Patrick Mahomes’s New Teammates Were the Real Story of His Return to the Field

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Everyone in the stadium groaned. Kenneth Walker III had the ball on fourth-and-1, but the line of scrimmage was dotted with white Broncos’ helmets, and there was nowhere to go.

In past years, Chiefs running backs would have either plowed forward for no gain or bounced the play wide for a loss, evidenced by their measly, lonely one explosive run in 2025.

Not Walker. Instead, the reigning Super Bowl MVP put his right foot in the ground, cut hard to the left and forced a missed tackle from corner Riley Moss. After one more futile, downfield effort by safety Brandon Jones, Walker romped for a 60-yard touchdown and a 21–7 lead with the delirious sold-out crowd at Arrowhead Stadium exploding.

“We ran that play a few times, and I knew [the Broncos] were going to crash in,” Walker said. “So when they crashed, I just bounced it out and was just one-on-one with the corner. I outran him, and it was off to the races from there.”

Patrick Mahomes’s return was supposed to be the story of this Monday Night Football clash with the Broncos. While Mahomes was shaky, albeit with three touchdowns, it was the newcomers led by Walker who stole the prime-time show. All told, Walker rushed for 173 yards and a touchdown and had three catches for 18 yards and another score on a two-yard trick play.

The Chiefs’ emphasis on the run game began in January when they rehired offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy away from the Bears. It continued when general manager Brett Veach signed Walker in the opening minutes of free agency to a three-year, $43.5 million contract. On Monday night, Kansas City ran the ball on eight of its 10 plays on the opening drive, with Mahomes capping the drive on a 15-yard touchdown run.

“We wanted to run that play a little closer in,” Mahomes said. “It was a play designed for Travis [Kelce], and I think he ended up popping right when I ran out of there. They dropped back and had a lot of attention on Travis and Rashee [Rice], and it just opened up perfectly down the middle of the field for me. When I took off running, I wanted to get it into a more manageable third down, but when you get to the goal line, you get it in there somehow. I was able to dive into the end zone and get the touchdown.”

While Walker was the main story, other newcomers made their presence known. Defensively, second-round rookie R Mason Thomas had a sack and two pressures. First-round corner Mansoor Delane intercepted Bo Nix on the game’s third play from scrimmage before leaving with a shoulder injury. Defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga made a tackle but, more importantly, played four offensive snaps, all of which resulted in a running first down, including Walker’s 60-yard epic run.

All of it led to a rebirth of belief in Kansas City, something that was shaken when the Chiefs went 6–11 last season, and Mahomes was lost in Week 15 with torn ligaments in his right knee.

On Monday night, in the bowels of Arrowhead Stadium, the joy of turning into the hunter was obvious. The smiles in the locker room were matched by laughter booming from stall to stall, including a smiling Mahomes in a white towel and white Adidas slides, checking his phone.

For so long, Kansas City has been the hunted. Now, the Chiefs are hunting for the first time in years.

“Feels good, right, to hunt?” Jones said. “Feels really good. Last year taught us a lot as an organization, as a team. To experience last season, I think we learned a lot about ourselves. It put us in a position where we’re so eager to get back to being successful. This hunting thing, I don’t think we ever stopped hunting, but it’s on such a deeper level now. I think everyone has bought in. Everyone is focused on doing their job and executing at a high level. And it’s fun. It’s so fun playing with these guys.”

Throughout the night, the game alternated between feeling like a fight between two rivals and a party. The crowd was enthralled but so were the players, from Mahomes and Kelce, to the last men on the roster, who celebrated big plays and great effort with the juice of a team looking to prove it’s not done and its dynasty isn’t dead yet.

Nothing exemplified that spirit more than Travis Kelce’s 59-yard catch-and-carry, breaking a tackle before carrying slot corner Jahdae Barron while Arrowhead erupted once more. Kelce, 36, led all pass catchers with 71 yards on the night while consistently exhorting his teammates on.

“He dusted it off,” Reid chuckled about Kelce’s effort. “Three [catches] for 71 yards. Pretty good for an old man.”

Then there’s Kahlil Benson, an undrafted free-agent tackle from Indiana who was thrust into duty when left tackle Josh Simmons was ruled out with a lower-back injury. Benson, who had never played on the left side in college, drew the unenviable task of dealing with Broncos’ Pro Bowl edge rusher Nik Bonitto on Mahomes’s blind side. Bonitto had only one solo tackle.

With Simmons’s status uncertain in the weeks ahead, Benson earned the right to start until Simmons returns, with Benson then sliding over to the right side. Of all the youthful contributors from Kansas City’s blowout win, Benson was certainly the most unlikely only a few months ago, coming in as a rookie camp tryout and ultimately winning a starting role.

“Throughout training camp, throughout my training, even coming up from high school to this point, it’s wherever you’ve got to fit in and wherever you’re going to play at, you’ve got to be ready to have your name called,” Benson said. “When that name is called, it’s time to go.”

Benson and the rest of the offensive line more than answered the call. Last year, the Broncos had a league-leading 68 sacks. On Monday, they registered two while notching only five quarterback hits. In the run game, Denver was mauled for 220 rushing yards on 5.8 yards per carry. For the Chiefs, that rushing total is the most they’ve had in a game since Week 6 of the 2020 season.

As the two-minute warning approached, Mahomes walked toward Kansas City’s sideline and raised his hands in the air. He wanted to hear the love. The fans responded in kind, roaring their approval for a team that certainly looks back after hammering a Broncos team that ranked second in yards and third in points allowed last season.

It was a party at Arrowhead. The Chiefs made their point, led for the first time in forever by a running back who can turn groans into roars.

Click here to read article