The Kansas City Chiefs are getting ready for a season where the noise has never been louder when it comes to the franchise being written off. For the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era, the Chiefs lacked their typical division dominance last season, getting swept by the Denver Broncos and missing the playoffs. This only increases how incredibly important Week 1's matchup with Denver will be to set the tone for the season moving forward.
Denver is incredibly confident coming off a deep AFC playoff run and having won the West division on the back of Sean Payton's coaching, an incredible defense, and solid quarterback play from Bo Nix when needed. It is a level of confidence that invites a healthy level of concern from the Chiefs.
Part of what has made Kansas City so dominant under Mahomes is the amount of fear that the organization inspires, with opposing teams feeling like no lead is safe and a late game-winning drive from Mahomes is an inevitability in a close matchup.
These are traits that became lost a season ago and must reappear when the season kicks off in Arrowhead against the Broncos. Losing to the division rival in Kansas City isn't an option and could send the team into a spiral or foster a lack of belief that they have what it takes to keep the dynasty alive and put the franchise back on track.
Week 1 versus Denver will prove whether the Chiefs' revamped roster is capable of winning in big moments
The Chiefs have winnable games on the schedule after facing Denver, but losing the important rivalry cannot be acceptable. With this in mind, it is easy to point to the first week of the season as a tone setter moving forward. Beating the Broncos allows doubt to creep into the mind of Kansas City's rival while setting the Chiefs up to race out to an early AFC West lead based on a schedule that offers no shortage of potential wins in the season's first five weeks.
While any form of a win would obviously be welcomed, it would be great to see the Chiefs put together a performance that serves as an announcement. One that makes it clear that last year was the outlier in every way and the franchise cannot be overlooked or underrated moving forward.
A performance of that level unquestionably sets a tone and takes away concern that the Chiefs aren't going to be able to put themselves back on track. No question, Week 1 carries the most weight in recent memory and arguably in the entire Mahomes era.
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