How about a little extra motivation going into the first game of the season? Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton once again reached into his bag of tricks to try and get his team ready for their Week 1 matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs.
For the first time in the rivalry's history, the Broncos will open their season at Arrowhead, with both teams looking to bounce back after losing their starting quarterbacks late in their 2025 campaigns.
To get Denver ready for the primetime atmosphere and raucous environment, Payton began practice with ESPN's Monday Night Football theme, and, in an interesting move, painted the Kansas City logo on the 50-yard line of the Broncos' practice field (something he's done with opponents' logos in the past).
You can
see Payton's preparation below.
The Broncos started stretch with the MNF theme blaring!
— Darren McKee (@DMacSportsCO) September 7, 2026
KC logo is now on the 50!
Sean talked a lot about crowd noise this morning
Taylor Rapp back. Back up long snapper Basso gone
Mims was there
Loehner and Gargiulo present@AltitudeSR pic.twitter.com/tOK6XQc6cx
Chiefs logo on the Broncos field 👀
— Zac Stevens (@ZacStevens) September 7, 2026
It’s game week‼️
📸@RyanGreeneDNVR pic.twitter.com/wiuVtz7qcR
The Broncos have won three out of the past four games against Andy Reid and the Chiefs, who are coming off missing the playoffs in 2025. Payton was asked during a conference call before Monday’s practice about turning things around in the AFC West.
"There’s a sense of urgency when you get somewhere new," Payton said. "We have a ton of respect obviously for Andy [Reid], his staff and what they’ve accomplished, that team. So our task or our goal was really get to work and find the right 53 guys each season and work on the details of the game. So it’ll be a big challenge, especially with the crowd noise in Kansas City this year.”
The details absolutely matter — even if it's painting the opponents' logo on your own field.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Why Sean Payton put Chiefs’ logo on Broncos’ practice field
