Considering the opponent and environment on Sunday, the Broncos offense and rookie quarterback Bo Nix did a lot of things right.

Kansas City has one of the most formidable defenses in the NFL, and veteran coordinator Steve Spagnuolo can tie quarterbacks of any experience level in a knot. Arrowhead Stadium might have hosted a daytime game for the first time this season, but it was loud in the afternoon sun.

Payton called Nix’s performance “brave” after the match and that was it.

The rookie completed 22 of 30 passes for 215 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. He finished with a passer rating of 115.3 and had the best points per dropback rating of his career so far, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats.

“I’m not really surprised at what this kid does anymore,” tight end Adam Trautman said. “He was incredible under pressure. In all of these games, even when we’re down, you felt it the week before in Baltimore and you felt it all year. He has extreme composure and he has confidence in what we are doing, in the game plan, in his abilities, in the abilities of our offense.

“You can’t say enough good things about him and that’s what everyone in this building feels. And we should do it. He has earned this right. We believe in him and he has been impressive.

However, for the Broncos offense to take the next step, there is one critical area where he and the offense must improve. Or, more precisely, part of the game: the second half.

Denver didn’t score after halftime Sunday against the Chiefs. After racking up 192 yards on 29 plays in the first two quarters, the Broncos had just 62 on 26 snaps in the second half.

Even that four-possession stretch had some good: the final drive was clinical and featured a trio of third-down conversions from Nix and company to set up the unsuccessful attempt at a winning basket.

But before that, there were three dry runs that ended in punts and yielded only 10 yards.

“In the third quarter, we didn’t have the time of possession that we were looking for,” head coach Sean Payton said Monday. “The driving of the rally at the end was good. You know you are playing against a good team. We thought the third down would be important in this game if everything was equal. What I mean by that is assuming there were no turnovers – and that was the case yesterday – then when you look at the numbers on third down, we were good at that. We played better against this team than in the past offensively with what they’re doing.

Sunday wasn’t the first time recently that the Broncos struggled to score after halftime. In fact, they’ve been shut out in each of the last two weeks and have managed just one offensive touchdown in their final three second halves.

These games were all different types: protecting a big lead against Carolina, chasing a big deficit against Baltimore, then a close game in Kansas City.

However, they all followed similar arcs on offense. The Broncos averaged 209.7 yards per first half and 5.5 yards per play.

In the second half: only 100.7 yards and 3.6 per play.

“It’s been inconsistent, and we’ve been playing on the ropes in all these games where, two or three drives in a row, it’s three and out or you get a first down in there,” Trautman said. “I don’t know. We just kind of have to – I think we stuck to our game plan and everything, sometimes they just hit you with some pressure or sometimes they have a better choice than you. Things happen As players too, there’s maybe a mission here and a mission there where you come out of halftime and hang out a little bit or something. Which obviously we can’t do.

“The third quarter was disappointing yesterday because we didn’t really move the ball.”