Sunday was a strange, perplexing afternoon.

After a full week of eagerly awaiting the Paxton Lynch era, if only for a week, Broncos Country was met with with the brutal reality that they might be teetering closer to the line of pretenders instead of contenders. Although they rolled through their first weeks of action with four straight wins, Denver had yet to face a very strong competitor. Going into Sunday, their first four opponents were a combined record of 5-11, not exactly the cream of the crop in the NFL.

The Atlanta Falcons presented the Broncos with their first truly tough opponent this season, and Denver never even threatened to win. No one expected the Broncos, logically, to win every single game this seasons, but getting annihilated at home against the second-worst pass defense in the NFL drives at least some cause for concern.

Thankfully, the Broncos have a short turnaround in San Diego this upcoming Thursday night and will not have to focus on this loss long. Just like one win doesn’t define a season, neither does a loss. Let’s look at four takeaways from the Broncos’ first mishap of the season.

The Paxton Lynch era is off to a sour start.

Whether Lynch threw for four touchdowns or four picks, it was likely that Trevor Siemian was going to return as the starting quarterback once he was healthy. But after Sunday’s performance, coach Kubiak might be a bit more eager to get Siemian back on the field as soon as possible.

To put it bluntly, Lynch wasn’t good. He wasn’t good at all.

In a year that so many rookie quarterbacks have performed well, Lynch broke the mold and was kind of awful in his first NFL start. His accuracy was less than mediocre and he held onto the ball for what seemed like hours at a time. He had a slight dose of Tim Tebow-itis and looked to escape the pocket prematurely. It was clear early on that the rookie had butterflies, and I expected him to settle down as the game continued. Sadly, it never happened.

Lynch finished with a 66 percent completion rate for 223 yards and a touchdown, but a majority of that came in garbage time late in the fourth quarter. For most of the game, the Broncos struggled mightily to move the ball down field. Considering the Falcons came into Sunday giving up an average of 317 passing yards and 31 points per game, it is safe to say the offense was a bit of a train wreck.

It certainly wasn’t all Lynch’s fault. The offensive line provided almost no help. The Falcons entered Sunday with only four sacks, tied for dead last in the NFL. Behind Vic Beasley Jr., who had three and a half sacks himself, the Falcons scrounged up six total sacks and frankly embarrassed the Broncos in the trenches. When they weren’t sacking or pressuring Lynch, they were dismantling the rushing attack. With no running game and no offensive line help, it’s tough to succeed in the NFL as a quarterback, and Lynch found that out quickly.

Lynch showed his arm strength and athleticism countless times this afternoon, and I am more than confident that he is the quarterback of the future. This will be a learning experience for him and I fully expect him to play better the next time he gets the chance to play.

For the time being, however, Broncos Country should be behind Siemian 100 percent. He gives Denver the best chance to win in the here and now, and this test run with Lynch may help fans realize how unbelievable Siemian has performed thus far.

Where did the running game go?

Isn’t the Kubiak offense supposed to have some sort of rushing element to it? What is a play-fake without a running game?

After the Broncos opened the season up with two very strong rushing performances, 60 carries for 282 yards, they have followed it up with three straight weeks of no-show productions. Sunday was no different.

C.J. Anderson and Devontae Booker combined for 64 yards on 16 carries. A fairly mediocre performance to say the least.

Like Lynch, the offensive line failed to assist Booker and Anderson at all. The running backs were struggling to find holes because there weren’t any holes. As easy as it is to point the finger at Anderson and Booker for their limited statistical output, until the offensive line is able to win in the trenches the Broncos will struggle to rush the ball.

Denver has another tough task this week against the San Diego Chargers who have only given up an average of 83.4 rushing yards per game.

The defense struggled mightily with the Falcons’ backfield speed

So far, the Broncos’ defense has been a nightmare for opposing quarterbacks.

But unlike previous quarterbacks, Matt Ryan found a way to exploit the Denver defense by attacking them through the air with their speedy running backs. Although the Broncos were able to hold Devontae Freeman and Tevin Coleman to a combined 119 yards on 29 carries, the running back duo burned Denver for a combined 167 receiving yards on seven receptions.

Denver’s linebackers struggled all night to keep up with the speedy running backs and often let them get space in the open field. In a defensive scheme that leaves playmakers to make plays, there are going to be times when it fails. Today was one of those days.

Aside from the running back tandem, the ‘No Fly Zone’ only gave up 100 yards to the rest of the Atlanta receivers, including holding star wide receiver Julio Jones to a mere 29 yards. Ryan posted a 54 percent completion rate for 267 yards and a touchdown. His passer rating of 98.4 leaves him as the clubhouse leader and will likely be the highest rating all season against the Broncos.

As much as the defense struggled this afternoon, the ‘No Fly Zone’ still only gave up 23 points against the highest scoring team in the league with a 38 points per game average. This may have been an ugly loss, but there is no need to lose any confidence in the Broncos’ defense.

Riley Dixon had another fantastic afternoon

Riley Dixon is starting to show why John Elway felt the need to use a draft pick on the punter out of Syracuse.

Yes, he most definitely gets a shoutout for his performance the last few weeks.

Dixon has had a busy few weeks. Following a seven punt performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dixon punted the ball six times for a 48.3 yards average, including a monster 62 yard punt. He was also able to pin the Falcons inside the 20-yard line on two of them giving him a 54 percent inside the 20-yard line rate over the last two games.

The punter position gets overlooked quite often, but when a punter is able to change field position and pin opponents deep in their own territory, it is definitely a game changer.

It’s never a good thing to see Dixon out on the field, but it is always good to see him perform well when given the chance.