The Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos square off to begin their seasons on the first edition of "Monday Night Football" in Week 1
The Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos will battle on “Monday Night Football” during Week 1 of the 2026 season in what should be an exciting American Football Conference West divisional matchup.
The Chiefs are looking to have a much better season than they had in 2025, and it starts with playing well in the opener against the Broncos, a team that has had Kansas City’s number over the past few years.
Denver has taken three of the last four meetings, including one at Arrowhead Stadium, with the reason being that the Broncos defense has played star quarterback Patrick Mahomes extremely well during that stretch.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Legwold, the Broncos defense has held Mahomes to just a 55.7 QB rating since 2023, which is the lowest mark against a coordinator he faced during that span (Vance Joseph).
That doesn’t bode well for a Chiefs team that will more than likely have a rusty Mahomes playing his first game since Dec. 14 of last year, but the personnel around him has improved and the offense should be better than it was last year.
Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Kenneth Walker III joined the roster to transform a weak running game, while wide receiver Rashee Rice is healthy and active.
“Truthfully speaking, I think I'm more in shape than I was [last season],” Rice told the media on Thursday. “I'm more confident in being in the spots that I have to be, as far as being on the same page as [Mahomes] because we're both coming off an injury. We're kind of seeing ourselves get back to our full potential.”
When Rice is right, he’s a pass-catching machine. The connection between Mahomes and Rice is outstanding but we have only seen them together sparingly over the last two seasons – just 12 games played after playing 16 during his rookie season in 2023.
Rice has averaged 11.5 yards per reception in his career and surpasses that average (11.9) against Denver in three career games against them. He played Denver once last season and caught six of nine passes for just 38 yards in their 22-19 loss.
Although the Chiefs offense improved on paper, it might take some time for both Mahomes and Rice to get back into game shape which gives the Broncos the edge this week, and the loss of left tackle Josh Simmons will eventually take its toll at some point during the game despite the emergence of undrafted rookie Kahlil Benson.
Denver’s defense is just too strong of a unit for Kansas City to overcome, which is why I believe the Chiefs will come up short on Monday. Not to mention, Kansas City’s defensive unit took a step back during the offseason, losing key pieces.
