It’s time for the Arrowhead Pride staff to put their opinions to the test. Before the Kansas City Chiefs travel to face the Denver Broncos — in their second meeting of the year — our writers predicted the final score and result.
The 5-2 Broncos have rebounded since being dominated by the Chiefs to open the season. FanDuel Sportsbook currently lists the Chiefs as 1.5-point road favorites.
Denver’s quarterback play under Bo Nix has been a hotly debated topic in 2026, and their defense has not always
lived up to the standard set in recent years. But the Broncos are coming off of their best overall performance of the year — a 30-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
We also want to know your score prediction! Vote in the poll on The Feed and share your score prediction!
Jared Sapp (@TrumanChief)
One of the Chiefs’ biggest priorities should be finding a way to lessen Kenneth Walker’s workload. This is not the week for that. Denver is playing better, but the middle of the defense can still be attacked and will be the Chiefs’ best path to win.
This is a week where we can overreact to Week 7 and how inept the Chiefs looked against the league’s best defense while Denver was comfortably beating the Arizona Cardinals.
The strengths and weaknesses both teams have shown through the first half of the season are still there. I expect a much closer result than Week 1, but I think the Chiefs can still play smart football and ride a run heavy approach to a close victory.
Chiefs 20, Broncos 16
Caleb James (@CJScoobs)
This matchup will be critical for the outcome of the AFC West, as well as for playoff seeding. Bo Nix is coming off of maybe his best offensive performance of the season while Mahomes is coming off of his worse.
That said, Nix has still struggled to create consistency this year, and the Chiefs defense has already gotten the better of him once.
I expect the Chiefs to come out with a better offensive plan — but the line must be able to protect for Patrick Mahomes. In the end, it will be interesting to see how much the Chiefs use of Kenneth Walker and the play action passing game affects the Denver defense this week.
Chiefs 24, Broncos 17
Mark Gunnels (@MarkAGunnels)
The Chiefs dominated the Broncos in Week 1, and while I expect Denver to put up a better fight at home, I still don’t trust their ability to stop the run. Kenneth Walker should bounce back after a disappointing performance in Seattle, and if Rashee Rice returns, Patrick Mahomes gets one of his favorite weapons back. On the other side, I just don’t trust Bo Nix and that Broncos offense to consistently sustain drives against Kansas City. Give me the Chiefs to take care of business and put a stranglehold on the AFC West.
Chiefs 20, Broncos 17
Maurice Elston (@MrMauriceElston)
This is a chance for the Chiefs to take a firm grip on the AFC West. A win over Denver would give Kansas City a season sweep and valuable separation from its biggest division challenger. But I don’t expect another convincing win like the season opener. Bo Nix and the Broncos’ offense have found more rhythm, and while I’m not sold on him as a dominant quarterback, he has shown he can make timely plays. Patrick Surtain’s potential return would strengthen Denver’s defense, although Jaylon Waddle’s uncertain availability could leave its receiving corps shorthanded.
The Chiefs got punched in the face in Seattle, but I trust their veteran leadership and coaching staff to respond. That starts with getting Kenneth Walker III going and giving Patrick Mahomes better protection. Jaylon Moore’s potential return and the possibility of getting Rice back would help, while I’d like to see more downfield opportunities for the younger receivers. Defensively, I’m looking for more Chris Roland-Wallace in the slot and fewer snaps there for L’Jarius Sneed. Ultimately, I expect Walker to lead the way, Mahomes to bounce back and Kansas City to regain control after its first loss.
Chiefs 27, Broncos 17
Matt Stagner (@stagdsp)
What has really changed since the Chiefs beat the Broncos 31-10 in Week one? The Chiefs followed that win with 4 others vs AFC opponents. They ran into a buzz saw in Seattle for sure — once again exposing the limits of the Chiefs OL and WR depth. Some help seems to be on the way, whether that impacts this weekend’s game or not, we’ll see. Butthis IS still the same Chiefs team from the first 5 weeks. They’ll be able to run the ball again and Mahomes will bounce back with a vengeance. They may not put up 30 points against a good Denver defense, but I’d bet on competence.
