The Chiefs’ first visit to the Bills’ new stadium will reportedly close out the NFL’s Thanksgiving slate of games.
Per NFL reporter Jordan Schultz, the Chiefs will be at the new Highmark Stadium on Thursday night in Week 12. The primetime game will be televised by NBC.
The two teams have met at least once per season since the start of the 2020 season. The Bills are 5-1 in the regular season matchups, but the Chiefs are 4-0 in their playoff confrontations.
With the game set for late November, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’s recovery from a torn ACL should no longer be an issue. There will undoubtedly be other injury issues that impact who will be on hand for the latest chapter in the rivalry headed by Mahomes and Bills quarterback Josh Allen, but both teams will hope they aren’t significant enough to rob the game of its usual luster.
The Chiefs ended their 2025 home slate with a visit from the Broncos. The Chiefs will start 2026 the same way.
After announcing on Tuesday morning that the Broncos and Chiefs will cap the first week of the season with a Monday night game, the league has now supplied the location: The game will be played in Kansas City.
The Christmas night 20-13 win by the Broncos ended a 10-year losing streak at Arrowhead Stadium. Denver won that game with the Chiefs not having quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who had suffered a season-ending knee injury two weeks earlier. His availability will now hover over the prime-time division matchup to start the year.
By all indications, Mahomes will be ready to go. And Mahomes is wired to do everything he can, and then some, to get back. The fact that the season opens with the defending AFC West champs coming to town will serve only to make him more determined to be ready to play, and to play well.
The announcement locks in three of the four prime-time games for Week 1. On Sunday night, the Cowboys will visit the Giants. On Thursday night, the 49ers will face the Rams in Australia. The only game left to be determined is the Wednesday night opener in Seattle, where the Seahawks will host an opponent to be announced.
Running back Isiah Pacheco is known for his aggressive style, often described as someone who runs as if he’s angry at the ground.
After completing his rookie contract with the Chiefs, Pacheco signed a one-year deal with the Lions in free agency. Though Pacheco has been a starter for much of his career, helping Kansas City win back-to-back Super Bowls in 2022 and 2023, he’s now set to slot behind Jahmyr Gibbs in Detroit. Effectively, Pacheco is replacing David Montgomery, who was traded to the Texans earlier in the offseason.
With the way the Lions want to run the ball, Pacheco should still be a key piece of Detroit’s offense in 2026.
In a recent interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio, Lions General Manager Brad Holmes noted that he and head coach Dan Campbell have always been aligned on needing two good backs to have a truly effective run game.
“Getting Pacheco, me and Dan have always been big fans of Pacheco,” Holmes said. “It’s his mindset and his intent in how he runs. As you know, it’s hard to get yards in this league, and those holes close up quick. And so, if you have the right mindset, you can get a lot of hidden yards — if you just have a little bit more desire.
“So, I think he’s going to be a really good complement. Always been a fan from afar, just love how he runs [since] he’s been in the league. And we don’t expect anything different to being a really good complement to Jahmyr.”
Pacheco has dealt with injuries the last two years, limited to 20 games over that span. In 2025, he rushed for 462 yards with one touchdown and caught 19 passes for 101 yards.
Pacheco’s best season was his second, as in 2023 he rushed for 935 yards with seven touchdowns and caught 44 passes for 2244 yards with two TDs.
The first Monday Night Football game of the season will feature a matchup of the last two AFC West champions.
The NFL announced on Tuesday that the Broncos and Chiefs will meet to cap off the Week 1 schedule. The location of the game is still being finalized, per Adam Schefter of ESPN, and is expected to be announced ahead of or along with the announcement of the rest of the schedule on Thursday.
Denver broke the Chiefs’ long run of division titles last season and the game will likely feature the return to action of Broncos quarterback Bo Nix after he broke his ankle in the divisional round of the playoffs. It could also see Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes play his first game since tearing his ACL last December, but we’ll have to be much closer to the game to know if that will be the case.
The Chiefs are also the fifth of the Seahawks’ potential Week 1 opponents — the 49ers, Rams, Giants and Cowboys are the others — to have their opening game revealed, which leaves the Cardinals, Chargers, Bears and Patriots as the remaining options for the first game of the 2026 NFL season.
The Bills are starting the week by adding a veteran defender.
Buffalo announced on Monday that the club has signed outside linebacker Mike Danna to a one-year deal.
Danna, 28, was released by the Chiefs in February after spending his first six seasons with the franchise. In 2025, Danna appeared in 15 games with 14 starts, recording 25 total tackles, three tackles for loss, four QB hits, a sack, and an interception.
A fifth-round pick in the 2020 draft, Danna has appeared in 87 games with 49 starts, recording 21.5 sacks, 25 tackles for loss, and 51 QB hits.
He is a two-time Super Bowl champion, having won back-to-back rings with Kansas City in 2022 and 2023.
