The Denver Broncos are in Arrowhead to face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1, the final game of the first week of the season. If the first 15 games tell us anything, the Broncos could be in for a wild one, as there have been some notable upsets and some high-end offensive outputs.
And while Denver should be able to win this one given how much more talented they are than the Chiefs, there could be some external factors preventing both offenses from deploying their full gameplan.
In fact, the weather report indicates some wind gusts during the game, and if those persist, the Broncos could actually be forced to tweak what they had originally planned.
Denver Broncos Week 1 showdown may force them to deal with wind gusts
According to AccuWeather, the Broncos and Chiefs could deal with wind gusts approaching 30 miles per hour, which is rather significant. Much has been made about the Broncos new-look offense this offseason with wide receiver Jaylen Waddle now in the picture, and offensive coordinator Davis Webb being handed play-calling duties.
In a recent appears on Colin Cowherd's show, Sean Payton also specifically mentioned the wind gusts, too:
"I wouldn't have done it if I didn't think it was going to help us win games."@colincowherd & @Broncos HC @SeanPayton discuss his decision to hand off play-calling to offensive coordinator Davis Webb pic.twitter.com/H9JY0PJZfN
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) September 11, 2026
The Broncos absolutely want to air it out, as quarterback Bo Nix did this quite a bit during the 2025 season despite not having a legitimate downfield threat. Well, these wind gusts may simply force the Broncos to reconsider certain aspects of the gameplan tonight.
This could force the Denver offense to lean on the run game more, but that may actually be a major strength of the team with J.K. Dobbins, Jonah Coleman, and RJ Harvey all in the picture. Dobbins was having an excellent season in 2025 before getting hurt, and the rookie Coleman has had quite the offseason thus far and appears to be someone the Broncos want to entrust out of the backfield.
While the Chiefs went out in free agency and made a headline-making move in signing Kenneth Walker, I'd argue that they simply don't have the overall depth that the Broncos do at the position, and Walker himself is a limited player, as he doesn't offer a ton as a receiver, has struggled with injuries, and isn't great in pass protection.
The Chiefs, though, could still operate their gameplan as normal if the plan is to try and neutralize the Broncos' pass rush with short, quick passes. The wind really shouldn't have much of an impact with that element of their offense.
Furthermore, Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs' offense have not been able to throw the ball down the field as well in recent years, and it all kind of started following the Tyreek Hill trade a few seasons back. Kansas City's identity may already be establishing the run and feasting on the quick game with their passing attack.
But the Broncos, if they had hopes of taking some shots down the field on Monday Night Football, may have to rethink if the wind gusts end up being aggressive enough.
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