Five things we learned from the Denver Broncos’ first loss of the season

The Denver Broncos haven’t lost a home game since last December when the Oakland Raiders came to town, Peyton Manning was out and Brock Osweiler was getting sacked what seemed like two dozen times.

Now Peyton is gone, Brock is getting sacked in Houston, Trevor Siemian is inactive and it was rookie Paxton Lynch that was getting harassed over and over again on Sunday.

The Broncos lost their first game of the 2016 season, getting outmanned 23-16 at home to the Atlanta Falcons, and dropping their record to 4-1.

Denver managed just 267 yards, and many of those were late, when the game was all but decided.

Meanwhile the defense was gouged repeatedly by the Falcons offense, which garnered 372 total yards and seemed to make play after play when it was needed.

The Broncos were outmatched on Sunday, but like great teams do, they will learn from this and hopefully improve.

Here are a few things that we learned their first loss of the season:

5. The slow starts continue no matter who is playing quarterback

The Broncos have trailed in four of their first five games, but that doesn’t seem to be a result of the quarterback alone.

After falling behind to the Panthers, Colts, Bengals and now the Falcons, this seems to be an issue that needs to be corrected.

Once again, the defense proved to be a generous host, allowing the Falcons to go 75 yards for a touchdown on their opening drive.

So far on the season, the Broncos have compiled 128 yards and seven points on their opening drives. Meanwhile, their opponents have managed 250 yards, and 24 points on their initial possessions.

I’m all for a good comeback, but the Broncos may need to improve their opening game methods. Spotting your opponents a lead every week is a dangerous way to play.

4. The inside linebackers have to get better

With all of the talk about losing Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler, the Broncos might have missed inside linebacker Danny Trevathan as much as anyone on Sunday.

Brandon Marshall, Todd Davis, Zaire Anderson and Corey Nelson combined for 14 tackles on Sunday but Falcons runners racked up 122 yards on the ground.

And it wasn’t just the running game. They were beaten in the passing game too.

Running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman combined for seven catches for 167 yards and a touchdown on Sunday.

That just isn’t good enough defense from this group.

3. Paxton Lynch has a long way to go

There is no questioning the physical tools that rookie quarterback Paxton Lynch possesses. He can throw a 25-yard out pattern on a frozen rope that gets there before a defensive back can even think about breaking on the football. And Lynch can flick his wrist and toss a 45-yard pass downfield without much effort.

What he can’t do, yet, is start at quarterback in the NFL.

I realize that he wasn’t getting much help from those around him. But Lynch did not display the same poise on Sunday that Trevor Siemian has showed us during his first four starts.

Lynch hurried when pressure wasn’t there. He held the ball too long when pressure was coming, and got into trouble that could have been avoided. There were moments that resembled more of a fourth preseason game than a fifth regular season contest.

In short, at times he looked like the game was too big for him.

Lynch should still be the quarterback of the future.

But right now, if he is healthy, Trevor Siemian seems to be the quarterback that is best suited for this team.

2. A Shanahan came to Denver and beat the home team

He was a former ball boy with the club, and of course his father won back-to-back titles in Denver, but Kyle Shanahan came back to the Mile High City and put a pretty good beating on a team that he undoubtedly grew up cheering for.

Shanahan has bounced around from Tampa, to Houston, to Washington and even Cleveland, but he’s now the offensive coordinator in Atlanta, and he called a pretty good game on Sunday.

Going against one of the fiercest defenses in the NFL, the Falcons put up 372 yards and 23 points on the road. They turned the ball over only once, and allowed quarterback Matt Ryan to be sacked just twice.

It isn’t that Gary Kubiak and Wade Phillips aren’t familiar with Shanahan. When they were in Houston, he was the Texans wide receivers coach.

On Sunday he came back to the city where he grew up, outdueled his former boss and got a big road win.

1. The Broncos lost the battle in the trenches

It isn’t that we didn’t see at least some of this coming. The Broncos have been getting pushed around at the point of attack on both sides of the ball all season, and that will eventually cost you.

It cost Denver on Sunday.

Denver surrendered 122 rushing yards, while gaining just 84 themselves, and that isn’t just a one-week aberration.

On the season, they are giving up nearly 114 yards per game on the ground, but only rushing for a little over 105.

It is very apparent that they are missing offensive tackle Donald Stephenson, tight end Virgil Green and, of course, defensive end DeMarcus Ware.

But injuries are a part of the NFL, and the Broncos are going to have to figure out how to start winning some battles in those trenches, if they are going to contend for another Super Bowl.