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Patrick Mahomes returned from the first major injury of his career — a torn ACL and LCL in his left knee — to lead the Chiefs to a huge Monday night 2026 NFL season-opening win over the Broncos. Although Mahomes turned in one of his least-prolific passing performances against Denver's defense, it didn't take long for Kansas City to know its franchise quarterback is back to his old self.
The Chiefs missed the playoffs for the first time with Mahomes as the starting QB in 2025. He went 6-8 and then the team lost all three games he missed late to finish 6-11. Now the Chiefs are 1-0, with a win over the 0-1 Broncos, who went 14-3 to dethrone the Chiefs as AFC West champions last season.
The 31-10 dominant home victory by Kansas City was stamped by the running of new feature back Kenneth Walker III. The Seahawks' Super Bowl 60 MVP pounded the Broncos for 173 rushing yards, including a 60-yard TD. The defense took care of the rest with four sacks and two takeaways from Broncos QB Bo Nix, on a windy night not making for prime passing conditions.
Mahomes did provide the big early highlight, a dazzling 15-yard scoring run up the middle to match his jersey number and indicate his clean bill of heath. But when looking at his passing stats (15-of-27, 184 yards, 2 TDs, INT, 6.8 yards per attempt, 86.0 passer rating), there might be concern for continued issues with the receiving corps.
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As Walker stole the show with 169 scrimmage yards and 2 total TDs in his debut, the Chiefs also trumpeted their less Mahomes-dependent offensive philosophy for '26. Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy have reunited this season with the smart plan of taking pressure off Mahomes.
The Chiefs ran 38 times in total for 220 yards in relation to 29 Mahomes dropbacks. That 57-43 run-pass ratio isn't often seen in Kansas City under Reid.
It's also rare for Mahomes to throw for 185 or fewer yards. In 12 such regular-season games with Mahomes, the Chiefs are 10-2. In the playoffs, the Chiefs are 7-0 when Mahomes throws for 255 or fewer yards.
There will be some natural big passing games ahead for Mahomes, maybe as early as Week 2 at home next Sunday night, when the reeling Colts defense — which just gave up 506 total yards and 41 points to the Ravens at home — comes to Kansas City.
MORE: Inside Patrick Mahomes' 9-month recovery from torn ACL
Then again, the Ravens ran all over the Colts with their own power back, Derrick Henry, and their defense wasn't challenged much. The Chiefs acquired Walker for his early-down home-run ability and strong red zone finishing, or their long missing workhorse in the mold of Henry.
When Mahomes wasn't making much noise with the downfield passing game in the past, the Chiefs didn't have the potential to pivot to a run-heavy attack to take advantage of soft zone defenses still worried about Mahomes' dangerous deep throwing. That's why they had to splurge on Walker in free agency for how he carried the Seahawks' balanced offense.
The Chiefs were the Super Bowl champions other teams were trying to emulate, so go figure they would do some copycatting of them own. Reid has tended to get too pass-happy at times, going back to his days in Philadelphia.
The revamped active defense remains a strength and needed this brand of physical ball-control offense to match the new winning identity. As the running game continues to deliver, it also will lead to Mahomes shredding defenses with shots off play-action again soon.
Mahomes getting back in MVP passing form is rather scary. Mahomes as a clutch complement to the running game and defense? That's downright frightening.
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