Film Room: Chiefs' Blitz Exposed a Problem Broncos Must Fix Fast

There’s no simple way to put this: the Denver Broncos got their butts whooped by the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday Night Football to start the season.

In what was an absolute comedy of self-inflicted errors from start to finish, the Broncos got flat-out embarrassed on national television. Everybody across the media landscape is talking about the elephant in the room.

According to Next Gen Stats, Denver’s lauded defense missed a whopping 28 total tackles — including eight players who missed multiple tackles — and allowed 247 yards after contact on Monday night en route to a 31-10 shellacking at Arrowhead Stadium. The Broncos' 29.8% missed-tackle rate was even higher than in the game where they gave up 70 points to the Miami Dolphins in 2023.

However, what is far more frustrating is that the Broncos’ offensive line allowed a stunning 45.5% pressure rate from the Chiefs, according to NFL Pro. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo called one heck of a football game, including a 30.3% blitz rate, and nearly every punch he threw turned into a haymaker.

Bo Nix was scrambling for his life all night, even when Kansas City only rushed four defenders. It was a stark contrast to what Broncos Country has gotten used to watching over the last two years, and it was a major factor in their sputtering offensive display.

I went back to see what happened on plays where “Spags” dialed up the pressure with his blitz packages to see exactly what went wrong. On the six blitz plays that generated a pressure, Nix went 0-for-5 with a sack. What I found was execution errors by several players not on the offensive line.

Let’s take a look in this week’s film room.

Play 1: First Play of the Game

First play of the game. I'm not sure why Nate Adkins didn't kick all the way outside to block Williams here. He should attack the widest threat on a kickout block. pic.twitter.com/Q9w9XehRHJ
— Lance Sanderson (@LanceS_MHH) September 16, 2026

With a new offensive play-caller in Davis Webb and a shiny new receiving threat in Jaylen Waddle, it only made sense for the Broncos to come out swinging with the passing game. Spagnuolo wasted no time getting started dialing up the heat, and he got the perfect look for his first blitz.

The Broncos came out in a three-by-one condensed set with Courtland Sutton the lone receiver to the right and tight end Adam Trautman aligned as an attached wing to the left. Condensed sets are useful for two-way goes for receivers because they open up space to the sideline, but they are also vulnerable to blitzing cornerbacks because they are so close to the football on the line of scrimmage.

Here, Spagnuolo sends a double cornerback blitz and gets a free rusher to set the tone.

Watch tight end Nate Adkins, who comes across the formation to assist on the right side while Sutton takes off on a deep crossing route. Adkins's responsibility should be to block the widest threat.

Rather than getting outside, Adkins pinches down to help right tackle Mike McGlinchey in a one-on-one battle with Felix Anudike-Uzomah. He misses the blitzer, allowing cornerback Nohl Williams to run free off the edge to notch a sack to open the game.

If Adkins gets to Williams and slows him down, Sutton is breaking wide open for a massive gain.

Play 2: Second Quarter | 1:02

This is rough from Harvey, but Bo needs to slide right, step up, move his eyes, and hit Bryant for a TD. pic.twitter.com/wmdKtpvfuT
— Lance Sanderson (@LanceS_MHH) September 16, 2026

Our next play comes on 3rd-and-5 as time is winding down in the first half. Denver had just given up a frustrating touchdown to Rashee Rice and desperately needed points before halftime, as Kansas City would get the ball to start the third quarter.

Spagnuolo sends safety Alohi Gilman and linebacker Nick Bolton on a pressure designed to get Gilman through the B-gap as Bolton occupies right guard Quinn Meinerz and center Luke Wattenberg in the A-gap. RJ Harvey is tasked with picking up Gilman and does a nice job slowing him down, but it’s not good enough to stop the pressure.

Watch Nix’s feet on this play. He identifies one-on-one coverage on the boundary with Sutton running an out route against Williams and locks into that read the whole way. Gilman eventually beats Harvey — who has struggled as a pass protector in his young career — and forces Nix to drift backward as he tries to get rid of the ball.

If Nix stands tall, shifts to his right, steps up, and moves through his progression, he has a wide-open Pat Bryant on a post route. That play would likely have gone for a touchdown, as the post safety rotated to bracket Troy Franklin as a vertical threat. This is a big-time miss from Bo, but Harvey has to get better as a pass protector if he wants to continue being on the field on third downs.

Play 3: Third Quarter | 0:39

That's a bad whiff from Dobbins. Inexcusable for a veteran. pic.twitter.com/g0kodRylpE
— Lance Sanderson (@LanceS_MHH) September 16, 2026

At this point, Kansas City is up 14 points, and the game is starting to get out of hand. This is one play before Nix would get strip-sacked by Anudike-Uzomah, essentially putting the final nail in the coffin.

Sitting at 2nd-and-16 after a Franklin penalty negated a first down, Denver is trying to get ahead of the sticks to set up a 3rd-and-manageable situation. Spagnuolo dials up a standard A-gap blitz and fires Bolton, who makes J.K. Dobbins look silly.

One could argue that Wattenberg should have blocked Bolton and gone hat-on-hat up front, but I don’t know the line call on this play, and you have to expect a veteran running back to make this block.

This is a simple whiff from Dobbins, who is the best pass-protecting running back on the roster. It’s inexcusable. Point blank, period.

Play 4: Fourth Quarter | 5:18

Harvey has to get better in pass pro if he wants to stay on the field on 3rd downs.

This also should have been a roughing-the-passer penalty on Karlaftis. pic.twitter.com/0zfAoZ8H0y
— Lance Sanderson (@LanceS_MHH) September 16, 2026

Our last play comes on the last ditch effort to make the game look respectable, even though there was nothing to respect from this effort.

This is a nifty design from Spagnuolo, who uses a B-gap blitz from Bolton combined with a delayed end-tackle stunt from rookie defensive lineman Peter Woods and edge defender George Karlaftis.

The problem is, Harvey is late to get across to pick up Bolton, who shoots through the B-gap and nearly sacks Nix right as he is delivering the football. Making matters worse, Karlaftis absolutely blasts Nix as the ball hits the ground.

That could have — and probably should have — been called roughing the passer, but it wouldn't have mattered because the play was ruled a fumble on the field. It was also too little, too late at this point in the game.

Regardless, Harvey has to get better in pass protection. There’s no other way around it.

The Takeaway

For full clarity, I still need to watch through all of the game to determine how bad it was up front. This was just a run-through of the pressures allowed when the Chiefs sent blitzes.

From what we saw, the offensive line didn’t do a bad job picking things up when Spagnuolo dialed up pressure. Other players in the protection scheme need to do a better job with their technique and playing within their assignments.

These weren’t exotic looks for the most part. The Chiefs just out-executed the Broncos in every facet of playing football.

That said, the Broncos' offense delivered a truly putrid performance. Starting with the play-calling and ending with the execution, the Broncos need to clean up several things if they truly have Super Bowl aspirations.

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