Good morning. How about the Kansas City Chiefs last night?
In Patrick Mahomes' speedy return from a significant knee injury, the Chiefs already look ready to reclaim their throne atop the AFC West. After the Denver Broncos
snapped Kansas City's streak of nine straight division titles last season, the Chiefs kicked in Denver's teeth for the world to see and proved they aren't quite done being a force.But something was different about the Chiefs. They got a makeover. Except they didn't change their hair or lose weight. No. The Chiefs brought back former offensive coordinator and running backs coach Eric Bieniemy, signed Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III, drafted Nebraska running back Emmett Johnson and put a clear and focused effort on becoming
a better running team. And it appeared to work -- to the delight of Taylor Swift.
The Chiefs are a running team now. I repeat: THE CHIEFS CAN RUN.
Kenneth Walker III generated +101 rushing yards over expected against the Broncos, the most by a Chiefs running back since at least 2018.
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) September 15, 2026
Walker also forced 14 missed tackles, the most by any Chiefs player in a game over that span.#DENvsKC | #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/8K4ldeYFlT
Or at least they were able to run on the Broncos last night. In his debut, Walker ran for 173 yards and a touchdown, averaging 7.5 yards per carry. It's the most yards by a Chiefs running back in the Mahomes era. As a team, KC went for 220 on the ground. Considering Denver was a top-two defense against the run last season, it seems sustainable.
That's a scary thought. Kansas City's success is usually centered around Mahomes' greatness and a really good defense. At its best, the run game was situationally good. During the Chiefs' run of seven-straight conference championship appearances from 2018-24, they never finished higher than 16th in rushing yards. Last year, they were 25th.
On Monday, the defense still appeared to be solid, and a rusty Mahomes showed glimpses of his old magic. But now you're telling me the Chiefs have a potentially great run game on top of that? Wow. The rest of the league better hope Mahomes doesn't return to form. If he does, this might be the toughest Chiefs team to stop in a long time.
NFL Week 2 power rankings
Kenneth Walker and that new rushing attack gave the Chiefs a huge boost in FTW's Week 2 power rankings. Kansas City jumped up from No. 15 going into the season to No. 3 this week. Christian D'Andrea explained why:
"Signing Kenneth Walker III carried some risk. The reigning Super Bowl MVP was largely a platoon back in Seattle. Could he handle a bellcow role behind Patrick Mahomes?
Yes. The answer is yes. From there, Steve Spagnuolo embarrassed Bo Nix and shoved the defending AFC West champs into a locker, making an early statement that, yes, 2025 was very much an outlier."
Check out the full rankings to see who came in at No. 2 behind the Seahawks, and where every other team landed.
Quick hits: Tony Romo update ... AI Arch ... and more
- CBS released its NFL announcing schedule for the next few weeks as Tony Romo's status remains in limbo.
- James Franklin had an extremely cringeworthy exchange with a reporter at a recent press conference.
- Arch Manning is being ripped for his reaction to an AI video of Steve Sarkisian slapping Holly Rowe.
- Fantasy football waiver wire candidates to add or drop as the season rolls into Week 2.
- Chris Olave had a powerful explanation for why he's wearing a Guardian Cap in games.
- Charles Curtis re-heated grades for the Clippers and Raptors with the Kawhi Leonard trade officially official.
This was For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: The Chiefs are back — but they aren't the same team we remember
