The first "Monday Night Football" game of the 2026 NFL season will feature two AFC West foes with Super Bowl aspirations.
Bo Nix and the defending division champion Denver Broncos will hit the road to face Patrick Mahomes and a Kansas City Chiefs squad looking to bounce back from a six-win 2025 campaign. While the Broncos reached the AFC Championship Game a season ago, 2025 marked Kansas City's first time missing the playoffs since 2014.
Denver will enter Monday night having won three straight against the Chiefs and five straight within the division overall. The Broncos are 3-0 in "Monday Night Football" games under coach Sean Payton, who is 7-5 in his career against Andy Reid.
Here are key facts about the Week 1 "Monday Night Football" matchup:
What is the schedule?
*All times Eastern
Monday
6 p.m: "Monday Night Countdown" on ESPN
8:15 p.m.: Broncos at Chiefs on ESPN and ABC
8:15 p.m.: "Monday Night Football with Peyton and Eli" -- the "ManningCast" -- on ESPN2
How can fans watch?
Fans can catch all of the action in the ESPN App and in the NFL streaming hub.
New music for 'Monday Night Football'
ESPN and Apple Music will collaborate on music curation for "Monday Night Football" games throughout the 2026 NFL season. Apple Music selected "Dead Fresh" by Lil Baby to run in ESPN's promotions for the Week 1 "Monday Night Football" matchup.
Apple Music's weekly music picks will appear in the following games:
▪︎ Week 1 - Broncos at Chiefs
▪︎ Week 5 - Buffalo Bills at Los Angeles Rams
▪︎ Week 7 - Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles
▪︎ Week 13 - Cowboys at Seattle Seahawks
▪︎ Week 15 - New England Patriots at Chiefs
▪︎ Week 18 - TBD doubleheader
How can fans access more NFL content from ESPN?
Check out the ESPN NFL hub page for the latest news, analysis, scores, stats, schedules and more.
