Broncos to face Chiefs in Week 1 on Monday Night Football

The Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs will do battle in Week 1 of the 2026 NFL season.

And the game will be on Monday Night Football for the whole country to watch.

While the full NFL schedule will be revealed on Thursday, ESPN made that announcement on Tuesday.

Initially, it wasn’t clear that the game would be in Kansas City. But several hours after the original news came out, the Broncos posted the showdown will take place on the road.

Now official: We're headed to KC to get our season started. 🏟️ https://t.co/wLNNOTUDfc

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) May 12, 2026

The game will be on Sep. 14 at 6:15 p.m. MT at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. It’ll be televised on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes.

The Broncos finally won the AFC West last season for the first time since 2015 after the Chiefs had taken the division a ridiculous nine times in a row. Denver posted a 14-3 record and went all the way to the AFC Title Game while Kansas City had a disappointing 6-11 year.

Both teams suffered massive QB injuries, albeit at different junctures.

Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL and LCL in December, but is on track to return in some capacity at the end of May.

Bo Nix broke his ankle against the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round of the playoffs, a devastating blow that likely prevented the Broncos from going to the Super Bowl. He had a second ankle surgery in April, but should be able to do some limited work in June and be ready for training camp.

Clearly, the NFL feels good about the health of Mahomes and Nix to feature this game in Week 1.

Last year Denver went 2-0 against Kansas City, a 22-19 victory in Week 11 and a 20-13 victory on Christmas night in Week 17.

Whoever takes the season opener will have an early leg up in the division race, which is also expected to include the Los Angeles Chargers. The Las Vegas Raiders should be better in 2026, but are still likely to finish fourth in the AFC West.

Football will be here before you know it, with the Broncos at Chiefs in the MNF opener kicking off in a little more than four months.

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