Patrick Mahomes picked up right where he left off on Monday night as the Kansas City Chiefs opened their NFL season with a home matchup against the Denver Broncos.
This marked Mahomes’ first game back after suffering a season-ending knee injury toward the latter part of the previous campaign. Mahomes tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee. He immediately underwent surgery and spent the next few months rehabbing the injury.
The goal was for the two-time NFL MVP to be ready for Week 1 of the new season, and Mahomes put in the work behind the scenes to meet that objective.
Mahomes wore a knee brace on Monday night, but it did not seem like he was bothered by the injury. He led the charge for the Chiefs’ offense as they looked to make a statement in their first game of the season.
Mahomes, however, was involved in a contentious incident in the second half of the game. Mahomes attempted a short pass to Travis Kelce, but it was behind the Chiefs tight end, resulting in an incomplete pass.
As he was falling to the ground after the pass, Mahomes took a hard hit from Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto. The Denver LB appeared to make contact with Mahomes’ helmet during the tackle, and the Chiefs QB immediately signaled to the referee after the play.
No foul was called on the play. However, the NFL reviews every play from every game, and they will look into Bonitto’s tackle.
Rule 12, Section 2, Article 11 of the 2026 NFL rulebook describes a roughing the passer violation as “any physical acts against a player who is in a passing posture (i.e. before, during, or after attempting a pass) which, in the game official’s judgment, are unwarranted by the circumstances of the play will be called as fouls.”
Since the foul wasn’t called during the game, the Broncos were spared an automatic 15-yard penalty. However, Bonitto isn’t out of the woods just yet. Under the NFL’s fines schedule, a roughing-the-passer violation carries a fine of $17,911 for a first offense and $23,882 for a second.
Bonitto will need to wait for the NFL’s punishment decision. Depending on the results of the league’s review, the Broncos LB could be facing a hefty fine for his actions against Mahomes. The league typically announces player fines on Saturday afternoons following the games played that week.
The Chiefs ultimately got the job done, securing a 31-10 win against their division rivals. Mahomes completed 15-of-27 passes for 184 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
Kansas City will look to make it 2-0 when it returns to action in Week 2 for another home matchup against the Indianapolis Colts. Meanwhile, the Broncos will seek their first win of the season when they battle the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
