Kenneth Walker racks up 191 all purpose yards, 2 touchdowns as Kansas City Chiefs open season by beating Denver
KANSAS CITY, Mo (KQTV) - The Kansas City Chiefs earned a 31-10 season opening victory oevr the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football to open the season.
The story of the night was Kenneth Walker who had an incredible debut as a Chief. Walker carried the ball 23 times for 173 yards and averaged 7.5 yards a carry. He added a rushing touchdown as well as a receiving one. His rushing score came from 60 yards out in the third quarter on 4th and one.
"We ran a play a few times. I knew they were going to crash in. So when they crashed in I just bounced it out," said Walker. "I was just one on one with the corner and you know I ran them and you know I was uh off to the races from there. I gotta give credit to the offensive line, they did a great job tonight. Made me in this job much easier to go out there and run the ball."
Patrick Mahomes had an up and down night in his first game back after tearing his ACL 9 months ago. Mahomes completed 15 of 27 passes for 184 yards, 2 touchdowns and 1 interception. He also added a 15 yard rushing score in the first quarter for the team's first touchdown of the game.
"Be able to do that against that defense who was number one in the red zone last year, it was bigger for me running," said Mahomes. "I wasn't originally going to run, but then going for the end zone, it kind of gave me that confidence that I can go out there and be myself."
The Chiefs defense stepped up in the second half, holding the Broncos to just 3 points over the final 2 quarters and forcing 2 turnovers. Rookie Mansoor Delane had an interception in the first quarter before injuring his shoulder and not returning. Then in the third quarter, Felix Anudike-Uzomah stripped Bo Nix of the ball and Chris Jones recovered for Kansas City.
"I think Spags has been honing in throughout the camp on winning on 3rd down, eliminating shots and not letting the quarterback out of the pocket," said Jones. "I think we did a really good job of keeping him in the pocket tonight. That's something we can build on."
"I'm super proud. That's something that we work for this camp. Just to see the testament of these guys' hard work just flow like that and play out the way it did, just super proud of them," said defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga. "It's a good way to start the season stacking."
Head coach Andy Reid picked up his 150th career victory as head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a momentum and confidence building win for this team to start out the year.
"I was talking to some people on the sideline and I said this is probably how the Chiefs used to be before I got here," said Rashee Rice who had a touchdown catch in the win. So I guess we're getting back to our original self and we're just gonna keep growing."
The 1-0 Chiefs will now host the Indianapolis Colts for Sunday Night Football for Week 2 at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, September 20th at 7:20 pm.
