Week 1 is officially in the books after the Kansas City Chiefs took down the Denver Broncos on "Monday Night Football" in convincing fashion, 31-10. This thumping by K.C. was spearheaded by a stellar debut from running back Kenneth Walker III, who set a career high with 173 rushing yards. Meanwhile, Patrick Mahomes made his return to the field following his season-ending ACL and LCL tear in 2025 and looked solid in his first game back.
As for Denver, it was a rough night no matter which way you sliced it, as the defense struggled mightily while the offense couldn't get much going either. Of course, given that this was a divisional game in primetime, a lot of eyeballs were on this matchup, which means there are a slew of storylines to come out of the contest. Here, we're going to pick out a handful of narratives from this game and discern fact from fiction, labeling them as either an overreaction or reality.
Yes, it sounds hasty to rip the play sheet out of Davis Webb's hands after one game, but it's a necessary move for Sean Payton. In truth, it was a curious decision in the first place. The decision to elevate Webb as the offensive coordinator and hand over play-calling duties to him was an effort to keep him in Denver and not see him depart to pursue that opportunity elsewhere.
Webb has been with the organization since 2023 and has risen through the ranks under Payton, so it's understandable to want to keep continuity on the coaching staff. In doing so, however, you take away Payton's superpower. The veteran head coach has long been praised for his play-calling ability.
In fact, he'll probably go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day, in part, because of it. So, even if Webb becomes a serviceable play caller after getting some reps under his belt, they are needlessly downgrading. Denver's 176 total yards from scrimmage were the fewest under Payton.
This was also just the second time over his tenure when they played a game without a 20-yard play. Payton himself didn't seem to know what to do with himself at times on Monday and didn't seem thrilled with the arrangement when asked about it on the broadcast coming out of halftime. In reality, Payton will have a longer leash than the one we're suggesting.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
