It’s time for the Arrowhead Pride staff to put their opinions to the test. Before the Kansas City Chiefs traveled to face the Denver Broncos – in their second meeting of the year – our editors predicted the final score and outcome.
The 5-2 Broncos have rebounded since being dominated by the Chiefs to open the season. FanDuel Sports Betting currently lists the Chiefs as 1.5-point road favorites.
Denver’s quarterback play under Bo Nix has been a hotly debated topic in 2026, and their defense hasn’t always lived up to the standards set in recent years. But the Broncos are coming off their best overall performance of the year – a 30-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.
Prediction Poll: Who wins…the Chiefs or the Broncos?
It’s time to make your predictions for Sunday’s match. In Week 7, only 1.6% of the AP community correctly predicted a comfortable Seahawks win over Kansas City.
Closing in 3 days • 302 votes in total
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One of the Chiefs’ biggest priorities should be finding a way to reduce Kenneth Walker’s workload. This isn’t the week for that. Denver is playing better, but the middle of the defense can still be attacked and will be the best way for the Chiefs to win.
This is a week where we can overreact to Week 7 and how inept the Chiefs were against the league’s best defense as Denver comfortably beat the Arizona Cardinals.
The strengths and weaknesses that both teams showed in the first half of the season are still there. I expect a much closer result than Week 1, but I think the Chiefs can still play smart football and take a heavy-handed approach toward a close win.
This game will be crucial to the outcome of the AFC West, as well as playoff seeding. Bo Nix just had perhaps his best offensive performance of the season while Mahomes just had his worst.
That said, Nix is still struggling to create consistency this year, and the Chiefs defense has already taken over once.
I expect the Chiefs to come up with a better offensive plan – but the line needs to be able to protect Patrick Mahomes. Ultimately, it will be interesting to see how much the Chiefs’ use of Kenneth Walker and play-action passing game affects Denver’s defense this week.
The Chiefs dominated the Broncos in Week 1, and while I expect Denver to compete better at home, I still don’t trust their ability to stop the run. Kenneth Walker should bounce back after a disappointing performance in Seattle, and if Rashee Rice returns, Patrick Mahomes gets one of his favorite weapons back. On the other hand, I just don’t trust Bo Nix and the Broncos offense to consistently sustain offenses against Kansas City. Give me the Chiefs to take care of business and get their hands on the AFC West.
This is an opportunity for the Chiefs to take firm control of the AFC West. A win against Denver would give Kansas City a season sweep and valuable separation from its biggest division challenger. But I don’t expect another convincing victory like in the season opener. Bo Nix and the Broncos offense have found more rhythm, and while I’m not sold on him as a dominant quarterback, he has shown he can make plays at the right time. The potential return of Patrick Surtain would bolster Denver’s defense, although Jaylon Waddle’s uncertain availability could leave its receiving corps shorthanded.
The Chiefs took a punch in the face in Seattle, but I trust their veteran leadership and coaching staff to respond. It starts with starting Kenneth Walker III and giving Patrick Mahomes better protection. The potential return of Jaylon Moore and the possibility of getting Rice back would help, while I would like to see more opportunities on the field for young receivers. Defensively, I’m looking for more Chris Roland-Wallace in the slot and fewer snaps for L’Jarius Sneed. Ultimately, I expect Walker to lead the way, Mahomes to bounce back, and Kansas City to regain control after its first loss.
What has really changed since the Chiefs beat the Broncos 31-10 in Week 1? The Chiefs followed that win with 4 more against AFC opponents. They certainly ran into a buzzsaw in Seattle – once again exposing the limitations of the Chiefs OL and WR depth. Some help appears to be on the way, whether or not that impacts this weekend’s game we’ll see. But it’s still the same Chiefs team from the first 5 weeks. They will be able to run the ball again and Mahomes will rebound with a vengeance. They might not score 30 points against a good Denver defense, but I’d bet on skill.
A lot is at stake in this one. I don’t see the Chiefs laying an egg like they did last week. But they also won’t dominate Denver like they did in week one.
The likely return of Rashee Rice will help the offense. I also don’t see the Broncos completely shutting down Walker and the Chiefs running game. The defense will play better, although I think our pass rush will remain a major problem against the Broncos offensive line. This one will be a close divisional battle, and I think it will come down to the wire.
As good as Denver’s defense is, their secondary is not as good as the Seattle Seahawks. Neither does their run defense. And the biggest fact is that they don’t have the best wide receiver in the universe like Seattle.
I expect Kenneth Walker to continue to be the best running back in the NFL, and I expect the Chiefs to make Bo Nix look as bad, if not worse, than he has all season. Last week was not a sign that the NFL had the Chiefs figured out. It’s never been difficult to understand Kansas City’s offense. Stop the run and the Chiefs are in trouble. But it’s easier said than done. And I don’t think Denver can do it.
This match has huge stakes for the division standings, but also for the direction of both teams for the rest of the year. Denver is trying to prove that Week 1 was a fluke and that its offense is good enough to beat the best teams in the NFL. Kansas City is trying to prove it can move the ball again against a very stingy Broncos defense, especially one that will be much more focused on stopping Kenneth Walker.
Unfortunately for the Chiefs, this worries me. The Chiefs passing attack has looked bad against Denver and Seattle, who are top 5 pass defenses. I expect this to continue, and I think Denver does a better job stopping the run to close this game.
I expect the Chiefs defense to stay this tight and potentially lead them to a win, but I think Denver splits the series at home.
Seattle’s loss seemed to come from afar, and that always seemed to be the real measuring stick for the Chiefs throughout the first half of the season. In Denver, where they lost 22-19 last year and essentially ceded the division to the Broncos.
This Sunday, Kansas City can take back the reins of the AFC West, and I see them up to the task.
The Broncos’ run defense is the weakness of a strong unit, and I see running back Kenneth Walker rebounding tremendously against the team he ran for over 170 yards rushing against in Week 1. The offense is getting back on track this week, especially with right tackle Jaylon Moore returning to the lineup.
The AP panel was split in Week 7, although no one expected the Chiefs to perform this poorly. Mark Gunnels (23-20), Dakota Watson (28-24), Nate Christensen (17-13) and Ron Kopp (24-17) correctly predicted a Seahawks victory. Ron and Mark are now the only panelists to correctly predict the six winners in 2026. Ron takes first place based on percentage error. Nate’s prediction for Week 7 led the way with just 26 points of error, and he becomes the most accurate of our six 5-1 staff members.
Only 1.6% of our readers correctly predicted a comfortable Seahawks victory. Most respondents (66%) expected a close victory for the Chiefs.
*To calculate the points error of a prediction, the differences between the prediction and the actual score in terms of point spread, home team score and away team score are added together. For example, one prediction calls for the Chiefs to win 17-10. They ended up winning 16-10, so there were two points of error: the point spread was off by one point, Kansas City’s score was off by one point, and the opponent’s score was correctly predicted. But if the Chiefs lose the game 17-10, there are 28 points of error in the prediction: the point difference was off by 14 (the difference between +7 and -7), and the two scores were off by 7.
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