Mahomes, Nix Meet With Division Lead On Line

Patrick Mahomes and Bo Nix return to the field Sunday with the AFC West lead up for grabs, both quarterbacks working back from injuries sustained last season. Kansas City visits Denver at 4:25 p.m. EST on CBS, with the Chiefs listed as 1 1/2-point favorites.

Mahomes tore his left knee last December and has yet to find his footing. He has gone consecutive games without a touchdown pass for the first time in his career, and his 3.7 yards per rushing attempt is the lowest average since he became Kansas City's starter in 2018. The Chiefs fell 20-3 at Seattle last week, dropping them to 5-1.

Nix broke his right ankle during the playoffs. His 59.2% completion rate sits at the low point of his three-year career, and he is on pace to rush for 267 yards after averaging 393 across his first two NFL seasons. Denver opened its season with a 31-10 loss at Kansas City but has since gone 5-2, including a 30-16 win at Arizona last week in which Nix ran 62 yards for a touchdown.

Both quarterbacks have help around them. Kansas City's Kenneth Walker III is averaging 117 rushing yards per game, and Travis Kelce is averaging 14.3 yards per catch, the best mark of his 14-year career. Kelce turned 37 a few weeks ago. Denver coach Sean Payton said of Kelce, "The things that sometimes are hard to teach, he's got." Kelce last week passed Tony Gonzalez for the most receiving yards by a tight end in league history, including playoffs, at 15,143.

Denver's defense has held together while Patrick Surtain II, Talanoa Hufanga and Riley Moss have been injured, and backups have started for multiple weeks. Linebacker Alex Singleton made 19 stops against Arizona and earned his first career AFC Defensive Player of the Week. The Broncos have posted multiple sacks in 20 straight home games, the fourth-longest such streak in NFL history.

Kansas City linebacker Nick Bolton said of Denver, "They found some things that worked for them.. I think Bo Nix has done a good job of using his feet, getting the ball to his ball catchers, trusting his O-line, sticking with the run game." The Chiefs lead the series 74-59. Against the spread, Kansas City is 3-3 and Denver is 5-2. Sean Payton coaches his 300th game Sunday, and a win would place him sixth-fastest to 200 career victories.