Broncos head coach Sean Payton was not happy with anyone on the team, least of all himself, after Monday night’s 31-10 loss to the Chiefs.
“Obviously not a great evening. Didn’t do a lot well at all in the game,” Payton said. “That starts with me, that starts with our coaching staff. I thought they won, really, in every phase.”
Payton handed over play calling to offensive coordinator Davis Webb, and Payton was asked afterward whether it was especially frustrating not to be in control of the offense.
“As a head coach, always, whether you’re calling the plays or not — regardless of who’s calling the plays, when you have a game like that and you’re the head coach, it’s frustrating, it’s disappointing. I don’t know that the feeling is any different whether you’re calling them or not, honestly,” Payton said.
The Broncos’ two running backs, J.K. Dobbins and RJ Harvey, combined for just 11 carries for 54 yards. Payton said he would have liked to see more running the ball, but he wasn’t necessarily blaming Webb for that. Payton noted that the Broncos consistently found themselves in long-yardage passing situations and were trailing for the entire second half.
“Our third down numbers weren’t good, our rushing numbers weren’t good, pick your spot,” Payton said. “Lot of long yardage, lot of throws, not enough runs.”
Asked how he’ll evaluate Webb as a play caller going forward, Payton said he’ll review his performance the way he would a player’s.
“No different than a player, just evaluating the first quarter, the game, and then making the corrections and learning,” Payton said.
The Broncos have a lot of corrections to make.
Broncos Clips
Kenneth Walker shared carries with Zach Charbonnet in Seattle. He is the man in Kansas City.
With Patrick Mahomes returning nine months after tearing his ACL and LCL, the Chiefs leaned on Walker and their run game in a 31-10 shellacking of the Broncos. The Chiefs threw 27 passes for 184 yards and ran 38 times for 220 yards.
It was the third-most rushing yards for an Andy Reid team in Kansas City.
Walker, the Super Bowl LX MVP who signed with the Chiefs in free agency, ran for 173 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries and caught three passes for 18 yards and a touchdown. It was the most rushing yards in his career, topping the 167 he had in his sixth career game.
Walker had more yards from scrimmage (191) than the Broncos had as a team (176).
Mahomes ran for a 15-yard touchdown and threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Rashee Rice and a 2-yard touchdown pass to Walker, but he was only 15-of-27 for 184 yards and threw an interception.
Bo Nix had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day in his first game with Davis Webb as his playcaller and in his return from a season-ending ankle injury. The Broncos quarterback threw an interception and lost a fumble — and nearly lost another — while completing 17 of 28 passes for 131 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
His touchdown went 19 yards to Evan Engram, who led the Broncos with four catches for 43 yards.
The Broncos, who trailed only 14-7 at halftime, had only 15 carries for 61 yards.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce’s longest reception last season was 44 yards. His second catch of 2026 went 59 yards.
It was his longest reception since 2021, when he had a 69-yard catch against the Chargers in a Thursday night game.
On the catch, Kelce passed Jason Witten for second all-time in receiving yards by a tight end with 13,067. Tony Gonzalez holds the record with 15,127.
Kelce got the Chiefs to the 4, with Jahdae Barron saving the touchdown. They had to settle for Harrison Butker’s chip-shot, 28-yard field goal.
The Chiefs lead 24-10.
The Chiefs needed 1 yard on a fourth-down play at their own 40. They got 60.
Kansas City’s prize offseason acquisition, Super Bowl LX MVP Kenneth Walker, got loose around the right side after Broncos cornerback Riley Moss missed the tackle. Safety Brandon Jones was the only defender who had a chance to stop Walker after that and appeared to have the angle.
He didn’t.
Walker has 16 carries for 149 yards and a touchdown in his Chiefs’ debut, the second-most yards of his career. He had 23 carries for 167 yards and two touchdowns in his sixth career game, which was against the Chargers.
Walker is 4-for-4 on third-and-1 or fourth-and-1 tonight.
The Chiefs lead 21-7.
Patrick Mahomes isn’t completely back from his knee injury, but he has accounted for two touchdowns and the Chiefs lead the Broncos 14-7 at halftime.
Mahomes ran for a 15-yard touchdown on the Chiefs’ first series. The 10-play, 46-yard drive was set up by rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane’s interception of Bo Nix on the third play.
The Chiefs had only 15 plays for 39 yards on their next three possessions before going 80 yards in 10 plays. Rashee Rice had a 13-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown on a pass from Mahomes.
Mahomes is only 8-of-18 for 62 yards and a touchdown after starting 2-for-12. He has completed a pass to six different wide receivers.
He also has two rushes for 23 yards and a touchdown.
Mahomes was a long shot to play the season opener after tearing the ACL and LCL in his left knee on Dec. 14. He underwent reconstructive surgery the following day.
