The Aporia · Denver Broncos go back to basics after their big flop in season opener

Denver Broncos go back to basics after their big flop in season opener

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APA MLA Chicago

Stapleton, A. (2026, September 18). Denver Broncos go back to basics after their big flop in season opener. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/sports/football/denver-broncos-go-back-to-basics-after-their-big-flop-in-season-opener/article_992bccba-1693-5914-bbf6-99cea29c3540.html

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

Denver Broncos' coordinators are focusing on fundamental improvements after a poor start to their season with a loss to Kansas City in which they missed 28 tackles and struggled against running back Kenneth Walker III. Vance Joseph, the defensive coordinator, highlighted issues such as missed tackles and a lack of block destruction during the game. The team plans to address these problems before facing the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

Written by AI on 2026-09-19, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On Monday night, the Kansas City Chiefs decisively beat the Denver Broncos 31-10 in the first Monday Night Football game of the 2026 NFL season. Patrick Mahomes returned from a serious knee injury to score on a 15-yard run and throw for 184 yards with two touchdowns. Kenneth Walker, signed by Kansas City in the offseason, was outstanding with 173 rushing yards and one touchdown, while also contributing 18 receiving yards.

In contrast, Denver’s offense struggled despite quarterback Bo Nix attempting to recover from a fractured ankle. He completed 17 of 28 passes for 128 yards with an interception and a fumble. New receiver Jaylen Waddle was nearly invisible, catching just one pass for two yards in his debut.

Defensively, Denver missed a staggering 28 tackles, allowing Walker to run roughshod over the Broncos’ defense, gaining most of his yardage after contact. This performance marked a significant deviation from last year's strong defensive showing and raised concerns about Denver’s prospects for the season ahead.

Written for “Chiefs Beat Broncos Blowout MNF” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 6 other(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

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Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

2 of 27 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

64/100

Toronto Star's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Sports

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-19 · how these are computed

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Publisher

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Who wrote this

Arnie Stapleton

20 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 He would be one of those players, I would agree.”

2026-10-24 · assertive framing · A homecoming in the desert for Zach Allen and Vance Joseph as the Broncos face the Cardinals

🔮 “Each game takes on a different feel or style, if you will.

2026-10-22 · assertive framing · Bo Nix says his ankle is fine, but a mental hurdle lingers as his slump drags on

🔮 That work will continue,” Cooper added.

2026-10-17 · assertive framing · Jonathon Cooper is back for the Broncos, but the NFL’s personal conduct review isn’t over

🔮 The Broncos hope help is on the way with rookie RB Jonas Coleman (ankle) set to return from injured reserve next week.

2026-10-16 · assertive framing · Broncos survive brutal 6-game stretch thanks to the defense but Bo Nix is mired in a worsening slump

🔮 “Defensively, we were magnificent,” said Broncos coach Sean Payton, who acknowledged, “I’m a little bit of a realist to know that 4-2 could easily be 2-4.”

2026-10-16 · assertive framing · Broncos beat the Seahawks 17-14 in OT on Ja'Quan McMillian's pick, Wil Lutz's 53-yarder

🔮 The Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos kick off Week 6 on Thursday night in the cold at Empower Field with both teams trying to avoid a third loss, which would match last year’s total for a full season.

2026-10-14 · assertive framing · Seahawks and Broncos dealing with top defenses and shaky QB play as they kick off Week 6

🔮 “I heard long ago, I don’t know where it came from, it may have been from my parents, but if you stop enjoying the wins, you need to just go on and do something else because it’s not going to be fun for you anymore,” Denver’s quarterback said Tuesday as the offensively challenged Broncos prepared for the Seattle Seahawks’ visit for a Thursday night showdown at Empower Field.

2026-10-14 · assertive framing · Broncos QB Bo Nix is emphasizing the importance of enjoying victories

🔮 “Maybe for some certain life situations you can listen to older, more mature people, but when it comes to X’s and O’s, it’s all about our coaches and our players,” Nix said Wednesday.

2026-10-08 · assertive framing · Bo Nix isn't taking any advice from TV analysts about how to fix the Broncos' offense

🔮 Either or both could end up on short-term injured reserve, but the Broncos haven’t made any moves yet with the players who got hurt last weekend.

2026-10-07 · assertive framing · Patrick Surtain II, Pat Bryant ankle injuries less serious than feared, AP source says

🔮 ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Sluggishness finally caught up to the Denver Broncos in a loss at San Francisco that could prove even costlier with injuries to cornerbacks Pat Surtain II and Riley Moss and rising second-year receiver Pat Bryant.

