The Chiefs put a 31-10 beating on the Broncos on Monday Night Football, led by 191 total yards and two touchdowns from Kenneth Walker in his KC debut. One of those scores came from Patrick Mahomes, who finished with two passing TDs and a rushing TD despite throwing for only 184 yards.
It was a quiet night for fantasy scoring otherwise, with none of the pass catchers topping 14.3 PPR points (Evan Engram) or six targets (Pat Bryant, Xavier Worthy). Rashee Rice scored a TD, but he, Courtland Sutton and Jaylen Waddle surprisingly combined for only 32 receiving yards. Chiefs TE Travis Kelce had a 59-yard gain and RB Emmett Johnson added a 25-yard reception, but those were the only pass plays of 20-plus yards all night.
Below you'll find snap counts, route shares, market shares and more, along with any details that provided added context (like Walker being rested at the end of the game and ceding garbage-time touches to Emmett Johnson). A traditional box score only tells part of the story, so we're here to tell the rest.
Stats come from NFL Next Gen unless otherwise specified. Bold denotes strong/high numbers relative to the player's pre-2026 baseline. Italics and red lettering denote poor/low numbers relative to the player's pre-2026 baseline. Keep in mind that it's a one-game sample, so there's not necessarily a reaction or conclusion for each high/low number. In many cases it's just something to keep track of over the next few weeks, not anything that needs to be acted on immediately.
Broncos (10) at 
Chiefs (31)
Broncos Personnel: 11p - 62% | 12p - 15% | 13p - 6%
47 Plays (32nd/32) / 33 Dropbacks (70%) / +0.1% PROE (10th/32)
4.3 aDOT — 17-of-28 for 131 yards — 1 TD, 1 INT, 4 sacks, 1 scramble
| Snaps | Routes | Rushing | Receiving | Tgts | TgtSh | TPRR | aDOT | AY | AY Sh | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Bo Nix | 47 (100%) | 3-2-0 | ||||||||
| RB | RJ Harvey | 25 (53%) | 14 (42%) | 3-18-0 | 4-23-0 | 4 | 14.8% | 28.6% | -5.7 | -23 | -19.6% |
| RB | J.K. Dobbins | 19 (40%) | 5 (15%) | 8-36-0 | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | ||||
| RB | Jonah Coleman | 3 (6%) | |||||||||
| FB | Adam Prentice | 5 (11%) | 1 (3%) | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | |||||
| TE | Evan Engram | 30 (64%) | 19 (58%) | 4-43-1 | 5 | 18.5% | 26.3% | 6.4 | 31.8 | 27.2% | |
| TE | Adam Trautman | 17 (36%) | 8 (24%) | 2-10-0 | 3 | 11.1% | 37.5% | -0.5 | -1.5 | -1.2% | |
| TE | Nate Adkins | 13 (28%) | 4 (12%) | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% | |||||
| WR | Courtland Sutton | 36 (77%) | 26 (79%) | 2-11-0 | 5 | 18.5% | 19.2% | 8.9 | 44.3 | 37.9% | |
| WR | Jaylen Waddle | 34 (72%) | 27 (82%) | 1-2-0 | 3 | 11.1% | 11.1% | 4 | 12 | 10.2% | |
| WR | Pat Bryant | 27 (57%) | 19 (58%) | 4-42-0 | 6 | 22.2% | 31.6% | 3.9 | 23.2 | 19.8% | |
| WR | Troy Franklin | 16 (34%) | 9 (27%) | 1-5-0 | 0-0-0 | 1 | 3.7% | 11.1% | 30.3 | 30.3 | 25.9% |
| WR | Marvin Mims | 9 (19%) | 6 (18%) | 0 | 0.0% | 0.0% |
- The Broncos were awful on offense and couldn't stop KC's running game, so they finished with just 47 plays, the fewest of any team in Week 1. There are better days ahead for Denver's offense, though nobody feels good about Davis Webb's debut as the "full-time playcaller" (he's probably one bad week away from Sean Payton taking it back).
- If you didn't know, you'd never guess that the Chiefs lost their top two CBs this offseason. One of the guys who replaced them, first-round pick Mansoor Delane, intercepted a pass on the opening possession but then later left with a shoulder injury. The Broncos still couldn't get much of anything going, and they were forced to abandon the run down the stretch.
Backfield
- RB RJ Harvey played 56% of snaps in the first half and 50% in the second half, but he only took three carries, compared to eight for J.K. Dobbins, who finished without a target and ran just five routes.
- RB Jonah Coleman played three snaps without a touch. Without him involved, it looks like a classic runner/receiver backfield split between Dobbins and Harvey.
- This isn't a terrible sign for Coleman. The guys ahead of him aren't bad, and he was at least active for his NFL debut. Role growth is possible even without a Dobbins/Harvey injury. However, it's hard to see this backfield offering a ton of fantasy value unless it's really thinned out by injuries and one guy has to handle a lot of work. That's clearly not Payton's preference right now, especially when he has two (or three?) decent options with different skillsets.
Pass Catchers
- WRs Jaylen Waddle and Courtland Sutton were right around 80% route share but combined for just 13 yards on eight targets, while No. 3 receiver Pat Bryant (58% routes) caught four of six targets for 42 yards.
- It was ugly for Waddle and Sutton, but so was everything else for Denver's offense.
- Waddle had a bad third-down drop on the drive after Walker's long TD run.
- Sutton had a drop early in the game.
- Bryant dropped a pass and stalled a drive with a holding penalty.
- It was ugly for Waddle and Sutton, but so was everything else for Denver's offense.
