Kenneth Walker III handed the Chiefs a new identity on the night Mahomes came back
The Super Bowl LX MVP ran for 173 yards and two touchdowns in his Kansas City debut Monday night, turning a feel-good Mahomes comeback story into something far more consequential for the rest of the AFC.
In brief
Walker ran so Mahomes didn't have to, and that may be the biggest story of the young NFL season
For nine months, the question hanging over the Kansas City Chiefs was simple and singular: how would Patrick Mahomes look on that left knee? Monday night at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Mahomes answered it in the first five minutes. Then Kenneth Walker III took the game, and the whole conversation, away from him.
Walker rushed for 173 yards and scored two touchdowns in his Chiefs debut, stealing the spotlight from Mahomes and his surgically repaired left knee, as Kansas City beat the Denver Broncos 31-10 on Monday Night Football. It was the first game of the 2026 NFL season for both franchises, and it was not particularly close.
The story was supposed to be Mahomes and the surgically repaired left knee carrying him back into an NFL game exactly nine months after a major injury. By the end of Monday night, Walker had changed the conversation around the Kansas City Chiefs far more dramatically.
A debut that answered a different question entirely
Walker was named Super Bowl MVP after rushing for 135 yards to help Seattle beat New England in February, the first running back to win the award since Terrell Davis did it for the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII in 1997. Then, rather than re-sign him, Seattle let his contract expire, and Kansas City won the bidding.
The Chiefs agreed to a three-year contract worth up to $45 million, including $28.7 million guaranteed. It was the largest deal ever for a running back in NFL free agency. Monday night was the first time anyone got to see whether it was worth it.
It was. Emphatically.
Walker carried 23 times to finish with the most yards rushing by a Chiefs player since Jamaal Charles ran for 226 against the Colts in 2012, the year before Andy Reid became their coach. His most spectacular play came on a fourth-and-1 from the Chiefs' own 40-yard line, when he bounced outside and raced 60 yards for a touchdown.
Walker carried the ball on Kansas City's first four offensive plays and seven times during the opening touchdown drive. That workload immediately forced Denver to defend the width of the formation, honor the run on early downs and hesitate before sending its pass rush after Mahomes.
That is the part Chiefs fans should care about most. It is not just what Walker did. It is what Walker's presence allowed Mahomes to stop doing.
Mahomes answered the knee question quickly
The big question heading into the game, even after Mahomes participated in the entire offseason program and every practice of training camp, was how his surgically repaired left knee would hold up nine months to the day since he was hurt in a game against the Chargers. He erased any doubts when he capped the Chiefs' opening drive with a 15-yard touchdown run.
Mahomes didn't appear affected by the knee, or the brace he wore on it, throwing for 184 yards and two scores while running for another to help the Chiefs snap a three-game skid against the rival that ended their nine-year run as division champs. That divisional context matters. The way the Broncos' 2026 season started was not the best omen, Denver had a nightmare performance in a 31-10 loss.
Rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane, the sixth overall pick, intercepted Nix to set up the Chiefs' first touchdown. Kansas City's defense, built partly around young players, held Denver's heavily hyped offense to almost nothing. Bo Nix threw for 131 yards with an interception and a lost fumble, and despite trading a package of picks to Miami for wide receiver Jaylen Waddle in the offseason, Waddle finished with one catch for 2 yards.
Seattle is already getting the questions
The backlash to Seattle's decision was instant. The Seahawks had turned heads when they let the Super Bowl MVP walk in free agency, and the criticism grew louder after his monster debut with Kansas City. One reporter noted that Walker had more carries by halftime of Monday's game than he did in several entire games with Seattle.
Seattle's front office decided the $14.35 million per year average the Chiefs were willing to pay was more than the Seahawks wanted to commit to a running back. In one Monday night game, that calculus looks deeply wrong. Whether it stays that way over a 17-game season is the actual test, but the early returns are not going to make that argument any easier to make in the Pacific Northwest.
Kansas City signed Walker after his Super Bowl MVP season in Seattle because the Chiefs needed an offense capable of functioning without asking Mahomes to rescue every difficult down. The game offered the first real evidence that an offense that leaned too heavily on Mahomes last season may finally have another way to control games.
One game. One data point. But after a 31-10 final and 173 rushing yards in the opener, the Chiefs look like they have a ground game for the first time in years. Every defensive coordinator left on their schedule noticed.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
