In less than two hours, the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos will kick off each of their seasons in a divisional rivalry match that will cap off Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season. Andy Reid and his squad look to avenge what was a porous 6-11 season in which they lost five of six division games and got swept by Sean Payton's Broncos.
Three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes returns from a torn ACL and LCL suffered on Dec. 14 of last year and will make his season debut alongside the rest of his teammates just nine months post-injury. Crouching next to him for the majority of the game will be the reigning Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker, who should play a massive part in this Chiefs offense.
Steve Spagnuolo captains a Chiefs defense with a whole lot of new pieces, all talented young players, who, if they mesh well together early, could be a force for opposing offenses to handle. The first test will be against third-year signal-caller Bo Nix and a talent-riddled Broncos room of playmakers.
Everybody who gets a chance to make an impact in the game matters, but for the Chiefs, there are three guys whose performances may just seal the fate of the team and be the difference between a commanding 1-0 start within the AFC West and the beginning of another uphill climb for Kansas City.
This trio of Chiefs players may have an outsized impact on the outcome of Week 1
Kahlil Benson
This one is pretty obvious. Josh Simmons continues to be a question mark at left tackle in terms of his consistent availability. Because of this, Reid has decided to slot in rookie UDFA Kahlil Benson at a position he never played in college and rarely participated in during offseason workouts.
Nevertheless, he'll be tasked with the near-impossible job of containing one of the league's best speed rushers, Nik Bonitto. Expect the Chiefs to slide protection Benson's way and help him with chips from tight ends. His playing at an average level would ease concerns over the cleanliness of Mahomes' pocket all night long.
Xavier Worthy
The Broncos' defense is awesome; there is no doubt about that. But one thing their cornerbacks and safeties are not known for is their speed. Well, at this point in his career, that's about all Xavier Worthy is known for, and coming into year three, it'd be nice to see the Chiefs utilize his elite trait in more ways than one.
If Worthy can create a couple of explosive plays down the field or on endarounds, it would open up Kansas City's offense both horizontally and vertically. Rashee Rice remains an unknown in terms of the health of his surgically repaired knee, so Worthy could very well find himself in the WR1 role for Mahomes this year and beyond.
R Mason Thomas
Another rookie to find himself on this list is R Mason Thomas. What the Chiefs have lacked for years at edge rusher is speed, burst, and bend. Well, those are things that Thomas excels at, at a really high level. Kansas City will have to try to crash the pocket on Nix quickly and force him into fast decisions.
Thomas being able to get off the line and turn upfield in two and a half seconds against a really solid pair of Broncos tackles would force Denver to focus on him a bit more. Which would open up things for Chris Jones and George Karlaftis and finally make their lives easier.
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