The Kansas City Chiefs are off to a hot start in the 2026 season.
The Chiefs are 2-0 after big prime-time wins over the Denver Broncos and Indianapolis Colts. It's a start that many would have doubted, considering Patrick Mahomes' return and recovery from a season-ending ACL injury, and that their first opponent, the Broncos, were one game away from the Super Bowl last season.
But it's also something that people shouldn't be surprised about, given that the Chiefs are less than two years removed from a Super Bowl appearance. This is a team that had been the AFC's dominant force for six years from 2019-2024, making five Super Bowl appearances during that time frame.
Someone who is not surprised about the Chiefs is Chase Daniel, who previously served
as a backup quarterback in Kansas City under head coach Andy Reid. Daniel -- who is now an analyst in his post-football career -- played under Reid from 2013-2015 during the head coach's first three seasons in Kansas City.
"Don't know why anyone ever wrote them off just because they had a bad year last year, everyone has a bad year," said Daniel in a one-on-one interview. "There's no way Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes was going to make it two (bad years). A couple takeaways from that (Broncos) game: One, Patrick Mahomes is healthy, didn't play great, but knee was healthy. Had two touchdown runs, one got called back, and the other one is that the Chiefs are an under-center-run-the-football team.
"It is unbelievable how much their sort of culture has changed, and this makes sense," added Daniel. "While Patrick Mahomes is understanding and coming off of obviously the knee injury, and then you go out and you get Kenneth Walker, 170-plus yards. They ran for 220 overall, and they were just smash-mouth football from the start. And I just I love it. It's completely different than what we've seen out of Andy Reid's offenses."
Week 2 saw a different type of offense from their Week 1 showing. Mahomes showed his trademark MVP form, passing for 382 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. The running game was still strong in complementary form, with Walker rushing for 117 yards.
The overtime win over the Colts made Mahomes 8-0 in his career in overtime. His 382 passing yards were the most he has thrown for in a single game since a Week 7 win over the Los Angeles Chargers during the 2023 season.
Daniel considers the Chiefs to be a top four or five team in the AFC this season.
"There's no doubt," said Daniel of the Chiefs being a top team in the AFC this season. "You look at the Texans, even though they lost. You look at the Chiefs. You look at the Bengals. If they can figure it out offensively, I thought their defense actually played really well. The Broncos are still going to be up there. It's so early, but I think definitely one of the top four or five teams for sure. I mean, the (Baltimore) Ravens look really good too, Bills also. I mean, (I) didn't even touch the Bills. The AFC is loaded."
With football season underway, Daniel is partnering with Cheez-It for their "Cheez-It Couch Committee" campaign. Cheez-It is hosting six lucky fans for their special shaped couch along with Daniel at his alma mater, the Missouri Tigers, for a tailgating experience in November.
Daniel is a Missouri great, having previously finished as Heisman Trophy runner-up and a Second-Team All-American during the 2007 season.
"Cheez-It has been showing up at bowl games in the college football playoff for almost a decade -- so they said, 'Hey, why not have a Cheez-It Couch Committee,'" said Daniel. "Listen, this is the greatest idea of all time. You know how you sit on the couch, you're watching TV, and everyone's being armchair quarterbacks left and right. 'Oh, this quarterback should have made this. Oh, that should have been that.' Well, guess what? I'm the lead analyst now of the College Football Cheez-It Couch Committee, and so when that happens, Cheez-It is getting a massive orange couch, a square couch, putting it in the middle of a tailgate, and one or two or multiple lucky fans are going to enter this contest.
"Hopefully, there's tons that enter the contest for a chance to be sitting with me talking ball because I want to hear your hot takes," Daniel continued. "I want to hear your debates. I want to hear what you think. Here's the thing: in today's society, we do so much of this over camera. Let's do it in person. It's really simple. Enter the contest. Go to Cheezit.com/couchcommittee. Pretty simple."
This article originally appeared on Chiefs Wire: Chase Daniel is high on Chiefs, ranks them near top of loaded AFC
