The Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs square off in Week 1 on Monday Night Football, the first MNF game of the 2026 NFL Season, and, of course, the last game of the first week. Denver did sweep Kansas City last year, but their matchup in Arrowhead didn't come until Christmas.
This is a much earlier away game for Denver, and that could honestly benefit the team, as the Chiefs are a younger, more inexperienced team that simply might not be fully into their team identity this early in the season.
While the Broncos could also start slow, the team's experience and clear defense-first mindset could give them a major advantage, but on the other side of the ball, the Chiefs' biggest weakness (arguably) could play right into a sudden Broncos' strength.
Denver Broncos' deep playmaker group could be too much for Chiefs' secondary to handle
The Broncos swung a major trade for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle this offseason, finally inserting a legitimate No. 1 weapon into the mix for Bo Nix. Waddle joins Courtland Sutton, a 1,000-yard player, as the top two options in the room and does form one of the better WR duos in the league.
But it goes beyond that, as second-year WR Pat Bryant has had quite the offseason, and Marvin Mims Jr is listed as a starter and brings top-end speed and explosive playmaking ability. Troy Franklin, who is now suddenly listed as a backup, still did finish second to only Sutton in 2025 in receptions, yards, and touchdowns.
At tight end, Evan Engram figures to hold a more significant role in the offense with Davis Webb calling the plays, and Denver's backfield could now be three deep with J.K. Dobbins, Jonah Coleman, and RJ Harvey.
But for Week 1, the main matchup to watch out for is the deep Broncos unit of pass-catchers versus a Chiefs' secondary that is down several bodies from last season. In the offseason, the Chiefs traded their best cornerback, Trent McDuffie, to the Los Angeles Rams.
Their second-best cornerback, Jaylen Watson, signed with the Rams, and their best safety, Bryan Cook, signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. With Charmarri Conner, their other good safety, not expected to play in this one, the Chiefs' secondary could look like this for Week 1:
CB: L'Jarius Sneed
CB: Mansoor Delane
S: Alohi Gilman
S: Jaden Hicks
The Chiefs may legitimately not be starting a single above-average player on the backend of their defense in Week 1. Sneed has played in just 12 regular season games the past two seasons, Delane is a rookie making his NFL debut, Gilman allowed a 113.7 passer rating in coverage last year, according to Pro Football Reference, and Jaden Hicks is a backup, having started just four games in two seasons.
While the defensive expertise of Steve Spagnuolo could find some sort of work-around here, he simply doesn't have enough talent in the secondary to adequately contain Waddle, a legitimate No. 1, Sutton, a player who has two-straight 1,000-yard seasons, and could even struggle to contain high-end complementary players like Bryant and Engram.
The Broncos' pass-catchers have registered 75 drops since the start of 2024, the most in the NFL, again according to PFR, but the addition of Waddle and emergence of Bryant this offseason has made this unit into what appears to be an obvious strength.
And with the Chiefs having lost considerable talent on the back end this offseason, this new weakness is something that Denver should be able to easily expose.
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