ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- When a team has had the woes the Denver Broncos have thus far, Thursday’s effort in the 19-8 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs was good enough for coach Sean Payton to try to walk a thin line between disappointment and discouragement.
“I told our players I was disappointed [with the loss],’’ Payton said. “But honestly … I’m not discouraged. I thought they played hard.’’
The Broncos didn’t end the now 16-game losing streak to the Chiefs and they didn’t prevent themselves from falling to 1-5 for the first time since 1994. But they did, finally, show some ability to at least push back against a league heavyweight.