2026-10-05 · assertive framing · Broncos continue to struggle with slow starts. It cost them against unbeaten San Francisco

Also by Arnie Stapleton

A homecoming in the desert for Zach Allen and Vance Joseph as the Broncos face the Cardinals

2026-10-23 · Toronto Star

Bo Nix says his ankle is fine, but a mental hurdle lingers as his slump drags on

2026-10-22 · Toronto Star

Jonathon Cooper is back for the Broncos, but the NFL’s personal conduct review isn’t over

2026-10-16 · Toronto Star

Broncos survive brutal 6-game stretch thanks to the defense but Bo Nix is mired in a worsening slump

2026-10-16 · Toronto Star

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 20 articles by Arnie Stapleton →

Topics

Broncos Colo. Denver ENGLEWOOD Kansas City

Subjects

Broncos ORG · 5× Joseph PERSON · 4× Denver GPE · 3× Kansas City GPE · 2× Walker PERSON · 2× Webb PERSON · 2× Colo. GPE · 1× ENGLEWOOD GPE · 1× Sean Payton’s PERSON · 1× the Denver Broncos ’ ORG · 1×

Narrative

We’re moving forward to the Jags, which is a great offense, a similar running back, they have great receivers, their tight end’s a player, their quarterback’s playing at a high level, so it’s going to be a challenge again,” Joseph said.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-19

🔮 I wish he would have thrown more.

2026-09-19 · Toronto Star

Denver Broncos go back to basics after their big flop in season opener · assertive framing

Claims (27 extracted, 2 hedged)

Sean Payton’s coordinators had their work cut out for them this week after the Denver Broncos ’ tough start to the season. asserted

work → have → season

The offense struggled in Davis Webb’s play-calling debut, and Vance Joseph’s defense had trouble containing Kenneth Walker III. asserted

defense → struggle → III

The Broncos missed 28 tackles in their opening loss to Kansas City. asserted

Broncos → miss → City

Half of them came when Walker, the reigning Super Bowl MVP, was running roughshod over, around and through a defense that was one of the league’s best last season. asserted

that → come → league

For once, it wasn’t star quarterback Patrick Mahomes handing it to the Broncos (0-1). asserted

Mahomes → hand → Broncos

“Well, they ran 38 times and that’s never happened against the Chiefs,” Joseph said Friday in his first public comments about the Week 1 letdown. asserted

Joseph → run → letdown

“Obviously, the back they signed is a special back but it was a good plan. asserted

it → sign → ?

I thought we did well against their passing game. asserted

we → think → game

“Aside from a missed tackle, their passing game didn’t hurt us at all. asserted

game → miss → us

I wish he would have thrown more. asserted

he → wish → more

But 38 runs and the missed tackles and the lack of block destruction, it hurt us and it burned clock. asserted

it → miss → clock

“Obviously, leaving camp you would think those things would be fixed,” Joseph said. asserted

Joseph → leave → camp

Joseph said it was a quick fix and suggested that back-to-basics reminders this week will lead to a better showing Sunday when the Broncos host the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0), the only team that beat Denver at Empower Field during the 2025 regular season. uncertain

that → say → season

All but 29 of Walker’s 173 yards rushing came after contact as Denver’s 29.8% missed tackle rate marked the third-worst in an NFL game since 2018, and their 247 missed tackle yards allowed were the most by any defense in that same span, according to Next Gen Stats. “It’s correctible. We’ve reset. uncertain

We → come → Stats

Joseph → move → level

Denver’s offense was also missing in action at Kansas City as Bo Nix fumbled three times, got sacked on his first snap and intercepted on his first pass. asserted

Nix → miss → pass

The Broncos didn’t run the ball much — they had just five handoffs in the first half compared to 19 pass plays — and newcomer Jaylen Waddle caught a single pass. asserted

Waddle → run → pass

“Yeah, obviously not good enough,” said Webb, who took over play-calling duties from Payton this season. asserted

who → say → Payton

I have probably five play calls I would love to have back, execution, penalties, just not what you wanted to start with considering we had a good camp, we felt we had a good plan going in. asserted

we → have → plan

And it just didn’t time up well. asserted

it → time → ?

“We’re looking forward to this week, though, We know it’s uncharacteristic of our guys. asserted

it → look → guys

We’ve made a big emphasis on starting faster this year, and we kind of missed the first opportunity. asserted

we → make → opportunity

But luckily, we’ve got another one this week.” asserted

we → get → one

Webb said the opener held many lessons for him personally. asserted

opener → say → him

“The one thing that sticks out: if you’ve got a play that you like, don’t wait, just shoot it,” he said. asserted

he → stick → it

“And I think there was a couple of opportunities throughout the game where it definitely happened, waiting until later in the game as opposed to being aggressive and really shooting that early. asserted

it → think → that

“We’re looking forward to this week hopefully taking better advantage of opportunities, they’ve got a really good defense in Jacksonville, so it’ll be very, very tough.” asserted

it → look → Jacksonville