Denver Broncos
Kansas City ChiefsSix weeks into the season, the AFC West has flipped back to the way it looked for most of the last decade. Kansas City is the AFC's last unbeaten team at 5-0, and Denver, last year's division champion, is 4-2 with an offense that has spent October being carried by its defense. Broncos vs Chiefs at Empower Field at Mile High on November 1 is Denver's first real chance to answer the 31-10 beating it took in Week 1.
It kicks off at 4:25 p.m. ET (2:25 p.m. in Denver, 9:25 p.m. in the UK) on CBS.
| Denver Broncos | Kansas City Chiefs | |
|---|---|---|
| Record through Week 6 | 4-2 | 5-0 |
| Points scored / allowed | 114 / 125 | 140 / 83 |
| Head coach | Sean Payton | Andy Reid |
| Coordinators | Davis Webb (O), Vance Joseph (D) | Eric Bieniemy (O), Steve Spagnuolo (D) |
| Week 7 | at Arizona | at Seattle |
That points line tells you a lot. Denver has won four of six while being outscored by 11. Kansas City has given up 83 points in five games.
What happened in September
The opener on September 14 was Patrick Mahomes' first game back from the torn ACL he suffered in Week 15 of 2025, and he played it in a knee brace. He was rusty: 15-of-27 for 184 yards, two touchdown passes and an interception. It didn't matter. Rookie corner Mansoor Delane picked off Bo Nix on the third snap of the game, Mahomes scrambled 15 yards for the opening touchdown, and Kenneth Walker III ran for a career-high 173 yards in his Chiefs debut, including a 60-yard touchdown. He caught a scoring pass as well.
Denver finished that night with 176 yards of offense, despite the spring trade that sent the 30th, 94th and 130th picks to Miami for Jaylen Waddle. Nix threw for 131 yards, an interception and a lost fumble. "As a whole offense, a whole team, we just didn't play really good," he said.
It was also Kansas City's first win over Denver since 2024, which says plenty about how last season went for the Chiefs (6-11, no playoffs) and how it went for the Broncos (14-3, AFC West title, then a 33-30 overtime playoff win in Buffalo that cost Nix a broken right ankle).
Walker against the Denver front
This is the matchup I'd watch first. Walker is the biggest change in Kansas City's offense, and Mahomes has said he ran too much himself last season and wants to lean on him. Against the Chargers on October 18 Walker scored twice again, once on a 33-yard run, while Mahomes went 23-of-30 for 272 yards without a touchdown pass.
Denver's defense is the reason the Broncos are 4-2. Against Seattle on October 15 it sacked Sam Darnold five times, hit him 17 times and picked him off twice, the second one by Ja'Quan McMillian in overtime to set up Wil Lutz's 53-yard winner. It also stayed on the field for 82 snaps. If Walker gets the Broncos chasing him again, that workload catches up with them in the fourth quarter.
Bo Nix against Spagnuolo
Here's the uncomfortable part for Denver. In that Seattle game Nix went 17-of-27 for 107 yards, and the offense managed 168 yards in total, against the defending champions, at home, in a game the Broncos won. Davis Webb took over as coordinator after Joe Lombardi was fired, and the passing game still hasn't found a rhythm. Nix has also struggled with turnovers.
Steve Spagnuolo's unit is playing like one of the best in the league. Kansas City held the Chargers to 259 yards and six points and recorded four sacks, its first since the opener. Delane, the No. 6 overall pick, already has the Nix interception on his record, and L'Jarius Sneed and Alohi Gilman have joined a secondary that lost Trent McDuffie to the Rams.
Waddle and Sutton against a rebuilt secondary
Denver paid a first-round pick for Waddle so that this exact game would look different. He and Courtland Sutton give Nix two receivers who can win on the outside, with Evan Engram underneath. The Broncos need some of those throws to be downfield, because a short, patient passing game against Spagnuolo tends to end in third-and-long.
The other side of this battle is about Patrick Surtain II. The Broncos' best corner has been sidelined by an ankle problem. Talanoa Hufanga has an ankle issue of his own. If Surtain is back, Denver can follow Rashee Rice or Xavier Worthy with him and play more aggressively elsewhere. If not, Mahomes has a softer target than he's used to seeing in Denver.
Reid, Payton and the long game
Reid is in his 14th season in Kansas City and is now the longest-tenured active head coach with one team. Bieniemy is back as his offensive coordinator, now with Walker to build around. Payton has gone the other way: he's built a defense-first team and is still waiting for his young quarterback to take the next step.
Neither coach will treat this as a must-win in early November. Payton probably does, privately. A loss would leave Denver chasing Kansas City in the division, with a road trip to Carolina next.
Broncos vs Chiefs: who wins
Some of the names you'll see. Kansas City: Mahomes, Walker, Travis Kelce, Rice, Worthy, Chris Jones, Nick Bolton, Delane. Denver: Nix, J.K. Dobbins, Waddle, Sutton, Engram, Nik Bonitto, Hufanga and, if the ankle allows, Surtain.
I think this one is closer than September. Mile High is a tougher place to play, Denver's defense is better than it showed in the opener, and the Broncos have been finding ways to win ugly. But I can't pick an offense that has topped 23 points once all season to beat a team allowing 16.6 a game. Chiefs by four, with Walker the difference again.
How to watch Broncos vs Chiefs
CBS has the national late window, and the game streams on Paramount+ in the US. The Broncos' own AFC West schedule notes list it at 2:25 p.m. MT. US clocks go back that morning, so double-check the time if you're watching from Europe.
DAMITV will have the game free in HD with no signup on our NFL streams page, and Kansas City fans can go straight to the Chiefs live stream. For commentary in Spanish, try NFL en vivo. If you're staying up, the Commanders vs Eagles preview covers the Sunday night game that follows.
