The Chiefs snapped a three-game losing run and dealt a practical answer to doubts about Patrick Mahomes’s surgically repaired left knee, beating the Denver Broncos 31-10 on Monday night.
Nine months to the day after tearing his ACL, Mahomes completed 184 passing yards, threw two touchdown passes and opened the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown run to finish the first drive. He wore a brace on the repaired knee and has been part of the full offseason programme and every practice of training camp. “You see that goalline, you’re a football player and you just try and get in the end zone,” Mahomes said after the game. He also credited his line and backs, saying, “Against this team, you have to set a tone and [our] offensive line and those running back did that,” said Mahomes.
Kenneth Walker III dominated his Chiefs debut, carrying 23 times for 173 yards and scoring twice, the most rushing yards by a Kansas City player since Jamaal Charles ran for 226 in 2012. Walker also caught three passes for 18 yards and had 14 carries for 89 yards in the first half alone. A 60-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, which began after a fourth-and-one carry, effectively put the game beyond Denver’s reach.
Denver’s offence struggled under new play-caller Davis Webb. Quarterback Bo Nix passed for 131 yards, threw an interception and lost a fumble as the Broncos finished with 176 total yards. Tight end Evan Engram led Denver with four catches for 43 yards and scored the team’s only touchdown. Wide receiver Jaylen Waddle made one catch for two yards and was credited with a costly drop on third down.
Key swings favoured Kansas City at pivotal moments. Brandon Jones intercepted Mahomes deep to set up a Wil Lutz field goal for Denver, while a 59-yard Mahomes connection with Travis Kelce set up a Harrison Butker field goal. After Nix’s fumble late in a Broncos possession, the Chiefs manufactured a scoring drive highlighted by a 26-yard third-down catch by rookie Emmett Johnson and finished it with a shove play in which Mahomes lined up beside Justin Fields and handed off to Walker for an untouched score.
The result reassures Kansas City about Mahomes’s immediate mobility and durability while supplying a new rushing weapon in Walker. For Denver, the performance raises fresh questions about an offence operating under Webb that produced limited yardage and committed costly turnovers.
