Kenneth Walker is the Chiefs’ perfect medicine to ease Patrick Mahomes’ return from injury

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Facing second-and-goal from the 15-yard line, Patrick Mahomes wasn’t planning to scramble.

The Kansas City Chiefs quarterback wanted to get hit on the run at some point in his first game back from an ACL and LCL tear, he’d told head coach Andy Reid.

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But on this first drive, as Mahomes dropped back in the red zone, he was planning to pass the ball to Travis Kelce.

Then Kelce wasn’t open, and Denver Broncos defenders started closing in from both sides, so Mahomes figured he’d pick up a few yards to edge the Chiefs closer to third-and-manageable. Instead, Broncos defenders were falling in his wake and Mahomes sensed a dive over the rest could sail him into the end zone.

From the sideline, three-time All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones wanted to yell: “Pat, slide.“

“The ACL, I was a little nervous, but Pat is a big body, ran it in” Jones said. “Once he got up and hit the shoulders, I was like, ‘OK, we’re good. We’re good.’

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“But for a minute, I held my breath to make sure QB1 is OK.”

After 274 days, Mahomes proved Monday night that he is OK. Or at least, mostly. The Chiefs’ star quarterback proved his seemingly endless days of rehabilitation have successfully returned him to the physical capacity to thrive at the NFL level. He proved he can elude defenders via jukes and dives, and he can operate the Chiefs’ offense with some degree of proficiency.

But as the Chiefs steamrolled the 2025 AFC runner-up Denver Broncos in a 31-10 victory, Mahomes saw a reality other than his return to dominance. He felt physically fine, sustained no new injuries and possessed the strength to take on high-speed collisions. But psychologically, as is often the case for players returning from season-ending injuries like the surgery-requiring ACL and LCL tears Mahomes sustained last Dec. 14, Mahomes is not yet there. He admitted he was rushing his throws, at times not advancing to second and third progressions that would have opened up bigger plays. He threw for explosive plays in theory, but in practice the Chiefs’ big passing gains came almost entirely through checkdowns extended with yards after the catch. And as he readjusts to the speed of the game, Mahomes said he “had a few overstrides” that resulted in low throws.

“I got to get back to being balanced where I can make those throws…” he said. “I was trying to force a few things early.”  

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Nonetheless, the Chiefs beat the Broncos by building a team that stepped up around its quarterback. On offense, that started and ended with a prized free-agency acquisition in running back Kenneth Walker.

“Whenever I felt like I didn’t play my best football, we were still able to go out there and beat a really good football team pretty well,” Mahomes said. “And it’s because the guys around me stepped up and knew that they were going to have to help me as a I get back into the rhythm of things.”

Chiefs lean on Walker, run game early

Even Mahomes’ first scramble succeeded in part because of the pattern the Chiefs established on that drive.

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After Jones’ sack and rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane’s interception gifted Mahomes a short field on his first possession, Kansas City did not ask him to throw and throw and throw.

Walker, who capped his four Seattle Seahawks seasons with a Super Bowl MVP performance in February, ran seven times for 32 yards to set up Mahomes’ scramble. The back whom Chiefs praise as both tough and patient between the tackles as well as adept at bouncing with speed and breaking away was just getting started.

By night’s end, Walker would amass a whopping 191 yards and two touchdowns from scrimmage.

“It means a lot,” he said. “It means they trust me.”

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The Chiefs trusted Walker in the pass game and the run game. They trusted him on first, second and third down. And in the third quarter, facing fourth-and-1 from their own 40, the Chiefs trusted Walker to gain the yard.

He repaid their trust by gaining 60.

“A thing of beauty,” Reid later described it.

The Chiefs had loaded up their line of scrimmage with heavy personnel, defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga among the blockers who in theory could help Walker through the heart of the Broncos’ defense. Walker took the handoff and began to charge forward before bouncing out to his left. Beating Broncos defenders to the left sideline, he raced and raced and raced. Even a late dive by Broncos safety Brandon Jones couldn’t stop him. Chiefs teammates said Walker’s explosiveness was nearly expected after a training camp defined by plays like this. Mahomes traced even further back to his belief in Walker’s performance.

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“The moment he got the edge, I’ve seen it,” Mahomes said. “I’ve seen it in practice, I saw it all last year in the playoffs: Once he gets the edge, he’s gone…

“It’s a special ability and we’re going to utilize it.”

The Chiefs again tapped into Walker’s special abilities in the fourth quarter, when they faced first down from the 2-yard line. Mahomes and backup quarterback Justin Fields lined up side by side in the backfield, in a three-point stance. Walker aligned out left closer to the line of scrimmage, running to his right in concert with both quarterbacks running to their left.

Like on Mahomes’ initial rushing touchdown, Walker was not the guaranteed scorer on this play that Chiefs coaches had found from black-and-white grainy film dating back to 1936.

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In fact, multiple Chiefs players said they anticipate running this “Heisman” play again with a different outcome. But with 14:43 to play in the fourth quarter, Mahomes tossed the ball to Walker, who cut through the middle of Denver’s defense.