On Tuesday, we learned that the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2026 season will open with a “Monday Night Football” contest against the Denver Broncos in Arrowhead Stadium. The game will cap off Week 1, taking place on September 14th, kicking off at 7:00 p.m. Arrowhead Time with the nationally televised broadcast on ABC/ESPN.
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The Broncos are the reigning champions of the AFC West, while the Chiefs are looking to rebound from a third-place finish in 2025, ending a nine-year streak of winning the division.
The long-time rivalry’s first rendition of 2026 will take place at Arrowhead, an advantage for the Chiefs in the moment, but many fans in Chiefs Kingdom have been vocal about preferring the home game to be the latter of the two matchups.
Does one team or another have a real advantage when it comes to the starting quarterbacks recovering from injury? Patrick Mahomes is set to take the field in OTAs later this month, while Broncos head coach Sean Payton has expressed that Bo Nix could be “full go” by training camp.
Our friendly foes at Mile High Report pointed out a seemingly strong advantage in the Broncos’ direction to consider: Denver’s wide receiver duo of Jaylen Waddle and Courtland Sutton will be a handful for the Chiefs’ rebuilt secondary to deal with right out of the gate.
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First-round pick, rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane, cornerback Nohl Williams, and the rest of the team’s secondary do have to be on their A-game out of the gates. Nix has no problem playing the gunslinger role and giving his guys chances downfield. Cornerback Kristian Fulton was a victim of that on a big play in Denver last season.
All that said, I believe it’s clear the Chiefs get an advantage by seeing Denver in Week 1, regardless of the venue. Kansas City, under head coach Andy Reid, has been notorious for hot starts to the season, and it comes from the intensity of the training camp he puts on in the preseason.
Last season was an anomaly in this era of Chiefs football. The team started 0-2, highlighted by a season-opening loss to an AFC West foe: the Los Angeles Chargers. Last season’s team was clearly flawed enough to require major change this offseason, and the absence of receivers to start the season made things very difficult to continue Reid’s history of strong performances in September.
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With a fresh team, history actually suggests a group of newcomers will more likely lead to a strong start for the Chiefs.
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The team started 9-0 in Reid’s first year as coach in 2013.
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In Mahomes’ first year as a starter, 2018, the team had a 5-0 record before its first loss.
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To start the 2022 season after trading away All-Pro wide receiver Tyreek Hill, the Chiefs went 2-0 with a primetime win over the Chargers and a 44-point performance against the Arizona Cardinals that featured five passing touchdowns from Mahomes.
I believe the 2026 Chiefs will start out hot, and that will begin with a reminder to Denver about which team has run the division for the last decade. It’s always good to get a head start in the AFC West race, and I think Kansas City accomplishes that in September.
What do you think? Do the Chiefs or Broncos have an advantage with such an early-season, primetime matchup? Let us know in the comments.