The Chiefs, though, have leaned on their running game and their Super Bowl MVP running back. Kenneth Walker has 14 carries for 89 yards, tying the most rushes in the first half of a game started by Mahomes, and also has two catches for 16 yards.
The Chiefs have outgained the Broncos 182 to 113.
Nix is 12-of-17 for 98 yards with a touchdown and an interception, with Pat Bryant catching four passes for 42 yards. Evan Engram scored on a 19-yard reception.
The Broncos have only six rushes for 23 yards.
The Eagles will place left guard Landon Dickerson on injured reserve with a knee injury.
Dickerson appeared on WIP’s “Players Lounge Show” as news hit that he was headed to IR with what he described as a bone bruise in his right knee.
He said he “played like shit” in the Eagles’ 24-22 win over the Commanders on Sunday.
“I was a complete liability yesterday,” Dickerson said, via Alexis Chassen of bleedinggreennation.com. “Again, that was my fault. I know I said earlier in camp I shouldn’t be out there until I feel healthy. A few weeks ago, [I] got rolled up on in practice. I thought as weeks went by it would get better. It didn’t, and we kind of went out there and finally got some imaging on it today, figured out what was wrong with it.
“Really the best plan going forward is to put me on IR, so I can get this thing better to have a good stretch at the back end of the season versus kind of what happened last year, go out there limping through 18 weeks. I don’t think anyone wants to see that again because that was just ugly. I don’t want to do that again, because that was just some BS.”
Dickerson underwent surgery in August 2025 to repair an injured meniscus and appeared in 15 games, though he later admitted he could have used more rehab time. He went to Columbia for stem cell therapy this offseason.
Drew Kendall, a fifth-round pick in 2025, could replace Dickerson.
Chiefs rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane intercepted Bo Nix on his third career play.
Delane, though, landed on his right shoulder on Courtland Sutton’s tackle at the end of a 5-yard return.
The first-round pick entered training camp with a right shoulder injury.
He was in the training room while the Chiefs were on the field for the Broncos’ second drive.
The Chiefs list him as questionable to return.
Chiefs linebacker Cooper McDonald injured a knee while covering a kickoff after Patrick Mahomes’ 15-yard touchdown run. He also is questionable to return with a knee injury that is being further evaluated.
Sometimes, facts get in the way of a good story.
On Monday night, Adam Schefter of ESPN reported that quarterback Drew Brees considered emerging from retirement to play for the Broncos in the AFC Championship, given the injury that happened to starter Bo Nix late in the divisional-round win over the Bills.
There’s only one problem with that. Brees, as PFT has confirmed, remains on the Saints’ reserve-retired list. A retired player must return by the Tuesday after Week 13 in any given year. After that, he can’t play for anyone.
Then there’s the fact that the Saints would have had to release Brees from the reserve-retired list. He then would have been subject to waivers.
That doesn’t mean the Broncos didn’t talk to Brees, as Schefter reports. If, however, then-offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi and offensive assistant Pete Carmichael spoke to Brees without permission from the Saints, it would have been tampering.
Which leads to the next question. Will the league investigate the Broncos for tampering, based on Schefter’s report? Even without a complaint from the Saints, the league could take action.
It never got to the point at which the Broncos or Brees realized that the rules would block the move, because Brees had “discomfort” in his wrist. Then there’s the fact that Brees has said he can’t throw at all with his right arm due to his shoulder injury from 2005 — and that he throws better with his left.
So while the whole thing sounds good, it’s a big, fat nothing burger which, if anything, will get the Broncos in hot water for tampering with a player whose rights remain with another team.
Bo Nix didn’t get his season off to the best start, throwing an interception that set up the Chiefs at the Denver 46. The Broncos quarterback responded on the next drive, though.
He completed passes of 13, 4, 8, 11 and 19 yards on his five passes on the second possession. The 19-yarder was a touchdown throw to Evan Engram.
It tied the game 7-7.
Nix is now 5-of-6 for 55 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
Wide receiver Pat Bryant has three catches for 32 yards.
Patrick Mahomes is still Patrick Mahomes.
If there was any doubt about his knee, he answered it on the Chiefs’ first drive. The quarterback ran for a 15-yard touchdown, giving the Chiefs a 7-0 lead.
Mahomes tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee on Dec. 14 during a Week 15 game against the Chargers and underwent reconstructive surgery the following day.
He ran for a 5-yard score on the previous play, but both tackles were called for holding. Tight end Travis Kelce got away with a hold on Mahomes’ touchdown run that counted.
Andy Reid had vowed to run the ball more this season, and the Chiefs did that on their first drive of 2026. They ran on eight of their 10 plays, picking up 57 yards. Kenneth Walker, the Super Bowl LX MVP, had seven carries for 32 yards.
Mahomes threw two passes and completed one for 9 yards to Xavier Worthy.
The Chiefs started the drive on the Denver 46 after rookie first-round pick Mansoor Delane picked Bo Nix and returned it 5 yards.
