The Kansas City Chiefs will open the 2026 season of Monday Night Football against the Denver Broncos at 8 p.m. ET on Sept. 14, 2026, announced Tuesday. A location for the game has not yet been finalized.
The matchup gives Denver an early spotlight after it snapped Kansas City’s nine-season run as AFC West champions, and it arrives with questions on both sidelines. Bo Nix is expected back after the ankle injury he suffered in last season’s AFC Divisional Round win over the Buffalo Bills, while Patrick Mahomes is coming off the torn ACL and LCL he sustained in Week 15 of last season.
The game is part of the NFL’s 2026 season-opening prime-time schedule, and Kansas City has often been asked to start the year in the league’s marquee window. The full 2026 NFL schedule will be revealed Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, which should settle the rest of the league’s opening week and prime-time plan.
For now, Chiefs-Broncos is the headline game on the calendar, a divisional matchup that brings together the team that ruled the AFC West for nearly a decade and the one that took that crown away.
