Monday Night Football Week 1: Broncos vs. Chiefs Prediction and Best Bets

Denver Broncos @ Kansas City Chiefs
Game Line: Chiefs -2.5
Total: 43.5

We wrap up NFL Week 1 with the first Monday Night Football game of the season between two divisional rivals in the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs. Denver is coming off a trip to the AFC Championship Game, while Kansas City is looking to bounce back after missing the playoffs for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era. Both QBs are also returning from serious injuries. Kickoff is set for 8:20 PM ET, with the game broadcast on ESPN.

When looking at this game as a whole, I think it’s clear that, top to bottom, the Broncos have the better team. KC is favored because of the home-field advantage, and I expect them to put in a respectable effort after the Broncos beat them twice a season ago.

The Chiefs have several changes to note, including bringing in Kenneth Walker to lead their RB room. They also have Eric Bieniemy back as OC in place of Matt Nagy. I view both of these as very positive changes.

The issue with the Chiefs offense for years has been a lack of explosion in the run game, which makes it too easy for defenses to sit back and make sure Mahomes doesn’t beat them deep. Walker will bring explosiveness both as a runner and receiver. We should also see the Chiefs follow the Week 1 trend of running more plays from under center. This was a league-wide trend we expected heading into the season, and it was up across the board in Week 1. That should set up more play action, especially with Walker in the backfield.

The potential for more deep shots has me interested in Xavier Worthy, who I’m expecting to have an increased role this season. I expect the Chiefs to move him around the formation quite a bit, and he could have the best game of his career thus far against the Broncos tonight.

Travis Kelce has the best matchup on paper among the Chiefs' pass catchers. Denver operated as a bit of a TE funnel defense a season ago. I also think that with starting LT Joshua Simmons out, we could see more dump-offs to Walker. Walker is going to be the centerpiece of this offense this season, in my opinion.

We have another anticipated debut on the Broncos' side of the ball, that being Jaylen Waddle. I think he and Courtland Sutton can complement each other well, and I’ll be watching the WR rotation behind those two carefully tonight.

JK Dobbins will lead this backfield while healthy, with RJ Harvey playing the main receiving role, similar to what we saw from him early last season. I think this sets up as a strong spot for Harvey, who can help counteract how aggressive Kansas City gets with the blitz.

Overall, most anticipate this to be a low-scoring game, which has been the case in pretty much every version of this matchup over the last three seasons. I really want to zig when everyone zags and anticipate some fireworks tonight.

Let’s just hope for a good game.

Touchdown Prediction: Xavier Worthy
Score Prediction: Chiefs 23, Broncos 20