ schedule over the first eight weeks. They face all returning playoff teams except for Arizona and Kansas City, the latter of which looks poised to regain control of the AFC West.

“It is not college. You don’t have to go undefeated,” Singleton said. “We have been in positions like this before.”

He is right, of course. The Broncos started 1-2 last season, and Sean Payton is 4-8 in September as Denver’s coach. Worse, he is 1-10 in Game 2 over his last 11. Yet, the Broncos have reached the playoffs each of the last two seasons.

Expectations and urgency create volatility in the media and from fans on social media.

At 32, a season removed from knee surgery, Singleton is not immune from criticism. He has to play better as evidenced by the straight arm he absorbed from Chiefs running back Emmett Johnson, leaving him on the ground and hustling in frustration that led to a late-hit penalty.

The Broncos’ issues, however, ran much deeper. This is not an excuse, but a fact.

No one wants to say it because they have no idea when he will return, but Jonathon Cooper — and to a lesser degree John Franklin-Myers — were missed. Cooper sets the edge better than anyone on the team, a fact made clear as Jonah Elliss and Que Robinson clumsily worked through the assignment.

“I have to improve,” Robinson said.

When a running back reaches the second level untouched, the linebackers will not have a good night. It doesn’t matter whether it is Justin Strnad and Singleton or Brandon Marshall and Danny Trevathan out there.

Still, we all saw the game with our eyes. No David Adelman analytics can convince us that the Broncos played good defense.

It was an awful blend of communication issues and fundamental breakdowns. There is no excuse for that kind of effort.

What made it so troubling is the Broncos’ lack of physicality. The Chiefs, forever known for finesse, were the tougher team.

Why, I asked Singleton, do you believe this group can rebound?

“It’s like Riley (Moss) says all the time,” Singleton said, “We are tough to kill.”

Moss added, “It’s our DNA. We are gritty, tough guys who can weather the storm. When bad things happen, are you going to be able to come back? That is how we built our team. We are all built for it, and I know we are going to bounce back.”

The challenge is sobering. The Jaguars are undefeated in their last nine regular-season games, and the Broncos defense has regressed since the bye week a year ago, allowing 21.1 points and 124.2 yards rushing per game.

Monday, Denver’s defense had 49 problems, but the linebacker was just one.

Until they start tackling better and getting tougher, Broncos players will continue to get singled out. Fair or not.

Those descriptors are probably enough to capture the tenor of the Broncos’ locker room after a 31-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night at Arrowhead Stadium. Denver got embarrassed on national television, and will now spend the week trying to rebound from the third-worst defeat of the Sean Payton era.

Here is The Denver Post����ap stock report on the loss.

Stock up

Zach Allen: Even in a game where Denver’s defense was dismal, Allen still managed to post two sacks. Albeit, one of them came when Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes seemingly tripped over his own offensive lineman, but the defensive lineman tied for the team lead in pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. He also didn’t miss a tackle — an anomaly for Denver’s defense Monday.

Without Jonathon Cooper, the Broncos’ pass rush is relying even more on Allen to generate interior rush. Monday was a bad night for Denver’s entire defense, no doubt, but it wasn’t at the fault of its star defensive tackle.

Evan Engram: Engram was the capper to a beautiful Broncos’ scoring drive in the first quarter. Denver lined up Jaylen Waddle in the backfield and Engram was the lone receiver to the left side of the field. Waddle ran a short curl route, while the tight end sneaked behind the defense towards the back left pylon. He got wide open, and Nix found him for an easy touchdown.

First of the year for

: ESPN

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos)

That play was a hint of what the Broncos’ offensive play-calling could look like this season. Engram said earlier this summer that Waddle’s addition was going to help Denver’s offense a lot, saying “every time he’s on the field you have to account for him.”

Engram played 32 snaps Monday, 13 more than fellow tight end Adam Trautman and 19 more than Nate Adkins. His four catches for 43 yards led the team. He only had two games that crossed that threshold last season.

Pat Bryant: The darling of training camp was arguably the Broncos’ best offensive player. On Denver’s lone touchdown drive, Bryant recorded three catches for three first downs. He led the team in targets with six and recorded four catches for 42 yards.

Interestingly, Bryant split his time across the formation, playing 10 snaps in the slot and 12 on the outside on passing downs, according to PFF. But even Bryant����ap night wasn’t without blemishes. The second-year wideout committed a holding penalty inside the 5-yard line that backed up the Broncos’ offense after being flagged for a hold earlier in the game. Bryant took accountability for the hold near the goal line after the game, saying it was a bad penalty.

Jeremy Crawshaw: Never a good sign when a team’s punter is a “winner” of the night, but Crawshaw was on the field plenty Monday. The second-year punter boomed six punts for 314 yards, an average of 52.3 yards per punt. He pinned the Chiefs inside the 20-yard line three times and only had one touchback.

Kansas City’s offense was backed up for most of the night — not that it mattered much — and Crawshaw was a large part of that. Denver fans just hope they don’t have to see No. 16 on the field as much at any other point this season.

Stock down

Bo Nix: Courtland Sutton said Nix was “pacing like a mountain lion” ahead of Week 1. And while Nix said he wasn’t “necessarily filled with rage” after the game, the quarterback certainly did not play like himself. Nix played one of the worst games of his career, going 17-of-28 for 131 yards, good for a passer rating of 69.2.

Nix prides himself on limiting negative plays and turnovers. Monday night, he was sacked four times — tied for the most in his career — and coughed up the football three times (a career-high). He also threw an interception on the first drive of the game, gifting Kansas City an early score.

