5 major problems for Denver Broncos after brutal loss to Raiders

The Denver Broncos lost their season opener by a final score of 16-17. Wait, where have we all seen that before? The Broncos' loss in Week 1 to the Las Vegas Raiders hurts on a number of levels, and although it's easy to sit here and say it's just one game in the grand scheme of things, it's more than just one game.

The Broncos have lost seven straight games to the Raiders dating back to the 2019 season. They struggled with many of the same issues against Las Vegas that plagued them in the 2022 season, which was disastrous overall. There were some good things to take away from the game as well -- there is never all good or all bad -- but there are some seriously concerning issues facing the Denver Broncos as we sit here, stewing on yet another loss for this team.

Let's take a look at five of the biggest issues from this loss for Denver.

5 biggest problems for Denver Broncos after Raiders loss

1. Kicking issues continue to plague the team

The Denver Broncos have had shaky kicking all offseason, and that continued into Week 1 with former New Orleans Saints kicker Wil Lutz missing his first kick as a member of the Broncos, which was an extra point. He then missed a 55-yard field goal later in the game, an understandable miss from that distance, but also a kick he's expected to make given the fact the Broncos traded a draft pick to acquire his services.

Unfortunately, those four points were the dagger for this Broncos team, and even a made extra point would have changed the complexion of the game completely.

The Broncos will undoubtedly stick with Lutz until this becomes a multi-game thing, but nobody in Broncos Country is going to be forgiving or overly patient toward Lutz. Hopefully, he bounces back quickly and figures out a way to make at least the easy kicks.