Patrick Mahomes could have done an Arne Slot and Liverpool but showed he is true champion, says Neil Reynolds. | NFL News

With just one week of the 2026 NFL season in the books, it’s hard to definitively say if one team is this or if one team is that, but the Kansas City Chiefs certainly sent out a few reminders as to why they have played in five of the last seven Super Bowls.

Their 31-10 victory over the Denver Broncos was not only emphatic, it was encouraging on many levels. First of all, let’s start with Patrick Mahomes.

This team is led by an absolute maniac at the quarterback position, and I mean that in a good way. Mahomes has a lot of Tom Brady in him, in that he’s always on to the next thing. He’s always attacking the next challenge.

If I think back to Tom Brady winning his seventh and final Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, I’m not really thinking about him standing under the confetti for the final time in his career. I’m thinking about the story that the next day he was on the phone to the Buccaneers trying to arrange his offseason workouts. He was already on to the next challenge.

That’s what it takes to be a champion in the NFL, and not all sportsmen and sports leaders are like that. Take Liverpool two seasons ago when they won the Premier League. Arne Slot was in Ibiza partying and DJing, and the players were on yachts. How did that all turn out?

Mahomes is so driven and immediately opted for surgery after tearing his knee ligaments in mid-December. Then head coach Andy Reid told me in the summer, there was no offseason of holidays and time away from the facility. Mahomes was in the Chiefs facility for seven hours a day all through the offseason.

That’s dedication. That’s what it takes to get to the highest level of this game. The Chiefs were careful with Mahomes, getting the ball out quickly so he didn’t take too many hits.

His average time to throw was 2.27 seconds. He didn’t have a single drop back over four seconds, but he’s also going to be putting his body on the line. He’s the ultimate competitor.

On his touchdown run in the first half, he signalled to the NFL as he flexed his bicep in the end zone that he is back and ready to be as good as he’s ever been. In fact, I won’t use the word good with Patrick Mahomes, as great as he’s ever been. When you look at how Mahomes was protected and operating, that leads to Andy Reid.

What a genius the Chiefs have as their leader and play caller. Getting the ball out of his quarterback’s hands quickly, into the hands of the playmakers, and the short touchdown pass to Kenneth Walker in the second half was a thing of beauty. I don’t think the Broncos knew who had the ball, who was running in which direction.

There were bodies flying everywhere. It looked like one of the battle scenes from a Star Wars movie. Kenneth Walker is a great addition to this team and they’re going to lean heavily on him, so Mahomes doesn’t have to do it all.

That’s important because we look at Kansas City’s wide receivers and do they have a standout one? Maybe not. Do they need one? Possibly not. Walker rushed for 173 yards and he finished with 191 yards from scrimmage.

The Chiefs also made plays on defense, showing that they are not going away on that side of the ball. Steve Spagnuolo lost some players on that side of football this season, but they always seem to scheme up advantages for their defenders. They’re well led by Spagnuolo, they’re physical and they make very few mistakes.

They held Denver to 176 total yards. That was their fewest since 2021. So lots of positives for the Chiefs.

It was great to see Mahomes back on the field on Monday night because the NFL is better when its biggest stars are in the midst of the action. But a warning for Denver moving forward and lots of work to do. I just mentioned the offensive failures, but the defense was atrocious.

They missed 28 tackles and there were 247 extra yards following those missed stops. That’s the most for any defense in 2018. You know that is going to drive Sean Payton absolutely bonkers because he is a coach who preaches blocking, tackling and the fundamentals of football.

But this night belonged to the Chiefs and most of all it belonged to their maniac quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

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