Nix did face significant pressure all night. The Chiefs forced Nix to flee the pocket several times and by the end of the game, it appeared the quarterback had lost some faith in the Broncos’ pass protection. He completed just 30.8% of his passes when under pressure, for a measly 11 yards. Not a good start to a massive year for Denver’s QB1.

Trench play: Arguably the most alarming issue from Monday night����ap drubbing was the Broncos’ play at the line of scrimmage. The Chiefs’ offensive and defensive lines manhandled Denver’s respective units.

The Broncos couldn’t run the ball, couldn’t protect Nix, rarely pressured Mahomes and certainly couldn’t stop Kenneth Walker III. Denver’s units up front are expected to be the strength of this team, which won’t win many games if those two groups play as poorly as they did Monday.

“We didn’t play well enough, we didn’t execute well enough and that����ap how you get your ass kicked in the NFL,” right tackle Mike McGlinchey said.

Alex Singleton and the linebackers: Hardly any defensive player was spared from the tackling bug the Broncos had Monday, but Singleton and Justin Strnad had particularly brutal nights. Singleton missed five tackles, got stiff-armed by Chiefs rookie running back Emmett Johnson and committed a personal foul.

Stiff arm. Juke. Rookie Emmitt Johnson pulling out all the moves on this catch-and-run

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Singleton was not overly concerned about the poor tackling postgame.

“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: We saw glimpses of what a Webb-led offense could do Monday night, but the rookie play-caller’s debut was largely a disaster. Six of Denver’s 11 full offensive drives ended without a first down. The Broncos managed just 61 rushing yards. Prized acquisition Waddle had one catch for 2 yards.

It����ap hard to get into a rhythm as a play-caller when your team is consistently behind the sticks, but Webb had also made some puzzling play calls. On a third-and-one near midfield, Denver went empty and failed to convert. The Broncos’ screen game was a non-factor, J.K. Dobbins was MIA in the first half and the Broncos committed a delay of game and used a timeout in the second half to avoid another one.

Nix put the blame on himself and the players in the postgame, saying “we just didn’t put anybody in a good spot today.” That����ap true, but fans’ scrutiny will continue to be directed at Webb if the Broncos’ offense doesn’t rebound next Sunday.

The safety was baffled by the stat that told the story of the Denver Broncos’ 31-10 drubbing at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs. The Broncos missed 28 tackles Monday night, including eight defenders who failed to bring down a runner multiple times. The Broncos’ 29.8% missed tackle rate was the third-worst in an NFL game since 2018, while their 247 missed tackle yards allowed were the most by any defense in that same span, according to Next Gen Stats.

The staggering numbers don’t stop there: Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker’s 144 rush yards after contact tonight ranked ninth out of 5,386 running backs since 2022, according to . For reference, no other back surpassed 100 yards after contact in Week 1, according to Next Gen Stats.

Two of Kansas City’s touchdowns were the direct result of multiple missed tackles, including Rashee Rice pinballing off Riley Moss and Jonah Elliss for a 13-yard touchdown. Moss missed another one when Walker got outside the defense on a 60-yard touchdown run.

It got so bad that even backup running back Emmett Johnson got in on the fun in the fourth quarter, making Alex Singleton and Hufanga miss on a third-down conversion for the Chiefs.

“We didn’t do a good job tackling at all,” Hufanga told The Post after the game.

Every single Broncos starter other than Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto missed a tackle Monday night at Arrowhead Stadium, according to Next Gen Stats. In the lead-up to the game, Denver stressed the importance of tackling Walker, who’s one of the most elusive backs in the league. At one point, Denver defensive players were pleading with each other to try to wrap up the reigning Super Bowl MVP.

“This ain’t us. We need to tackle him, get him to the ground,” defensive end Sai’vion Jones said about the messaging on the field.

Instead, Walker had a field day in his Kansas City debut. His 173 yards were the most by a Chiefs back since 2012 and his 14 forced missed tackles were the most by any Kansas City player since 2018.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ pedestrian stat line in his return — 15 of 27 for 184 yards — was merely an afterthought Monday night. Mahomes was the only quarterback in the NFL not to complete a pass over 10 yards downfield in Week 1. He simply had to turn, hand the ball to Walker, and watch his new teammate gash the Broncos’ defense.

“We played a great back, I would say the best pure runner in the league, and in order to beat a guy like that you have to tackle well,” linebacker Justin Strnad said.

So what happened to Denver’s defense Monday night? This was the second-best rushing defense in the NFL last season, a group that surrendered more than 100 yards to just one running back, Colts star Jonathan Taylor.

Jones pointed to the unit’s lack of experience tackling in training camp and in the preseason. Teams don’t do live tackling drills during training camp and the Broncos’ starters just got a handful of drives in the preseason.

“We ain’t tackled somebody since preseason, especially if you’re a starter, so just not having that experience coming up in the first game played a major factor,” Jones said.

Denver also lost defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers in the offseason.

Most players were frank in their assessment. Monday’s efforts were not nearly good enough. Not when you’re playing the Chiefs. Not when you’re trying to contend for a Super Bowl. Not when you’re aiming to establish yourself as an AFC contender.

The Broncos will certainly aim to address the issue in practice this week. Denver does circuit drills, tackling drills and uses a moving tackling robot during practice to practice tackling. The road ahead isn’t any easier. While Jacksonville Jaguars running back Bhayshul Tuten isn’t Walker, he forced seven missed tackles on rushes Sunday, tying for the league lead in Week 1, according to .

If Denver wants to avoid a 0-2 start, it’ll need to fix one of the core parts of its highly paid and highly regarded defense. The Broncos’ championship aspirations could be in jeopardy if they don’t.