The Denver Broncos, fresh off a season in which they finished with a 14-3 record and fell just short of making it to the Super Bowl after falling to the New England Patriots in the conference championship, entered the 2026 season with high hopes. After all, they are bringing back most of the same roster that ended up being one of the best in the NFL in 2025, and there's no reason to expect them to suffer a huge drop-off.

Alas, the Broncos could not have performed poorly to open the 2026 season if they tried. They suffered a 31-10 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, as they had their fair share of struggles on both sides of the ball. Their offense, in particular, was hard to watch, as they failed to score a touchdown in the second half as the Chiefs ran away with the game.

After the contest, Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II believes that this was exactly the kind of humbling experience that the team needed to bring them back down to earth and to power the chip on their shoulder after being hyped up as one of the favorites to win the Super Bowl heading into the new campaign.

“We needed some humble pie, for sure,” Surtain said, per Andrew Mason of Denver Sports 104.3. “I just think that, going in, all the offseason talk, all the hype that brought this team together, I think it's just gotta find a way to cancel all that out. Find a way to play winning football, which I know we're capable of playing. We just got to find a way to bounce back next week.”

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The Broncos did lose two of their first three games last season, so a slow start to a new campaign is nothing new for Sean Payton and his men. But grabbing a win in Week 2, when they come up against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, is a must to ease the concerns of their fanbase after this worrying display.