The Denver Broncos got the NFL’s marquee matchup in Week 1 of the regular season — a Monday Night Football showdown against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
The 2 longtime AFC West Division rivals will cap off the 1st week of the regular season with 1 massive storyline hanging over the game — the return of 2-time NFL MVP and 3-time Super Bowl champion Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes from a torn ACL suffered in Week 14 of the 2025 regular season.
Here’s everything you need to know to watch the Broncos play the Chiefs in Week 1:
- When: 8:15 p.m. ET
- Where: Arrowhead Stadium (Kansas City, Missouri)
- TV: ABC/ESPN
- Odds: KC -2.5, O/U 43.5
What Happened to Denver Broncos in 2025
The Broncos went 14-3 in the 2025 regular season. They earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs and opened with a thrilling 34-31 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills in Denver.
Just 1 hour after the win over the Bills, Denver head coach Sean Payton returned to the media room with some stunning news — starting quarterback Bo Nix fractured his ankle on 1 of the last plays of the final drive but stayed in the game to set up the game-winning field goal.
Without Nix and with backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham making his 1st start in 2 years, the Broncos looked lost 1 week later in a 10-7 home loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.
Nix’s recovery has been the defining story of the offseason for the Broncos after he needed a follow-up surgery that kept him out for the entire offseason workout program. He returned at 100 percent for training camp and has looked sharp.
What Happened to Kansas City Chiefs in 2025
After winning 3 Super Bowls since the 2019 season and playing in 3 consecutive Super Bowls from 2022 to 2024, the Chiefs finally crashed back to earth in 2025 with a 6-11 record and missed the playoffs for the 1st time since 2016 — 1 year before Mahomes was drafted.
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