Patrick Mahomes returned from knee surgery wearing a brace and the weight of a long offseason. The Monday night spotlight was supposed to stay on him. Kenneth Walker III took it instead.
In his first game in a Chiefs uniform, Walker ran for 173 yards on 23 carries, ripped off a 60-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1, and added a 2-yard receiving score. Kansas City beat Denver 31-10 at Arrowhead, piled up 392 total yards to the Broncos’ 176, and scored more than three times as many points. The last NFL player to put together that combination — 150-plus rushing yards, a 60-yard rushing touchdown, a receiving touchdown, more total net yards than the other team, and more points than the other team — was Bo Jackson on Nov. 30, 1987.
That is the company Walker joined on opening night.
The Chiefs had not won a game of any kind in 295 days. They had not looked like this in longer. Andy Reid opened with a run-heavy script, handing the ball to Walker on the first four snaps and seven of the first nine. Mahomes finished the opening drive himself, scoring from 15 yards out for a 7-0 lead. Bo Nix answered with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Evan Engram. Then Kansas City took the game away.
Rashee Rice, also coming off a knee injury, bounced off two tacklers and scored from 13 yards out late in the second quarter to make it 14-7. Walker already had 89 rushing yards at the half. Early in the third, Reid faced fourth-and-1 from his own 40. He kept the offense on the field, loaded the line, and handed it to Walker. The back hit a wall, bounced left, outran Riley Moss and Brandon Jones, and went 60 yards to the house. Arrowhead shook. The lead was 21-7. The Broncos never recovered.
Harrison Butker added a 28-yard field goal after Travis Kelce’s 59-yard catch-and-run. That play did more than set up three points. Kelce entered the night with 13,002 career receiving yards, 44 shy of Jason Witten. The 59-yard gain — his longest reception since 2021 — pushed him past Witten and into second place all-time among tight ends. He finished with three catches for 71 yards and now sits at 13,073, trailing only Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez (15,127). Two Chiefs legends occupy the top two spots on the list.
Walker capped it early in the fourth on a shovel pass from Mahomes, walking into the end zone from 2 yards out to make it 31-10. Denver managed a field goal and little else. Nix finished 17-of-28 for 131 yards, one touchdown, one interception, and four sacks. The Broncos totaled 61 rushing yards and nine first downs.
Mahomes was efficient enough: 15-of-27 for 184 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, and the rushing score. The brace on his left knee did not appear to limit him. The new secondary of Nohl Williams and Mansoor Delane held up. The pass rush arrived. The running game, missing for most of last season, arrived with Walker.
Walker averaged 7.5 yards per carry. He forced missed tackles after contact the way he did in Seattle. He gave Reid a three-down back who can finish drives and break them open. His 173 rushing yards were the most by a Chief since Jamaal Charles in 2012 and a career high. Combined with 18 receiving yards, he outgained Denver by himself.
The Chiefs will host the Colts on Sunday night. Walker has already reset the standard for what this offense can look like when the run game works. Bo Jackson last did this in 1987. On a September Monday in Kansas City, Walker did it in red — and Kelce quietly climbed another rung on the all-time list.
