KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Stumbling out of the gate has been a theme for the Denver Broncos since Sean Payton was hired as coach prior to the 2023 season. And those slow starts are coming to the forefront again after Monday night's season-opening loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. The 31-10 meltdown at Arrowhead Stadium was the first game of a brutal opening stretch that could potentially put the Broncos in a big hole by mid-October if recent history repeats itself. Denver's next five games are against 2025 playoff teams that won at least 11 games last season.

"We're kind of tired of these slow starts," said edge rusher Nik Bonitto in a sullen locker room as Monday night turned into Tuesday morning. "Coming out every year and not starting the way we want. I don't think it was a wake-up call; we've just got to execute better from everybody."

Monday's loss dropped the Broncos to 4-8 in September under Payton. They've won only one of their past four openers and are trying to avoid their third 0-2 start in four seasons. Even last season, when Denver went 14-3 and advanced to the AFC Championship Game, started with two losses in the first three weeks. So, starting faster was a talking point throughout August, both publicly and behind the scenes.

Next up are the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-0), who got four touchdown passes from Trevor Lawrence in their season-opening win over the Cleveland Browns. Jacksonville won the AFC South with a 13-4 record last season, which included a 34-20 victory in Denver last December that snapped an 11-game Broncos winning streak.