Throughout the entire 2019-20 season, DNVR will be giving you game grades from every Denver Broncos’ contest. Evaluating all the starters and beyond to give you a better look at the team’s strengths and weaknesses on a game-by-game basis.

In the most crushing loss of the 2019 season, the Denver Broncos couldn’t take advantage of a banged-up Kansas City Chiefs squad that outplayed them in all three phases.

Here are the standouts, good and especially, bad.

Standouts from the game

Garett Bolles: F

Bolles was as bad as they get on a day where he was flagged three times for holding and allowed pressure on two key strip-sacks.

What hurts Bolles most is that he’s just not a consistently impactful run blocker, so on days where he struggles protecting the passer, his value is slim to none.

Justin Simmons: A

Lost in the 30-6 defeat is a performance for the ages from Simmons, who made textbook open-field tackles and flew downhill to disrupt the run. No. 31 also made some special plays on the ball with two deflections in an immaculate performance in coverage.

He was everywhere and could be counted on to clean up the trash on missed assignments. He’s quietly becoming one of the NFL’s best deep safeties.

Noah Fant: F

The young rookie had a day to forget both as a blocker (two run-stops allowed) and pass catcher (three key drops). Most concerning of all is that he isn’t looking like the athletic mismatch he’s supposed to be.

Mike Purcell: B

Playing only a few snaps early and getting pushed around against the run, Purcell flipped a switch in the second half clogging gaps to the tune of 2.5 run stuffs, a TFL and a quarterback hit. His effort, playing hard until the end, was admirable.

Defense

Shelby Harris: D+

Harris had an Adam Gotsis-like performance, with a couple of flashes including a nice quarterback hurry but was otherwise absent.

Derek Wolfe: C

Wolfe managed a TFL and tried his best against the run, though his impact rushing the passer was fairly limited.

Von Miller: C

Von hurried the quarterback on a couple of occasions and had his best play—a second-quarter sack—nullified by a holding penalty on the secondary. His effort against the run was good enough as he created some penetration and was disruptive.

Alexander Johnson: D+

Johnson was fine when asked to simply thump downhill but had several plays where he looked lost and reacted late to what was happening. He was lucky to not get exploited in coverage and didn’t have a huge impact as he wasn’t reading and reacting quickly enough.

Todd Davis: C+

Targeted more than any other Broncos defender in coverage (seven targets), Davis held his own, allowing six grabs for just 25 yards. He reacted well sideline-to-sideline and was solid in all areas.

Malik Reed: C

Reed played hard all game and held his own against the run. The lack of pass rush was an issue, though, so while he wasn’t a liability anywhere, he also wasn’t an impact player.

Chris Harris Jr.: D

Look, this is a tough one because No. 25 simply got burned by one of the fastest athletes in the world with zero safety help, that can happen to the best of them. Tyreek Hill’s 57-yard touchdown was a game-changing play and Harris’ grade has to reflect that. He was target four times in all, all four receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown. Not great.

Kareem Jackson: C-

As the deep safety on Hill’s touchdown, Jackson was a guilty party as well, and while he mostly was in the right spots the rest of the game, his usual tenacity and aggression were missing.

Davontae Harris: C

Targeted five times, Harris allowed four receptions for 35 yards. A missed open-field tackle hurt his grade, but he more than held his own against a deep and talented group of receivers.

Other noteworthy defensive performances

DeMarcus Walker fought hard against the run with two run stuffs, a major improvement in his game. He also had a TFL on a Matt Moore scramble playing with a high-end motor all evening.

Will Parks started for most of the first half only to just barely get beat on the Chiefs’ opening touchdown as he grazed the ball before the catch was made.

Duke Dawson Jr. had a decent showing when playing inside, doing a nice job of tackling in the open field, and making a strong play on the ball. He was also called for holding, so still far from perfect. 

Offense

Dalton Risner: C+

Risner was still pushing and shoving until the end, playing with consistent effort. Early on, he wasn’t always stout run blocking but picked it up and was the best on the line in pass protection.

Connor McGovern: D

McGovern played well for most of the game but also got turned around on one sack and completely overpowered on another. As the center, he needs to help his quarterback identify the blitz pre-snap too, as that was a huge problem.

Ron Leary: D

Leary was too often overpowered in the run game allowing penetration on several drive-killing plays. He continues to be one of the offense’s biggest weaknesses.

Elijah Wilkinson: F

Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse than what Bolles did, Wilkinson gave the left tackle a run for his money, allowing two key sacks himself as the two tackles where getting pushed into the backfield on a regular basis. No. 68’s run blocking was maybe worst as he got beat on multiple occasions.

Courtland Sutton: B

Sutton was a reliable target who made one of the plays of the game with a tough acrobatic catch in another promising outing.

Emmanuel Sanders: C-

On his six grabs, Sanders looked more like a safety blanket underneath than a special vertical threat who can cause havoc for defenses outside and inside.

Royce Freeman: D

Freeman looked average for NFL standards and couldn’t get anything substantial going, with most of his production coming in garbage time. 

Phillip Lindsay: D

12 touches aren’t enough for Denver’s best offensive player, though Phil didn’t have a great day and seemed to force things, struggling to avoid many tackles and getting stuffed at the goal line on the Broncos two-point conversion.

Joe Flacco: F+

This was a tough outing for Flacco who was under siege all game and struggled with ball security.

Denver’s quarterback looked like a player from another era, struggling mightily to escape pressure and read the blitz pre-snap. Don’t be fooled by a decent 62-percent completion rate as he played overly conservative in garbage time instead of taking shots downfield.

Sure, some bad drops and horrendous offensive line play didn’t help, but Flacco simply didn’t have it on the night.

Other noteworthy offensive performances

Andy Janovich got his second touch of the season and took it for 22 yards on a nice play design.

Jeff Heuerman couldn’t hold the edge allowing a run stop.

Special Teams: F

Punter Colby Wadman had his toughest day as a Bronco, allowing a 39-yard return that put the Chiefs in prime field goal position. The cherry on top was a botched fake punt that had no chance of succeeding.

Brandon McManus missed a crucial 45-yard field goal when the Broncos were desperate for points, and the return game couldn’t pick up the slack on another rough day for Tom McMahon‘s unit.

Coaching: F

Vic Fangio’s defense wasn’t the biggest problem in a game where all three phases got outplayed. The big issue is the Broncos just aren’t fit to play complementary football.

When the defense needed Rich Scangarello’s offense to pick them up, they couldn’t with an uninspiring game plan and the offensive line getting whopped.