Broncos' Tackling Woes vs. Chiefs Were Worse Than You Think

The Denver Broncos are coming off one of the most shockingly disappointing losses of the Sean Payton era.

The Broncos went into Arrowhead Stadium to kick off the season against the Kansas City Chiefs and were blown out 31-10 on Monday Night Football. The primetime lights only served to further illuminate the Broncos' woeful performance.

We can talk about how bad Bo Nix and the offense were, Davis Webb's ineffectual and oblivious play-calling, or the untimely penalties, but when it comes to explaining the Broncos' 21-point loss, none of them hold a candle to the defense's tackling woes.

Anyone with eyes saw a Broncos defense that looked uninterested in tackling — a collection of professionals who looked like they didn't want to be there. But fans need to realize just how historically bad this defense was on Monday night.

Historically Bad Tackling

According to Next Gen Stats, the Broncos' defense missed a whopping 28 tackles against the Chiefs. It resulted in 247 yards after missed tackles, the most a defense has allowed in a game since at least 2018.

Eight different Broncos had multiple missed tackles. It was an epidemic of comedic proportions, like an episode of The Keystone Cops.

The Broncos defense missed 28 tackles against the Chiefs, allowing 247 yards after missed tackles, the most yards allowed by any defense in a game since at least 2018.

The Broncos had eight different defenders miss multiple tackles on the night.#DENvsKC | #ChiefsKingdom
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 15, 2026

Keep in mind, the Chiefs totaled 392 yards of total offense, so if you subtract the 247 yards after missed tackles, they only had 145 yards from scrimmage. If the Broncos had held the Chiefs to 145 yards of offense, they're probably winning that game at Arrowhead Stadium, despite the offense's ineptitude.

The irony is that Denver had a very physical training camp. Sean Payton did kept his team's pedal to the metal this past summer, and yet, cut to the first game, and the Broncos looked like a junior varsity team trying to take on the Chiefs.

"We will look at the technique," Payton said post-game. "Again, I didn’t like the time of possession and how that game began and how it unfolded early. We will look at all of those."

Purpose For the Pain

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton reacts at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

It's going to be a painful 24 hours at Broncos HQ as the team has to watch the tape from Monday night's travesty of a performance, reckon with how it could have gone so wrong, and quickly come to solutions on how to fix it. However, the Broncos must seek and find the lessons this pain can provide.

This game was utterly inexcusable and on par with Payton's 70-20 loss to the Miami Dolphins in his first year as head coach. Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph actually had a good game plan. The problem was his players didn't execute.

Patrick Mahomes was held to just 15-of-27 passing for 184 yards. He tossed two touchdown passes and ran another one in, but was also picked off by Brandon Jones.

Outside of a 59-yard completion to tight end Travis Kelce, the result, again, of an avalanche of missed tackles, the Broncos kept a tight lid on Mahomes in his first game back from his knee injury. The coverage units played very well; it's just that Denver couldn't tackle.

Everyone is Complicit

It was a problem at all three levels of the defense. Kenneth Walker III ran through one arm tackle after another from the Broncos' defensive line. Linebackers Alex Singleton and Justin Strnad missed tackles in the hole, in the box, and in space.

The tackling woes stretched to the perimeter, where physical, vaunted defensive backs like Patrick Surtain II, Riley Moss, and Ja'Quan McMillian were whiffing left and right, allowing short gains to be converted into big plays. And the safeties weren't innocent of these crimes either; Talanoa Hufanga missed tackles and so did Brandon Jones.

On Walker's 60-yard touchdown romp, the Chiefs faced a 4th-&-1. The Broncos sold out to stop the run inside, and Walker bounced it outside, which put the onus on Moss to make the tackle on the edge to not only prevent the fourth-down conversion but to also stop the ball-carrier from breaking contain and picking up huge yardage.

Alas, Moss whiffed, and Walker was off to the races. Jones took a great angle to stop Walker on the sideline about 40 yards downfield, showing some great hustle to chase him down, but his impotent attempt at pushing the playmaker out of bounds was simply shrugged off like he was a gnat hitting the windshield of a semi.

KENNETH WALKER 60-YARD TD

DENvsKC on ESPN
Stream on @NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/FewiswX7K5
— NFL (@NFL) September 15, 2026

Surtain was in position to help stop Walker's run from being a touchdown, but he slowed down, believing that Jones would run the ball-carrier out of bounds. Woe unto Surtain for that.

Walker finished his debut as a Chief with 173 rushing yards on 23 carries, averaging an eye-popping 7.5 yards per attempt. This stat line will live in ignominy at Broncos HQ for a long time to come.

The Takeaway

I'm sure the Broncos' coaches can work to improve the tackling technique, but that wasn't the true culprit for Monday night's collective comedy. You don't miss a historic number of tackles because of a technical flaw.

The Broncos have a heart issue. Monday night exposed a terrible lack of want-to.

Why? It's hard to say. It could have been the weight of the Super Bowl expectations the Broncos have earned. Perhaps Payton and his squad began to believe their own press clippings, resting on the laurels received from last year's 14-win season.

Whatever is eating the Broncos, though, Monday night has to serve as a wake-up call. This is no ordinary schedule, and if the Broncos don't get on top of the situation fast, this season could get away from Payton fast.

The Broncos will host the Jacksonville Jaguars at home on Sunday, followed by the Los Angeles Rams at Mile High in Week 3. In Week 4, the Broncos will travel to take on the San Francisco 49ers, followed by the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium.

Then it's back home to host the World Champion Seattle Seahawks. There's no rest for the weary.

Payton wanted to start fast this season. That didn't happen. Now it's time to regroup. It's gut-check time in the Mile High City, and Payton and Joseph have their work cut out for them if they're going to galvanize this team and stanch the bleeding.

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