- TE Evan Engram put up 4-43-1 on five targets, with strong snap/route shares (64%, 58%) relative to last year, including a 60% snap share in the first half (it wasn't just game script).
- It's hard to be optimistic after last year, but Engram might see 4-5 targets per game if he keeps getting this type of playing time. That'd make him a good endgame pick for best ball, though perhaps not much else.
Stock ⬆: Chiefs D
Stock ⬇: Denver Run D, Jaylen Waddle, Bo Nix
However bad you thought the Broncos' tackling was against the Chiefs, it was even worse
Denver's 248 missed tackle yards allowed were the most in a single game in @NextGenStats' database. Their 29.8% missed tackle percentage is the third worst single-game score since 2018 https://t.co/Kd0zQjfUFl
— Trevor Sikkema (@TampaBayTre) September 15, 2026
Chiefs Personnel: 11p - 49% | 12p - 30% | 13p - 7% | 6OL - 7%
67 Plays (7th/32) / 32 Dropbacks (48%) / -5.4% PROE (24th/32)
4.7 aDOT — 15-of-27 for 184 yards — 2 TDs, 1 INT, 2 sacks, 3 scrambles
| Snaps | Routes | Rushing | Receiving | Tgts | TgtSh | TPRR | aDOT | AY | AY Sh | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | Patrick Mahomes | 67 (100%) | 7-23-1 | ||||||||
| QB | Justin Fields | 1 (1%) | |||||||||
| RB | Kenneth Walker | 46 (69%) | 15 (47%) | 23-173-1 | 3-18-1 | 6 | 24.0% | 40.0% | -0.8 | -4.6 | -4.0% |
| RB | Emmett Johnson | 24 (36%) | 7 (22%) | 8-24-0 | 2-44-0 | 2 | 8.0% | 28.6% | -4.3 | -8.6 | -7.3% |
| FB | Ben VanSumeren | 3 (4%) | |||||||||
| TE | Travis Kelce | 47 (70%) | 25 (78%) | 3-71-0 | 5 | 20.0% | 20.0% | 5.8 | 29 | 24.8% | |
| TE | Noah Gray | 37 (55%) | 11 (34%) | 1-5-0 | 1 | 4.0% | 9.1% | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.0% | |
| TE | Jake Briningstool | 12 (18%) | 3 (9%) | 1-9-0 | 1 | 4.0% | 33.3% | 4.3 | 4.3 | 3.7% | |
| WR | Rashee Rice | 56 (84%) | 27 (84%) | 2-19-1 | 2 | 8.0% | 7.4% | 3 | 6.1 | 5.2% | |
| WR | Xavier Worthy | 52 (78%) | 28 (88%) | 3-18-0 | 6 | 24.0% | 21.4% | 7.9 | 47.7 | 40.7% | |
| WR | Tyquan Thornton | 45 (67%) | 22 (69%) | 0-0-0 | 1 | 4.0% | 4.5% | 32.4 | 32.4 | 27.7% | |
| WR | Cyrus Allen | 1 (1%) | 1 (3%) | 0-0-0 | 1 | 4.0% | 100.0% | 6.2 | 6.2 | 5.3% |
- QB Patrick Mahomes looked healthy, but the Chiefs leaned into Walker and finished Week 1 ranked just 24th in PROE (-5.4%). Not a huge surprise there, nor will it be a surprise when that number moves up throughout the season (no disrespect to Walker, but it won't be this easy most weeks).
Backfield
- RB Kenneth Walker got fed from the jump and was picking up chunks early on, also converting a pair of 3rd-and-1s on the ground and a 3rd-and-10 through the air. He then broke off a 60-yard TD run to convert a 4th-and-1 early in the fourth quarter, and then added a short TD reception on a shovel pass later on.
- Walker's KC debut couldn't have gone better, and his workload shares were even stronger than what you see above before the Chiefs went up three scores and shut the door.
- Walker had a lot of room to run, but he also created a ton of extra yards with broken tackles and clever cuts.
- RB Emmett Johnson got most of his work in garbage time, but he did take a short pass for a 25-yard gain early in the fourth quarter, breaking two tackles along the way to set KC up for the clinching score.
- Johnson wasn't going to have standalone value anyway, so Monday is good news for his fantasy value on two fronts. First, Walker's massive usage increases the chances of an injury absence at some point this season. Second, Johnson's strong play increases the chances he'd take advantage if that were to happen. There are other ways it can play out of course, but Johnson belongs at/near the top of any handcuff rankings after Week 1.
Kenneth Walker played 77% of snaps before the final three drives.
At the time of Walker's final touch, Emmett Johnson had taken just 3 carries and 1 target (compared to 23 + 6 for Walker).
85% opportunity share before Johnson took over for the final drive and a half.
— Jerry Donabedian (@Lurn2Reed) September 15, 2026
Pass Catchers
- WRs Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy both cleared 80% route share, but they combined for just 37 yards. Rice did score a TD.
- Tyquan Thornton was the No. 3 receiver and played 67% of snaps, but he saw just one incomplete deep target on 22 routes.
- TE Travis Kelce had similar playing time shares to last year with a 70% snap share and 78% route share. He was having a quiet night until a 59-yard catch-and-run midway through the third quarter moved him into second on the all-time TE receiving list.
- Cyrus Allen Watch: one snap, one incomplete target. Not a great sign that Thornton/Rice/Worthy were always the grouping in 11 personnel.
- Jalen Royals didn't play on offense but did manage a key penalty on special teams.
Stock ⬆: RBs Kenneth Walker, Emmett Johnson
Stock ⬇: WRs Cyrus Allen, Jalen Royals
Injuries 🚑: CB Mansoor Delane (shoulder)
