Almost the entirety of the experience Denver Broncos fans have been treated to this season is defined by a failure to live up to expectations.

Today, the Broncos not only met expectations, but surpassed them. And although the game wasultimately a loss, it felt like an improvement because taking the Kansas City Chiefs down to the wire in Arrowhead represents a modest improvement.

The fact this was realized under a new head coach further bolsters that optimism that things might be headed in the right direction.

However, one must wonder if these efforts are replicable, when a small number of plays seemed to dramatically impact the outcome, and when many of the same problems on offense persisted.

What signs of improvement were there in Rosburg’s debut, and why did the Denver Broncos ultimately fall short? Let’s take a look.

Denver Broncos Stock Up

Denver Broncos defense

Last week, it looked like the Denver Broncos’ defense finally threw in the towel.

14 weeks appeared to be the maximum limit on how long Denver’s amazing defense could carry their lifeless offense, but that premise was put into doubt by their stout performance against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Now, allowing 27 points on 11 non-kneeldown possessions isn’t ultra-impressive, but considering the Chiefs started one of those possessions on Denver’s 17, it’s a lot easier to swallow. It should also be remembered that this performance followed the Broncos giving up a 50-burger to the worst scoring offense they could’ve played (as the NFL’s worst scoring offense is the Denver Broncos).

This showed marked improvement.

Not only that, but they also forced two massive takeaways, which singlehandedly kept the game close at the half.

The first was a Justin Simmons red zone interception, which erased at least three points from Kansas City’s score tally. The second was an Alex Singleton forced fumble

Courtland Sutton

On a day when the Denver Broncos’ offensive attack, particularly through the air, was famished, Courtland Sutton was one of the few things working for them.

Now, the 4-for-44 stat line won’t jump out at you, but that’s all it took to be the Broncos’ clear No. 1 option today. That stat line would also look a lot better if it wasn’t for a ludicrous pass interference penalty, which negated Sutton’s best play of the day.

That amazingly acrobatic effort against double coverage not only marked Sutton’s best snap of the game, but it also represented a return to pre-ACL Sutton.

Flashes of that elite catchpoint-champion that Sutton once was have been too few and far between, but Broncos Country got a tasty morsel today.

That paired with Sutton being the team’s most reliable receiver on the day earns him the nod here.

Chase Edmonds & Albert Okwuegbunam

As mentioned with Sutton, the Denver Broncos didn’t get much from their weapons today, but two unlikely heroes — Chase Edmonds and Albert Okwuegbunam — rose to the challenge.

Edmonds looked like the Broncos’ best running back, as he sliced through the Chiefs’ defense with his lightning agility. That said, his best plays came through the air, as Wilson found him over the middle multiple times for the Broncos’ biggest gains of the first half.

After an ugly start, which featured three targets, zero receptions, and a drop, Albert Okwuegbunam sprung to life, and ended the day as the Broncos’ most productive receiver in terms of both yards and touchdowns.

Denver Broncos Stock Down

NFL officiating

This column has been running weekly on Mile High Sports for years, and the referees have never made an appearance.

Blaming the officials is normally an easy cop-out, and generally speaking, the bad calls balance out.

Today, blaming the officials is a must.

There was a laundry list of questionable decisions, all of which seemed to negatively impact the Broncos, in a game that wound up being pretty close.

If you read the Courtland Sutton section, and saw that egregious pass interference call, maybe you’d think the referees were just being super cautious, and were willing to throw the flag at most instances of questionable contact.

But, if that was the case, how does one explain this ridiculous no-call that occured when Russell Wilson was rag-dolled to the ground?

The Chiefs also appeared to jump offsides on the last Broncos’ snap of the game, leading to an expedited snap, but no flag was thrown, no free play was awarded, and the ball went back to Kansas City.

Denver Broncos pass rush

At the time of the Bradley Chubb trade, the Denver Broncos were second in the NFL in pass rush win-rate. They trailed only the Dallas Cowboys, whose pass rush has been in a different realm from the rest of the league ever since the selection of Micah Parsons.

However, ever since that trade, Denver’s pass rush has been pedestrian.

They precipitously dropped to the point where they’re now ranked fifth in the NFL, as Randy Gregory and Baron Browning have each missed a bundle of games, Nik Bonitto has failed to live up to his pre-draft promise. Their performance against the Kansas City Chiefs is likely to drop their pass-rushing rank even further.

Against the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, a quarterback who entered the week with the 12th-longest time-to-throw in the NFL, the Denver Broncos were only able to generate three quarterback hits, and failed to notch even a single sack for the second-straight week. That means they’ve touched the opposing quarterback just five times over the past two weeks, and none of those resulted in sacks.

From awesome to pitiful. How depressing.