We have the season opener! It was announced this morning that the Denver Broncos will open the 2026 regular season vs. their AFC West rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, on Monday Night Football. The game will happen on Monday, September 14th, at 6:15 MT, at Arrowhead.
Update: The Broncos will be on the road in week 1 as they head to Arrowhead to take on Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs
This game is full of storylines.
First, it’s a season opener between two hated AFC West rivals who figure to be the top contenders for the AFC West title once again, so this will be an important week one matchup. Also, it’ll be the return of both Bo Nix and Patrick Mahomes. As we know, Nix suffered a broken ankle in the final moments of their thrilling Divisional Round victory over the Buffalo Bills, while the Chiefs lost quarterback Patrick Mahomes to a torn ACL late in the season.
Nix is expected to be ready to go well before the start of training camp, and all signs seem to point to Patrick Mahomes being ready for the start of the season as well. So, it will be another Nix vs. Mahomes classic.
It will also be the debut of multiple big offseason additions. The Broncos made a blockbuster trade for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, and he’ll matchup vs. rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane, who the Chiefs selected early in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft. The Chiefs will debut running back Kenneth Walker, who is coming off a Super Bowl MVP performance, so the Broncos’ defense will need to be ready for that.
The last two times Nix faced Mahomes, the Broncos had the opportunity for a game-winning field goal. In 2024, Nix led a potential game-winning drive in Arrowhead, but the field goal was unfortunately blocked. However, last season, the Nix led another late 4th-quarter game-winning drive, but this time the field goal was good, and Nix would get his first head-to-head victory over Patrick Mahomes. The Broncos would go on to sweep the Chiefs last season and extend a three-game winning streak over them. It should be noted that Mahomes only played in one of those games, but those other two games still counted.
The 2026 NFL Schedule will be released fully on Thursday Night at 6 pm MT, but we will be tracking all the leaks that will happen in the coming days on our schedule tracker. The Broncos figure to have multiple primetime games this season, so this should not be the only major announcement that includes the Broncos.
So, stay tuned to Mile High Report for all the news, updates, and rumors when it comes to the 2026 Denver Broncos schedule release.
