The two best teams in the AFC West meet tonight to close out the first week of regular season National Football League action. The host Kansas City Chiefs have been a dominant force for a decade while advancing to five Super Bowls and winning three of them. The visitors at Arrowhead Stadium tonight, the Denver Broncos, have advanced to the playoffs the past two seasons and may have gone on to the Super Bowl last season had their quarterback, Bo Nix, not missed the AFC Championship Game with an injury suffered in his winning performance the prior week against the Buffalo Bills.
While the Broncos won home field advantage for the AFC playoffs last season, the Chiefs had their first losing year behind their dynamic quarterback, Patrick Mahomes. Even before he was knocked out of action in December, the Chiefs were likely to miss the postseason while finishing the year with only six wins.
Mahomes’ injury last year ended any his hopes for the 2025 season, but will it also affect his 2026 campaign? The Chiefs quarterback talents on the field included not only feature pinpoint passing and the ability to throw accurately from many angles, his legs served to make him one of the most elusive signal callers in the game. Will his serious injury leave him less able to break out of the pocket and gain key yards that lead to Kansas City wins?
Tonight, we will get the first look at post-injury Mahomes, and he is going to be tested by one of the best defenses in all of football.
Last season, the Broncos stop unit allowed the second fewest yards and third fewest points in the 32-team NFL. It was their defense and clutch play by second-year quarterback Nix that allowed this team to win an NFL best 14 games in 2025. They were also adept at winning the close ones, compiling a 10-2 record in games decided by one score.
Their opponent tonight, the Chiefs, had a similar mastery over close games in 2024 and parlayed that action all the way to the Super Bowl. The following year, that edge shifted against them during their six-win season.