Indianapolis Colts vs Kansas City Chiefs LIVE. Mahomes seeks to lead Chiefs to a 2-0 start

The Indianapolis Colts learned a valuable lesson while watching the Kansas City Chiefs open their NFL Week 1 schedule: this is not the same offense that dominated the league in previous years.

Patrick Mahomes looked fully recovered from the knee injury that ended his 2025 season, and Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo once again created problems with his aggressive blitz packages. But the biggest difference came in the backfield.

For the first time since Mahomes became the Chiefs starting quarterback , Kansas City appears to have a true No. 1 running back capable of carrying the offense and adding a new dimension to the Chiefs offense .

Kenneth Walker III made a statement in his Chiefs debut during NFL Week 1 , rushing for a career-high 173 yards and two touchdowns in Kansas City's 31-10 win over the Denver Broncos . His performance caught the attention of Indianapolis, especially after the Colts defense was unable to contain Derrick Henry , who rushed for 144 yards and three touchdowns in Baltimore's 41-23 victory.

"Week 1 was obviously a wake-up call," Colts head coach Shane Steichen said. "We have a lot of football ahead of us, but there are a lot of things we need to fix, and many of them are things we can correct."

Stopping the run will be Indianapolis' biggest challenge when facing the Chiefs vs Colts matchup . Baltimore controlled the tempo against the Colts with its rushing attack, and Kansas City used the same formula against Denver. Walker carried the ball seven times on the opening drive, which ended with a touchdown that immediately put the Broncos under pressure.

The emergence of Walker changes how the Indianapolis Colts must prepare for Kansas City. In previous seasons, the priority was limiting Patrick Mahomes and one of the NFL's most dangerous passing attacks. Last year, the two-time MVP threw for 352 yards against Indianapolis, leading the Chiefs back from a 20-9 halftime deficit for a 23-20 overtime victory.

"Everybody knows they want to establish the run game and take some pressure off Pat coming back from that injury," Colts cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt said. "Their run game is great right now. We have to stop that first, and then we can handle everything else."

Mahomes finished with only 184 passing yards against Denver, but he embraced the balanced attack that could make the Kansas City Chiefs offense even more dangerous in 2026.

"When you can run the ball like that, defenses have to adjust," Mahomes said. "We were able to show we're going to stay committed to the run, force them out of those coverages, and once they did that, the passing game opened up."

For Mahomes, the formula is simple: a championship offense needs balance.

"You have to be able to do both in order to have a successful offense," he said.

Indianapolis Colts (0-1) at Kansas City Chiefs (1-0)

When/where: Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC Odds: Chiefs by 6.5 points Last week: Colts lost to Ravens 41-23; Chiefs beat Broncos 31-10 Last meeting: Chiefs defeated Colts 23-20 in overtime on Nov. 23, 2025 Series record: Colts lead 18-11

Patrick Mahomes vs. the Colts pass defense

The Colts defense allowed Lamar Jackson to throw for 324 yards and a touchdown in Week 1. Communication issues in the secondary created openings for Baltimore, and Indianapolis will need to fix those mistakes against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs .

The Kansas City Chiefs defense held Denver to just 2-of-12 on third downs, recorded four sacks and forced two turnovers.

Rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane became the sixth player in Chiefs history to intercept a pass in his NFL debut.

Travis Kelce recorded three catches for 71 yards, moving into second place all-time among tight ends with 13,073 receiving yards.

Kelce has caught a pass in 192 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the NFL.

Andy Reid earned his 150th regular-season win with Kansas City and is now 16 victories away from tying George Halas for third place on the NFL's all-time coaching wins list.