NFL schedule makers gave Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes a little favor

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NFL schedule makers gave Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes a little favor originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Patrick Mahomes is going to do everything he can to return from his season-ending knee injury as early in the 2026 NFL season as possible.

The league's schedule makers did the Kansas City Chiefs and their superstar quarterback about as good of a favor as they could on that front.

The Chiefs play the final game of Week 1 in 2026 -- on Monday night against the Denver Broncos.

That's September 14, and it gives Mahomes a date to shoot for.

It's also a handful of days later than the earliest possible start point for Kansas City. That's not a ton, but it could matter at least a bit in the Mahomes journey back from his injury.

"The NFL putting the Broncos and Chiefs in the final slot of Week 1—Monday, September 14—gives Patrick Mahomes a target date now," Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer wrote on X on Tuesday. "And he's worked his (butt) off to make it back in time for the opener."

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The Chiefs did bring in a solid alternative if Mahomes isn't ready for Week 1. Justin Fields would get the starting nod for any amount of time that Mahomes is forced to miss.

Mahomes' torn ACL occurred just in time so that the front end of his recovery timeline would be about nine months, which is about the fastest a player comes back from that injury.

The Chiefs will be careful, of course. They won't want anything negative to happen to Mahomes in the long run that could've been avoided by letting him heal just a little bit longer.

But on the flip side, the Chiefs are coming off a 6-11 season. They likely feel they don't have much time to waste in turning things around.

So there's a very real chance that Mahomes is out on that field on Monday night in Week 1. In the small realm of possibilities of the season opener for the Chiefs and their rehabbing QB, that was the best potential outcome with the schedule.

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