The Denver Broncos simply did not have their best game in Week 1. They lost by 21 points to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football in what turned out to be one of the more disappointing losses of the Sean Payton era.
It was also the first game that offensive coordinator Davis Webb called the plays. From top to bottom, though, nothing worked, and the Broncos were able to quickly wash that game away the following two weeks, as they defended their home turf with wins against Jacksonville and Los Angeles.
Anyway, while the loss seems bad on paper, the final score was honestly a bit misleading.
Denver Broncos Week 1 loss to the Chiefs could not have been more misleading
First and foremost, the game was a seven-point deficit at halftime, so the Broncos were obviously well in the game after the first two quarters. Secondly, that game was Webb's first time calling the plays, and no matter what you may think of that situation and Webb having duties stripped from him, his first time being in that environment likely had the Broncos facing a tougher uphill battle than usual.
Another important point to note is just how poor the tackling was in this game:
However bad you thought the Broncos' tackling was against the Chiefs, it was even worse
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) September 15, 2026
Denver's 248 missed tackle yards allowed were the most in a single game in @NextGenStats' database. Their 29.8% missed tackle percentage is the third worst single-game score since 2018 https://t.co/Kd0zQjfUFl
Yes, the Broncos have struggled with missed tackles all year, but the team has not come close to this poor of tackling performance, and we have seen this defense play a lot better since that opening week.
What some people often say is that Week 1 in the NFL is a liar, and we have seen that come true for the Broncos, as Denver is now 5-2 on the season despite having one of the toughest schedules in the NFL, and we just saw the Chiefs fail to get into the red zone at any point in their last game.
The Chiefs also needed overtime to beat Indianapolis at home, barely got by the Las Vegas Raiders, and didn't pull away from the Miami Dolphins until the fourth quarter. Another important thing to note is that Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes just was not all that good in Week 1. He went 15/27 for 184 yards and did not complete a pass in the air at least 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage.
Mahomes didn't play well, the Broncos missed tackles at a historic rate, the game was well within reach in the first half, and this was the first game of Webb calling plays. There were simply so many variables with this game that exaggerated the final score.
While the Chiefs could absolutely win in Week 8, if you're a Broncos fan, don't sweat that final score from Week 1.
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