Chiefs 24, Broncos 17
Dakota Watson (@D_Watson56)
A lot is on the line in this one. I don’t see the Chiefs laying an egg like they did last week. But they won’t dominate Denver like they did Week 1 either.
Rashee Rice’s likely return will help the offense. I also don’t see the Broncos completely shutting down Walker and the Chiefs’ running game. The defense will play better, although I think our pass rush will remain a major issue against the Broncos’ offensive line. This one will be a close divisional battle, and I think it comes down to the wire.
Chiefs 20, Broncos 17
Rocky Magana (@RockyMagana)
As good as Denver’s defense is, their secondary is not as good as the Seattle Seahawks’. Neither is their run defense. And the biggest fact of all, they don’t have the best wide receiver in the universe as Seattle does.
I expect Kenneth Walker to continue to be the best running back in the NFL, and I expect the Chiefs to make Bo Nix look as bad or worse than he has all season. Last week wasn’t a sign that the NFL has figured out the Chiefs. It was never hard to figure out Kansas City’s offense. Stop the run and the Chiefs are in trouble. But that’s easier said than done. And I don’t think Denver can do it.
Chiefs 19, Broncos 10
Nate Christensen
This game has massive stakes for divisional seeding purposes, but also for the direction of both teams the rest of the year. Denver is trying to prove that Week 1 was a fluke and that their offense is good enough to beat the best teams in the NFL. Kansas City is trying to prove that they can move the ball against a very stingy Broncos defense again, particularly one that will be much more keyed on stopping Kenneth Walker.
Unfortunately for the Chiefs, I worry about that. The Chiefs passing offense has looked bad against both Denver and Seattle, which feature top-5 passing defenses. I expect that to continue, and I think Denver does a better job stopping the run to close this game out.
I expect the Chiefs defense to keep this close and potentially carry them to a win, but I think Denver splits the series at home.
Broncos 17, Chiefs 13
Ron Kopp Jr. (@RonOnChiefs)
The Seattle loss felt like it was coming from miles away, and this always felt like the real measuring-stick game for the Chiefs through the first half of the season. In Denver, where they lost 22-19 last year and essentially handed the division over to the Broncos.
This Sunday, Kansas City can take the reins of the AFC West back, and I see them rising to the occasion.
The Broncos’ run defense is the weakness of a strong unit, and I see running back Kenneth Walker bouncing back in a huge way against the team he ran for more than 170 rushing yards against in Week 1. The offense gets back on track this week, especially with right tackle Jaylon Moore back in the lineup.
Chiefs 27, Broncos 24
2026 Standings
The AP panel was split in Week 7, although no one expected the Chiefs to perform so badly. Mark Gunnels (23-20), Dakota Watson (28-24), Nate Christensen (17-13) and Ron Kopp (24-17) did correctly predict a Seahawks victory. Ron and Mark are now the only panelists to correctly predict all six winners in 2026. Ron takes over first place based on error percentage. Nate’s Week 7 prediction led the way with only 26 points of error, and he takes over as the most accurate of our six 5-1 staff members.
Only 1.6% of our readers correctly predicted a comfortable Seahawks victory. Most respondents (66%) anticipated a close Chiefs’ win.
*To calculate a prediction’s points of error, the differences between the prediction and the actual score in point spread, home team score, and away team score are added together. For example, a prediction calls for a 17-10 Chiefs win. They end up winning 16-10, so there were two points of error: the point spread was off by one point, the Kansas City score missed by one point, and the opponent’s score was predicted correctly. But if the Chiefs lose the game 17-10, there were 28 points of error in the prediction: the point spread was off by 14 (the difference between +7 and -7), and both scores were off by 7.
