ESPN Broncos reporter Jeff Legwold explains how the team simply never recovered from an early Chiefs lead in what became a dismal 33-10 loss that knocked Denver out of the postseason for the first time since 2010. (1:45)

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Even when good fortune had smiled on them, the Denver Broncos' playoff hopes still dissolved in the painted muck in Arrowhead Stadium on Christmas night.

The Chiefs used an explosive first quarter -- 21 points and 243 yards of offense -- to cruise to a 33-10 victory over the Broncos. It was a homely loss that spoke to most of Denver's football ills this season and put many players on the roster in an unfamiliar position.

The Broncos were eliminated from playoff contention for the first time since 2010, or the season before executive vice president of football operations/general manager John Elway was hired.

"Disappointed -- we didn't play good in any phase to win the game," said Broncos coach Gary Kubiak. "Turned the ball over on special teams. ... We didn't play well as a team."

"It stinks," said quarterback Trevor Siemian. "...It stinks."

"My thought is this, I told the players, 2016 obviously a big disappointment," Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said. " ... I told them on the plane ride home get it all out of their system, next week is all about next year." AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

In terms of wasted opportunities, the Broncos will add Sunday's tepid effort to the growing list for 2016, and the fingers of blame will have plenty of targets. The Broncos began Christmas Day with their postseason hopes hanging by a thread, yet circumstances had aligned to aid their chances before kickoff.

The Pittsburgh Steelers used a last-second touchdown to defeat the Baltimore Ravens earlier Sunday. That loss knocked the Ravens, who would have won a head-to-head tiebreaker with the Broncos, out of the postseason.

And on Saturday the Oakland Raiders, who will face the Broncos in the regular-season finale in Denver, went through the shock of seeing their MVP candidate, quarterback Derek Carr, suffer a broken leg. For a brief moment, it added up to a quality what-if conversation.

Then the Chiefs scored on their first possession, a seven-play, 77-yard drive that quarterback Alex Smith finished off with a 10-yard touchdown run. The Chiefs scored another touchdown, a 70-yard run by Tyreek Hill, on their 11th play of the game. They added a third touchdown on their 16th play of the quarter when tight end Travis Kelce caught a screen pass and took it 80 yards.

"My thought is this: I told the players, 2016 is obviously a big disappointment," Kubiak said. "...I told them on the plane ride home, get it all out of their system, next week is all about next year."

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The opening quarter was the biggest cave-in by the Broncos' defense this season, and the 21 points were more than enough since the Broncos' offense had scored 13 points in the previous two games combined. In the end, the Broncos were simply never the team they said they were.

The offense, shackled by choppy, subpar play on the line all season, couldn't consistently run the ball and protect the quarterback. Defensively, stopping the run and defending passes to running backs and tight ends have been season-long issues. By the end of three quarters Sunday night, the Chiefs had 194 rushing yards (137 of that total was in the soul-crushing first quarter) and Kelce had 158 receiving yards.

As far as what might happen in the wake of all this, nobody can say for sure. No one, after all, has seen the hypercompetitive Elway work as an executive after his team hasn't made the postseason.

In past offseasons, it was about keeping the Broncos in the championship conversation, to the tune of five consecutive division titles and two Super Bowl trips in three years, including last postseason's Super Bowl 50 triumph. This season, however, even long before locker room bickering bubbled to the surface after Denver's loss to New England last week, the Broncos never quite had that eyes-on-the-prize vibe.

Early in the season Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders went public with the desire to have more passes thrown their way, and late in the year defensive players let the world know they weren't the problem. Perhaps it's natural, the way things go in the wake of a title and the departure of a player with the résumé and personality of Peyton Manning.

But Sunday night, the Broncos' problems just outnumbered the chances they had been given.