The NFL world is anticipating the return of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who suffered not only a torn ACL last season, but also an LCL tear in his left knee. Despite the fact that he suffered a major injury that requires 9-12 months for recovery, it appears as though he's tracking toward playing Week 1 when the Chiefs host the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football.
And that's all anyone can talk about.
The return of Mahomes is dominating offseason headlines, and it feels like the NFL world is believing that Mahomes is going to return to the field and the Chiefs will be immediate Super Bowl contenders again. There are a few problems with that logic, including the fact that the Chiefs not only lost their starting quarterback last season to injury, but that they were eliminated from postseason contention before that even happened.
The Chiefs went 6-11 last year, and the Broncos took back the AFC West crown for the first time in a decade. Not only that, but they hosted the AFC Championship Game. It seems like the Broncos are already being written off as an afterthought behind the Chiefs and even the Chargers, but they have a chance to derail the excitement of a possible comeback season for the Chiefs before that train even leaves the station.
Denver Broncos can shut down Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs hype immediately in 2026 season
The NFL decided to send the Broncos on the road for their season opener, and they're playing into the hype of the (potential) return of Mahomes. The fact that the Broncos are traveling to Kansas City for a primetime matchup against the Chiefs is a sign that two things are true:
1. The Broncos are back, and the NFL is acknowledging it.
2. The NFL wants the Mahomes/Chiefs comeback story to happen.
No matter what the outcome of the season-opener is, the NFL wins. If the Broncos win, the league can feed into the hype of Bo Nix and the Broncos as a legitimate Super Bowl contender. If the Chiefs win, the comeback storyline will get run into the ground.
And because of the latter point, the Broncos need to do whatever it takes to shut that hype down before it gets going. And frankly, the Broncos have played Mahomes exceptionally well for the majority of his career. There was a time when Mahomes owned the Broncos, but even in some of the team's worst seasons, the Broncos have played him tough.
If you look at Mahomes's splits against the Broncos as opposed to other AFC West teams, it paints a pretty staggering picture. While the Chiefs are 13-2 against the Broncos when Mahomes plays, he's thrown 21 touchdowns against Denver in those games compared to 12 interceptions, and has been sacked 28 times.
Against the Raiders, Mahomes has thrown a whopping 36 touchdowns in 15 games compared to just 5 interceptions, taking 26 sacks.
Against the Chargers, he's got 28 touchdowns in 14 games, 8 interceptions, and has been sacked 24 times.
Again -- the Broncos have played Mahomes well defensively, even if they haven't been able to come through with a lot of wins. And this will be a perfect opportunity to hand him his third loss against the Broncos, which would also be the first loss for him at home against the Bo Nix-led Broncos.
Remember how close the Broncos came to winning in Kansas City during Nix's rookie season...
The Broncos have set back-to-back franchise records in sacks the past two seasons. Mahomes's game is reliant upon his ability to make plays on the move. If he's going to make a triumphant return to the field way ahead of schedule, the Broncos need to make him pay.
Denver has no choice but to listen to the Mahomes/Chiefs hype all offseason, but they also have a chance to shut it down before anyone else, and on a national stage.
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