- May 21, 2026
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One of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes's greatest gifts on the football field has been his ability to make plays with his feet when things break down and whether he'd be able to do that after last season's torn ACL was one of the biggest questions around his return to action on Monday night.
It didn't take long for Mahomes to show that he still has that part of his game. On the 10th play of Kansas City's opening drive, Mahomes took off for a five-yard touchdown run only to see the play get called back for a holding penalty. Mahomes repeated the feat from 15 yards out on the next play and the Chiefs were on their way to a resounding 31-10 win over the Broncos.
In his postgame press conference, Mahomes said that "gave me that confidence that I can go out there and be myself."
“Physically, I think that’s the moment," Mahomes said. "I want to get some of these passes down the field a little bit more — I think that’ll help me out mentally and kinda get back in the rhythm of things. That was definitely the moment, physically, to say all this work has paid off. I didn't feel anything. It’s still a process, I got to still keep getting better and better, but this is obviously a great first week."
Mahomes ran seven times for 23 yards overall and was 15-of-27 for 184 yards, two touchdowns and an interception through the air. Those numbers don't jump off the page the way some of his past performances do, but context matters and the context of Monday night made it everything that the Chiefs could have hoped to see from their quarterback.
It didn't take long for Mahomes to show that he still has that part of his game. On the 10th play of Kansas City's opening drive, Mahomes took off for a five-yard touchdown run only to see the play get called back for a holding penalty. Mahomes repeated the feat from 15 yards out on the next play and the Chiefs were on their way to a resounding 31-10 win over the Broncos.
In his postgame press conference, Mahomes said that "gave me that confidence that I can go out there and be myself."
“Physically, I think that’s the moment," Mahomes said. "I want to get some of these passes down the field a little bit more — I think that’ll help me out mentally and kinda get back in the rhythm of things. That was definitely the moment, physically, to say all this work has paid off. I didn't feel anything. It’s still a process, I got to still keep getting better and better, but this is obviously a great first week."
Mahomes ran seven times for 23 yards overall and was 15-of-27 for 184 yards, two touchdowns and an interception through the air. Those numbers don't jump off the page the way some of his past performances do, but context matters and the context of Monday night made it everything that the Chiefs could have hoped to see from their quarterback.