2026 NFL schedule release: Chiefs-Broncos to face off in ‘Monday Night Football’ season premiere
No strangers to opening their season in prime time, the Kansas City Chiefs will welcome the standalone spotlight once more to begin 2026.
This time around, they’ll be doing so against the team that snapped their nine-season run as AFC West champions when they take on the Denver Broncos at 8 p.m. ET on Sept. 14 in the season premiere of Monday Night Football, ESPN announced. A location for the game has yet to be finalized.
As Andy Reid and Sean Payton prepare their charges for their season debut, the biggest question marks for each will be at quarterback.
All signs point to Denver quarterback Bo Nix being back from an ankle injury suffered in last season’s AFC Divisional Round win over the Buffalo Bills.
Kansas City’s three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes is a much more precarious case, as the two-time AP NFL MVP tore his ACL and LCL in Week 15 of last season. It’s next door to guaranteed that Mahomes will do everything in his power to be ready for the Week 1 tilt, but his status will likely be the prevailing plot point ahead of the marquee Monday nighter.
