KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - Over the past two seasons, the Kansas City Chiefs have seldom reached 30 points in a game.
Entering Monday night’s 2026 season-opener, Kansas City’s offense -- with arguably the sport’s greatest quarterback and a head coach known for his offensive acumen -- had reached 30 points just five times and 31 points only twice.
To open a new year, head coach Andy Reid, returning offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and the Chiefs reached the 31-point mark, and did it with a different style.
Pounding the run, free-agent signee Kenneth Walker ran for 173 yards in his debut in red and gold, the most in a game for a Chiefs running back since Jamaal Charles had 226 on Dec. 23, 2012.
“What a day he had,” Reid said following Kansas City’s 31-10 victory.
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[ Walker, Mahomes lead Chiefs to 31-10 season-opening win over Broncos ]
But it was the finishing score -- Walker’s second of the night -- that was a glimpse into the Chiefs of old. Not necessarily in the high-flying aerial attack sort of way, but in the “where did they get that from?” type of way.
With a 24-10 lead just inside the beginning of the fourth quarter, Reid called a play the Chiefs named “Heisman.”
“Chris Berman sent me that play,” Reid claimed postgame. “They executed it well.”
The play, which Reid said originated in 1936, involved every single member of the Chiefs offense starting the play with their hand in the dirt.
Yes, that includes starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes and backup quarterback Justin Fields, who got in on the fun for his first regular-season snap as a Chief.
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“You should’ve seen the tape on it,” Mahomes said. “I can’t remember exactly who ran it because it was in black-and-white and it was very scratchy when we were watching it, but it was a play that (offensive line coach Andy) Heck brought to us, and I’m sure coach Reid has his imprint as well.”
Tight end Travis Kelce and Kenneth Walker were also behind the line of scrimmage, and both squatted down with a hand on the ground ahead of the play.
A direct snap to Mahomes -- who popped out of his stance -- and a run left to flip the ball forward to Walker allowed the new Chief to score his second touchdown of the night by following the pulling block of Jaylon Moore and Kelce.
“The film we watched was probably from the 1900s,” Walker said, emphasizing just how much of a throwback Reid and Co. grabbed out of their bag of tricks. “It was hard to see, but we worked it over and over in practice and felt like it was going to work and it did.”
Walker’s score, which helped Kansas City reach that rarely seen 30-plus point mark over the last two seasons, was a positive for that reason alone. The creativity came on a night Kansas City went 3-for-4 scoring touchdowns in the red zone, another area that plagued them over the past two seasons.
Adding some creative flair to the final score was a potential glimpse into a more dominant Chiefs offense of years past.
That is, even if a more run-heavy approach makes it look different than before.
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