Chiefs vs. Colts: NFL Week 2 Preview, Score Predictions

Last season, the Kansas City Chiefs and Indianapolis Colts squared off in Week 12 in what many believed could've been a playoff preview between two flawed but competitive teams. The rest of the campaign couldn't have gone much worse for either side, though, meaning the reset button has been hit heading into 2026.

With Kansas City securing a blowout victory over the Denver Broncos to open the season but Indianapolis falling in a similar fashion to the Baltimore Ravens, there's a significant opportunity out in front of both teams. The hosts can further establish that they're back, while the visitors desperately need a positive outcome to avoid entering an 0-2 hole.

How might Sunday's game unfold? The Kansas City Chiefs On SI crew makes its predictions for Week 2 of the regular season.

Joshua Brisco: After all the hesitance that came with the Chiefs’ Week 1 matchup against the Denver Broncos, these last several days of Colts preparation have felt almost quaint! That's a mistake, of course — the Colts are one of the league’s many “any given Sunday”-caliber teams, and things always get weird against the AFC South.

I expect Tyler Warren to be the most challenging matchup for the Chiefs’ defense, while Kenneth Walker won't be catching Indy by surprise and Kahlil Benson will be going into his second start with a full week of game tape for Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo to study. The Chiefs should still win this game, but I’m not willing to overlook Indianapolis.

Jordan Foote: After feeling that Week 1 was a legitimate coin-flip type of game, I'm much more confident in the Chiefs' outlook for this one. Indianapolis is a one-dimensional offense at this point, and its defense has struggled immensely dating back to a cold stretch last season. There's no denying that Kansas City could trip itself up, sure, but I just can't bring myself to predict that Daniel Jones and company will steal a win in prime time.

Give me the home team in a contest that doesn't end up being as close as the final score might suggest.

Joshua Schulman: There couldn’t be a starker contrast between how Kansas City and Indianapolis fared in Week 1. The Chiefs started their season off looking like Super Bowl contenders, while Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry made the Colts' defense look like they didn’t belong on an NFL field.

Now that the season-opening chaos has subsided, Kansas City may be less dominant this week. Many are expecting a blowout after seeing the Colts compete once, and the home crowd won’t be as rowdy (at least by its lofty standards). I don’t think Kenneth Walker is going to log 200 yards from scrimmage again, but I also don’t think Patrick Mahomes will start the night off 2-for-10 passing, either.

No matter how you draw this up, it ends with another KC victory behind the Chiefs faithful in Arrowhead.

Tyler Brown: The matchup tape points in Kansas City's direction in a few too many places for this one to be close. Rashee Rice has a favorable draw against a nickel corner who just got torched by Zay Flowers. Elsewhere, Kenneth Walker is coming off one of the more dominant individual performances of Week 1. On defense, Steve Spagnuolo has the track record to keep Jonathan Taylor in check on early downs, leaving way for the pass rush to make noise on third downs.

Sunday night feels like the right time for Mahomes, Rice, Travis Kelce and company to remind everyone what this offense looks like when it is operating on all cylinders. The Colts will make it competitive for a half, but the Chiefs should be able to pull away once the run game softens up the defense and the play-action opportunities start opening up.

Sign up to our free newsletter and follow us on Facebook, X and Instagram for the latest news and updates throughout the game and after the action has concluded.

Add us as a preferred source on Google