“It doesn’t matter who the Denver Broncos’ quarterback is!”

That’s been a popular sentiment in Denver lately, and for the most part, it’s been true. Riding a nine-game win streak with four different quarterbacks playing behind center, it hasn’t mattered.

Until today.

Paxton Lynch, the Broncos’ first-round selection, was dreadful. No, it wasn’t all his fault — the offensive line was worse than dreadful — but it wasn’t the way Denver was hoping to kick off the Lynch Era.

It all started with Lynch going one for three on the team’s first drive of the game, with two inaccurate passes that could have been picked off by the Falcons defense.

What was most alarming, though, was how Lynch was missing his receivers. His passes weren’t just falling incomplete; they were missing his receivers by yards — behind them, in front of them, and above them.

While his arm looked as strong as ever, his accuracy was inconsistent at best.

And after a couple close calls, Lynch finally got what was coming for him: a pick.

Lined up at their own 1-yard line, the Broncos were looking for a big play to spark their offense, and Lynch went deep for Demaryius Thomas. Unfortunately, his big-play wide receiver wasn’t open.

It’s hard to put all the blame on Lynch’s shoulders, though. He hardly had a moment to survey the Falcons secondary before being pummeled by Atlanta’s pass rush, getting sacked six times, including two that resulted in a fumble — both recovered by the Broncos

The issues began with right tackle Ty Sambrailo, who was filling in for an injured Donald Stephenson. Even if he wasn’t playing at 100 percent, there aren’t any excuses for his play on Sunday.

And even after they replaced Sambrailo with Michael Schofield, who slid over from right guard, it didn’t get any better, as Vic Beasley immediately ran around him for another Falcons sack.

The Falcons entered the game with four sacks all season, last in the league. They left with 10.

There’s plenty of blame to go around, from Sambrailo to Schofield to Lynch to Gary Kubiak, but it was an ugly performance, to say the least.

In his first career start, Lynch completed 66 percent of his passes for 223 yards, one touchdown and an interception, with most of those statistics coming in garbage time.

The Broncos will look to have Siemian ready to go on Thursday for the Chargers, but reports this morning were that Siemian might be forced to sit out another week.

After today’s performance, Kubiak will be doing everything he can to get Siemian, Stephenson and Virgil Green ready on a short week.