Patrick Mahomes returned to an NFL field for the first time since a season-ending knee injury and looked every bit himself, throwing for two touchdowns and running for another as the Kansas City Chiefs opened their season with a 31-10 win over the Denver Broncos on Monday night at Arrowhead Stadium.
Mahomes finished 15 of 27 for 184 yards with two touchdown passes and an interception, adding 23 rushing yards and a 15-yard scoring scramble that put Kansas City ahead for good. It was his first regular-season snap in nine months. Running back Kenneth Walker III, signed by the Chiefs in the offseason, carried 23 times for 173 yards and a touchdown, including a 60-yard run, and caught three passes for 18 yards and a second score, according to the official box score.
Denver's Bo Nix went 17 of 28 for 131 yards with a touchdown and an interception of his own, but the Broncos managed just 10 points against a Kansas City defense that forced three second-half punts and kept Denver out of the end zone after halftime. The Chiefs led 14-7 at the break before pulling away in the third and fourth quarters.
A long road back
Mahomes tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee on Dec. 14, 2025, during a Week 15 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, hyperextending the joint after planting his foot while scrambling late in the game. He underwent surgery in Dallas days later in what was described at the time as the most serious injury of his nine-year career. The Chiefs finished that season without him and entered 2026 uncertain how quickly their franchise quarterback would return to form.
Nine months of rehabilitation later, Mahomes wore a knee brace for Monday's opener but showed little hesitation, extending plays and taking hits without incident. His touchdown run in particular answered lingering questions about whether he could still move outside the pocket the way he had before the injury.
Mahomes: 'I've got to be better'
Mahomes was characteristically self-critical afterward despite the lopsided final score. "I feel like I was moving around fast [and] I think I was a little quick with my reads," he said, according to comments relayed by Sports Illustrated. "There were some people where if I just got to the second or third read, they were open, especially earlier in the game."
I've got to be better. At the end of the day, I have to be better.
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs quarterback
He credited his teammates for carrying the offense while he worked through the rust. "My guys around me kind of helped me so whenever I felt like I didn't play my best football, we still were able to go out there and beat a really good football team pretty well," Mahomes said. He was more direct about the emotional weight of the night in a message posted to social media after the game, thanking fans and teammates for helping him get back on the field following the long layoff, a moment captured in coverage from Larry Brown Sports.
The win extends Kansas City's dominance in a rivalry that has increasingly tilted toward the Chiefs in recent seasons, and it offers an early signal that the team's championship window remains open even after the injury scare. Walker's performance in his Chiefs debut gave Kansas City a ground threat it lacked for stretches of last season, taking pressure off Mahomes as he shakes off nine months of rust.
The Chiefs will look to build on the opening win in Week 2, when they host the Indianapolis Colts at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday Night Football. For Mahomes, the bigger test may simply be durability — surviving contact and building back the trust in his surgically repaired knee over a full 17-game season, something he acknowledged will take time. "I have to have the trust in the offensive line [and] I have to have the trust in myself that I can withstand taking the hits," he said.
