When the Chiefs open the season against the Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium, they’ll be doing it after a long, strange wait - 253 days since their last meaningful game. That kind of gap would feel heavy for any team, but it lands differently in Kansas City after a 6-11 season that gave Andy Reid and his staff plenty of time to stare straight at the mess and start fixing it.
The Chiefs responded by changing a lot of things. They signed players, drafted rookies and fired coaches.
Some of those moves already look better in theory than the version fans watched last year. Others won’t mean much until Monday Night Football puts the whole operation under the lights.
Here are the biggest questions hanging over Kansas City as Week 1 arrives.
Patrick Mahomes is the first and biggest one.
He hasn’t taken an NFL snap since kids were getting ready for Christmas break last winter, and even with positive signs that he’s healthy again after torn knee ligaments, nobody will really know until he’s out there against Patrick Surtain and the Broncos defense. Mahomes did not get any preseason reps, either.
He had a clean bill of health at the start of camp, but Andy Reid and the Chiefs chose caution and kept him out of all three exhibition games while Garrett Nussmeier and Justin Fields handled that work instead. Maybe that was smart.
Maybe it just means the rust will show up later. Either way, the physical recovery is only part of the equation.
The harder piece could be trusting the knee again after the first major injury of his career.
The same kind of uncertainty follows Chris Jones, except for a different reason.
For most of the last decade, Jones has been the centerpiece of a defense that won three Super Bowls and reached two more. He’s carried a huge load through all of it, often with little help on the interior beyond role players who probably wouldn’t stick on other rosters.
That changes this year, at least on paper. Brett Veach finally went looking for real support around him.
Khyiris Tonga should help on early downs, Peter Woods arrives as a first-round disruptor, and even the addition of R Mason Thomas on the edge should make life easier. Jones has spent years winning anyway.
Now he gets to see what it looks like with more around him.
There’s also the question of whether Reid will really lean into a different ground game.
The Chiefs’ offense has come under fair criticism over the last couple of seasons, and while the front office deserves blame for the way it left the coaches with a limited run game, Kansas City has now added Kenneth Walker and Emmett Johnson. The real question is whether Reid will use them in a way that actually changes the offense.
Walker should be the kind of runner who can help carry the load while defenses are forced to respect lighter boxes. That could open things up for Mahomes as he works back from injury.
It also raises the issue of whether the Chiefs will use more under-center looks, and whether an offense that fans wanted to be more explosive can finally move away from the safe, stale feel it has had. The talent is there now.
The coaching has to match it.
On defense, the rebuild in the secondary is just as important and just as unsettled.
Trent McDuffie, Jaylen Watson and Bryan Cook - Kansas City’s three best defensive backs from a year ago - are all gone. The Chiefs have tried to replace that group with a full reset, headlined by Mansoor Delane, a new lockdown corner, and the return of L’Jarius Sneed to a defense where he had success before.
On paper, it’s a strong collection. On the field, the challenge is bigger.
Those players have to learn each other, communicate cleanly and let the coaches figure out how to deploy them. That process could get messy fast.
And then there’s the most uneasy question of all: the offensive tackle situation.
Josh Simmons has been out of practice and preseason games for more than two weeks because of a back injury. Kahlil Benson and Jaylon Moore were competing for the right tackle job, but neither made the decision feel settled as the preseason went on.
That was already a problem before Simmons missed so much time. Now the Chiefs may be forced to rely on both players anyway, even with Simmons, last year’s first-round pick, still sidelined.
With Mahomes just coming back from his own injury, the setup is hard to ignore as Kansas City prepares to face Denver’s elite defense.
In Other News...
Chiefs WR Problem Makes One Available Veteran A Risky Answer
The Giants roster cuts sent Darius Slayton onto the free-agent market, and his availability comes at a time when the Chiefs could use more certainty at wide receiver. Kansas City is leaning on a group of young, unproven pass catchers, so the idea of adding a veteran name naturally comes up, especially for a team trying to settle that part of the offense before the season gets away from it.
Slayton would bring experience, but he is not the kind of option that solves every roster wrinkle, since he does not contribute on special teams and would mainly be depth. For now, the Chiefs appear more likely to keep investing in their younger receivers and see what they have there, unless injuries force a different decision and make a veteran addition harder to pass up. [Read more 🡒]
Arrowhead Prices Are Starting A Chiefs Debate Fans Know Too Well
Chiefs fans getting a first look at 2026 home game ticket prices are already seeing the familiar Arrowhead balancing act: plenty of inventory, but not much in the way of bargain hunting once the most desirable dates come into focus. The cheapest seats remain up in the upper level, while the home opener against the Denver Broncos sits at the top of the board as the priciest option, a reminder that rivalries and season-opening buzz still carry a premium in Kansas City.
Other marquee matchups, including prime-time dates with the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots, also land in the conversation as the schedule takes shape. For now, the numbers are only a snapshot, since prices can shift with team performance and any scheduling changes, but they are already giving fans plenty to debate about how much the Arrowhead experience is going to cost this time around. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs O-Line Just Got A Disrespect Rating Fans Will Hate
ESPNs Mike Clay dropped his updated NFL offensive line rankings, and the Chiefs did not exactly come away respected. Kansas City landed 23rd overall, a slot that will surely irk fans who think the group has more talent than that number suggests, especially with a mix of young upside and proven interior stability. Clays individual grades also offered a snapshot of where national perception may be lagging behind what the Chiefs believe they have up front.
Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith were given stronger marks, which fits with the way the league views Kansas Citys interior anchor pieces, but the head-scratching part is lower down the list. Josh Simmons, Kingsley Suamataia and Jaylon Moore were all tagged with grades that feel light given their performance or ceiling, and that is where the real debate starts for a line still trying to establish its identity. For a team built around keeping the pocket clean, those evaluations will be remembered the next time the Chiefs front is tested. [Read more 🡒]