The Denver Broncos kick off their season tonight on Monday Night Football, and there are three specific matchups we’ll have our eyes on.
Denver Broncos three matchups to watch for vs. Kansas City Chiefs
There will be a handful of different player specific matchups that will ultimately help determine the outcome of tonight’s season opener, but the top three matchups focus on two defensive matchups and one offensive one.
Jaylen Waddle vs. Mansoor Delane
In the structure of Kansas City’s defense, it doesn’t appear that they’ll have a cornerback who will follow one specific receiver on every play, and it’s likely we’ll see a lot of underneath Cover 2 and some Cover 4 looks by Steve Spagnuolo tonight.
Regardless, Jaylen Waddle will draw some time against the Chiefs’ first-round rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane. Veteran L’Jarius Sneed will likely line up against him too, as well as Courtland Sutton, but when Waddle lines up against Delane, it should be something Bo Nix and the Broncos offense look to test.
“There’s a little unknown because there weren’t very many snaps in the preseason, so you’re not 100% sure how they’re going to use him,” Spagnuolo said. “You know the player because we’ve gone against him before and how explosive he is. Normally in a game plan, I’ll always pick out a guy we say is ‘Waldo’; he’s the guy we’ve got to know where he is all the time. I think this team’s got a few of those guys. We didn’t pick out one ‘Waldo’ this week, but certainly 17 Waddle is going to be one of them that we’ve always got to know where he is.”
Waddle and Denver’s receivers, specifically as a whole, don’t generally stay in one spot inside of Sean Payton and Davis Webb’s scheme. They move around and play everywhere, which will help the Broncos identify specific matchups they’d like to take advantage of, whether they get zone or man coverage.
Riley Moss vs. Xavier Worthy
Typically, the Broncos like to match cornerback Riley Moss up on whoever the fastest receiving threat on the opposing team is. Worthy is tracking to be that player on Monday Night Football.
On paper, it’s easy to project that Patrick Surtain II will likely follow Rashee Rice around or Travis Kelce in certain situations, but Moss against Worthy seems like the likely matchup tonight to watch.
How much will Mahomes look to throw Surtain’s way is another big question, and because Surtain is who he is, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Mahomes tries to get the ball to Worthy early in this game, especially if the Chiefs get the run game into a bit of a rhythm. Mahomes will try to open up the play-action passing game, and Worthy’s vertical and long speed pose a threat to Denver, especially if Mahomes has time to let the deeper routes develop.
The general expectation is that Moss will see a large volume of targets this upcoming season, and he’s ready for it.
Jonah Elliss vs. Jaylon Moore
The Denver Broncos pass rush is one of the team’s best superpowers, and Nik Bonitto is the one name off the edge the Chiefs are trying to avoid the most. With their starting left tackle, Josh Simmons, set to miss Monday Night, the Chiefs will start Khalil Benson, an undrafted rookie free-agent tackle.
Andy Reid will likely allocate an extra tight end or body to Bonitto’s side to help Benson avoid being put on an island, but that creates more ideal one-on-one scenarios for Jonah Elliss off the left side edge against the Chiefs’ right tackle Jaylon Moore.
With Elliss filling in for Jonathon Cooper, it’s his first real opportunity to showcase that he can be a long-term starting option at outside linebacker. Coming into this season, Elliss is projected to play more overall defensive snaps than he has as a rotational rusher in his first two seasons.
According to Tru Media, Moore gave up 27 pressures in 7 games last season, and allowed three sacks. On the flip side, Elliss had 23 pressures in 13 games and generated 11 pressures on second down specifically, where Moore allowed 9 pressures that season.