Broncos, Week 1 — What Repeats: Denver Cut the Motion Way Down

Denver put a man in motion on 18 of its 68 charted plays on Monday night in Kansas City. That is 26 and a half percent, 30-first of the 32 offenses in Week 1 — only Cleveland used less — against a league median of 45. Across all of last season this offense used motion on 37 percent of its charted plays. And it was not only motion. Play-action came on six of 33 dropbacks, 18 percent, tied for 20-first in the league this week, against 24 percent last season. Run-pass options on two of 46 snaps, four percent, against nine percent last year. No-huddle on six and a half percent of snaps, against 13. Almost every piece of dressing this offense wore in 2025 was thinner on Monday — screens were the one thing that held, four of 33 dropbacks, 12 percent, about last year's 11 — and the Recap already counted what was left: the fewest yards of any team in the league this week.

Now the quarterback. Bo Nix threw 28 charted passes. 19 were catchable, 68 percent — 20-first in the league this week, three points under his own 71 percent across last season. One was interception-worthy, a ball a defender should have caught: 3.6 percent of his throws, fourteenth-highest in the league, against 3.4 percent last year. Two throws were contested, a receiver and a defender arriving together — seven percent, against 11 percent last season, so he was throwing into less traffic than usual, not more. Two throwaways. One sack was charted as his fault, on 32 dropbacks; last season it was seven on 638. His receivers dropped two of the 19 catchable balls. Add it up and Nix's ball looked like Nix's ball, a shade less accurate and, on one interception-worthy throw, no more reckless. The play-action throws worked when they came, five completions on six throws for 39 yards. The other 22 throws produced 12 completions and 92 yards. The dressing around the arm was thinner; the arm itself was near its 2025 numbers.

On the other side, the box count is the number that turns the Recap's run-defense paragraph from a what into a how. Kansas City ran 31 designed runs with a charted box count. Denver showed six or fewer defenders in the box on 12 of them, 39 percent, which means the other 19 met seven or more. Across all of last season, opponents saw a light box on 66 percent of their designed runs against this defense, and the average box was 6.4 defenders. On Monday the average was 7.1. Whatever the reason for the heavier count — and the pack does not carry the reason — the Chiefs' runs met seven or more defenders 19 times, heavier than this defense's 2025 average, and still went for a hundred 97 yards on the 31. That is the worrying number.

The pass rush went the other way from last year on both counts at once. Denver sent five or more rushers on 15 of Kansas City's 33 dropbacks — 45 and a half percent, the third-highest rate of any defense in the league this week, behind only Minnesota and Tampa Bay, against a league median of 27 — and last season it sent five or more on 32 percent of the dropbacks it faced. Yet it sent a charted extra rusher, a blitzer, on only six of the 33, 18 percent, against 30 percent last season. More five-or-more rushes, fewer blitzers: that is a different way of getting to five, and it is one night. Patrick Mahomes' throws against it came in under his own standard. 27 charted throws, 17 catchable, 63 percent, and that 63 was 20-fifth of 32 offenses this week; his own figure across last season was 70. No contested throws at all. One interception-worthy ball. Two throwaways, no sack charted as his fault on his 29 dropbacks, and two of his 17 catchable balls dropped.

Kansas City's defense against Denver, briefly. Five or more rushers on 10 of Denver's 33 dropbacks, 30 percent, fourteenth in the league — this offense saw five or more on 20 percent of its dropbacks in 2025, so more often than it was used to, but not unusually for this week. Kansas City showed six or fewer in the box on seven of Denver's 13 designed runs, 54 percent, fourteenth in the league and above the median, and Denver ran those 13 for 59 yards, against Kansas City's 31 designed runs.

The stat lines have settled, so here they are, scored half-PPR. Evan Engram led Denver with 12.3 — four catches on five targets for 43 yards and the touchdown. Pat Bryant, four catches on six targets for 42, 6.2. RJ Harvey, three carries for 18 four catches on four targets for 23, 6.1. Nix, 17 of 28 for a hundred 31, a touchdown and an interception, three carries for two yards, 5.4. J.K. Dobbins, eight carries for 36, 3.6. Courtland Sutton, two catches on five targets for 11 yards, 2.1. For Kansas City, Kenneth Walker ran 23 times for a hundred 73 and a touchdown and caught three of six targets for 18 and another, 32.6. Mahomes, 15 of 27 for a hundred 84, two touchdowns and the interception, +7 carries for 23 and a rushing score, 21.7. Travis Kelce caught three of five targets for 71, 8.6.

A word on what this show is, this early, because the name promises something it cannot deliver yet. "What repeats" needs a second game to answer, and there has only been one. So through Week 3, every comparison above is Monday against last season — the 2025 Broncos, a different roster in places, everyone a year older, some of them in different jobs. That comparison is useful for one thing: it tells you what was unusual on Monday. It cannot tell you what is true about this team. The version of this show that measures Denver against its own recent weeks starts around Week 4, and until then we will say which comparison we are making every time we make one.

The thread starts here, so here is the whole of it. Last season, as the Recap laid out, this was a 14-three team whose pass defense finished sixth, run defense tenth and passing offense ninth. The charting from Monday puts three things in the notebook. The offense played with less motion, less play-action and fewer run-pass options than its 2025 averages, all at once, and the quarterback's ball charting stayed near his 2025 figures. The Chiefs' designed runs met a heavier box than this defense's 2025 average and went for a hundred 97 yards anyway. And the defense sent five or more rushers at the third-highest rate in the league this week while sending fewer blitzers than last year, and Mahomes' throws against it came in under his norm. One Monday night against one opponent is the smallest sample this show will ever work with. We are writing these down, not calling them.

That's your Broncos — every game, by the numbers. This is Muffed: we do the same deep dive for all 32 teams. Follow the Broncos show wherever you're listening, so next week's recap lands the moment it's out. No theater. Just the football.

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_Data via nflverse. Charting: FTN Data via nflverse._