The NFL’s referee assignment for Monday night’s Chiefs-Broncos opener is already drawing attention in Denver, and it all comes down to veteran official Clay Martin.
Martin, who has worked in the league since 2015, is set to handle a divisional matchup that figures to get plenty of scrutiny. He has officiated 10 Chiefs games during his NFL run, including two playoff contests, and his track record with Kansas City in the Patrick Mahomes era is impossible to ignore: the Chiefs are 8-0 in games he has worked since Mahomes became the starting quarterback.
Before Mahomes took over, Kansas City was 0-2 in Martin’s games.
Under him, the Chiefs are undefeated.
8-0.
Over the last 3 KC games he officiated, KC received 130 LESS penalty yards against them than their opponents.
Welcome back, Patrick. pic.twitter.com/lOIedJL0CS
- Invisible Insider (@invisiblestats) September 14, 2026
Martin’s recent Kansas City assignments have been regular appearances in big spots. He worked one Chiefs game last season, the win over the Baltimore Ravens, and he also handled three Chiefs games from 2023 to 2024, including the divisional round matchup against the Houston Texans.
Denver’s numbers with Martin are far less encouraging. The Broncos are 2-8 in games he has officiated, and they’ve gone 0-3 in those matchups since the start of the 2022 season. Martin didn’t work any Broncos games last year, when Denver won 14 games in the regular season, and the last time he had one of their games was a 2024 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
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