Broncos On Wrong Side of NFL History With Rare Stat in Loss to Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs

The Denver Broncos had one of the worst tackling performances of the past decade during their 31-10 road loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night.

According to NFL.com's Trevor Sikkema , the Broncos had 248 missed tackle yards allowed Monday, marking the most by a team in a single game during the NFL Next Gen Stats era, which began in 2015.

The Broncos' 29.8 percent missed tackle rate during Monday's loss was also the third-worst single-game showing since 2018, per Sikkema.

That perhaps shouldn't come as a big surprise given some of the huge plays Kansas City generated during its season-opening triumph.

Chief among them were a 60-yard touchdown run by running back Kenneth Walker III and a 59-yard catch and run by tight end Travis Kelce, both of which saw them break tackles:

Making his regular-season Chiefs debut, Walker rushed for 173 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. Per Next Gen Stats, Walker had the most rushing yards over expected by a Chiefs running back and most missed tackles forced in a single game by a Chiefs player since 2018:

With quarterback Patrick Mahomes coming off a torn ACL suffered last season, head coach Andy Reid primarily leaned on the running game.

Mahomes had fairly modest passing production, going 15-of-27 for 184 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, but even he did damage with his legs against Denver's defense, rushing for 23 yards and a score.

While it wasn't shocking that the Chiefs won, the manner in which they did it against one of the NFL's top defenses from last season undoubtedly was.

Denver ranked second in the NFL last against the run, allowing just 91.1 yards per game. The Broncos were also second in total defense and third scoring defense, plus they led the league with 68 sacks.

The Broncos only managed to bring Mahomes down twice on Monday night, as the Chiefs kept Denver's pass rush at bay with their dominant running game.

Denver's gauntlet of an early-season schedule will continue Sunday with a home game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, while Kansas City will look to keep rolling Sunday night against the Indianapolis Colts.