It's official - the Denver Broncos will be in Kansas City to face the Chiefs on September 14th, the first Monday Night Football Game of the 2026 NFL Season. It's an interesting start for the Broncos, as they'll face a heated division rival in a game that could end up being more important than you think.
The NFL clearly wants to still prioritize the Chiefs despite the down season in 2025. Kansas City won just six games, missed the playoffs, and got swept by the Broncos. However, they sustained success at the highest level for years, so I suppose it isn't a surprise that the NFL is already throwing them right back into one of the more notable primetime slots in all of sports.
Fortunately, though, the Broncos aren't going to be sweating this game and should be able to get out to a solid 1-0 start.
The Denver Broncos are currently more established than the Chiefs and should have a notable advantage
The Broncos won eight more games than the Chiefs in 2025 and are better than Kansas City pretty easily. A huge reason why the Chiefs endured such a down year in 2025 was due to the lack of overall roster talent from years of bad drafting.
Sure, the Chiefs got active this offseason, but given how poorly this front office has drafted, there isn't a guarantee that suddenly, in 2026, General Manager Brett Veach figured this out and rebuilt the necessary positions.
Offensively, the Chiefs are still missing consistency at wide receiver and tight end. The offensive line feels fine, but nothing notable, and while Kenneth Walker III was a strong signing, he's not a great player and is only a modest upgrade over what the Chiefs previously had in the backfield.
The defense for Kansas City saw a bunch of change, too, including their two best cornerbacks, Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson, heading to the Los Angeles Rams. McDuffie was traded to Los Angeles earlier this offseason, and Watson signed in free agency.
Given all of the roster changes the Chiefs made, it could take this team more time than usual to 'get going' during the 2026 season, and it's not uncommon to see teams struggling out of the gate. The Broncos, on the other hand, really haven't changed anything significant outside of the Jaylen Waddle trade.
Denver should have an advantage over most teams, especially early in the season, given that this team really could not be more established. There are benefits to 'running it back,' as the Broncos clearly tried to do this offseason.
Lastly, there is no guarantee that Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be on the field for Week 1. Sure, he very well could be, but even if he is, it would be his first game back from a torn ACL and LCL, and it's not always fair to assume that a player is going to be 100 percent physically and mentality when coming back from such a major injury.
Even with this game being in Kansas City, the Broncos aren't going to sweat it and will be well-positioned to beat the Chiefs on Monday Night Football.
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