Chiefs: Easy or Tough Schedule?

Lisa Foxx

We’ve all seen the Kansas City Chiefs 2024 season schedule (see below). There are some good things about the schedule and some not so good things about the schedule. Let’s start where everyone else starts: with the first two games of the season.

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The Chiefs open the 2024-25 NFL schedule with a rematch of last season’s AFC Championship game on a Thursday night, September 5th. The Baltimore Ravens will face off against the team that sent them home last post-season. The Chiefs went on to compete in and win Super Bowl 58 after that game.

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The Chiefs are scheduled to play every day of the week except Tuesday this season. It’s something that has never happened before in the history of the league. So, all things considered, the Chiefs actually do have one of the most difficult schedules in the NFL.

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The Ravens will be at Arrowhead Stadium when the Chiefs drop their new Super Bowl banner. That’s got to sting for the Ravens and they’ll no doubt be on a mission to make a statement in that game. Meanwhile, the Chiefs will be on their own mission to defeat Baltimore since KC lost last year’s season opener to the upstart Detroit Lions. 

Losing the first game of the season is not a familiar feeling for the Chiefs. Kansas City had won eight straight season openers before falling to the Lions last year. They will be determined to make last season’s home opening loss a one-off. Regardless of the final result, this game featuring two of the most dynamic young quarterbacks in the league is a must-watch.

The second game of the season will be another test for the Chiefs as the Cincinnati Bengals travel to Kansas City. Bengals fans don’t let Chiefs fans forget that QB Joe Burrow and the Bengals are 3-1 against Mahomes and the Chiefs. This game will be for bragging rights and could determine home field advantage in the playoffs.

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The Chiefs schedule isn’t necessarily difficult this season on its face. Kansas City technically has the 12th-easiest schedule based on their opponents wins, averaging 8.2 wins over/under. This is because teams in the AFC West will play against NFC South teams this season.

The NFC South is considered one of the easier divisions in the league. But don’t let the opponents the Chiefs face this season fool you. Their schedule is still a difficult one.

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The Chiefs have a Week 6 Bye. They haven’t had a bye this early since 2016 when Alex Smith was quarterback. Since the team is attempting a three-peat championship run, the early bye is tough on the team, but head coach Andy Reid always says he and his team are ready to play anytime and anywhere. This early Bye will put that to the test.

The lack of playoff teams from last year on the schedule doesn’t mean the Chiefs will have a cake walk to the post-season. Remember, the Bengals didn’t make the playoffs last year due to an injury to Burrow. Playing Cincinnati the week after taking on the Ravens at Arrowhead to open the season is no easy feat.

A Super Bowl rematch will take place in Week 7. The Chiefs will travel to San Francisco to face the 49ers, who are determined to take down Patrick Mahomes and company. The 49ers have lost twice to Mahomes and the Chiefs in their last two Super Bowl appearances. They feel like they had a chance to win that game and are bitter about the loss.

That team — the 49ers — is bitter when it comes to the Chiefs in general because the 49ers have never beaten Mahomes. What makes it an even tougher pill for the Bay-bies to swallow is they have been highly touted over the past several years as one of the best rosters in the league. Yet, they haven’t been able to get past Mahomes and the Chiefs to win the top prize.

The Chiefs are a thorn in their side. The 49ers are a tough, talented and well-coached team. They feel like they’re the ones who are supposed to be SB champions. They will come ready to fight.

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The good news for the Chiefs is the game against the 49ers comes right after the Chiefs Bye. Head coach Andy Reid is famous for his winning record coming off a Bye. That bodes well for the team, especially since the bye comes so early. And it doesn’t get easier for the Chiefs. There have been rumblings about the end of the Chiefs schedule, as well.

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It’s true the Chiefs don’t play back-to-back games against playoff teams from last season until weeks 15 and 16. That’s when they face off against the Cleveland Browns and the Houston Texans (Saturday game) respectively.

Again, the lack of playoff teams from last year doesn’t mean the Chiefs schedule is a cake walk. The Browns have a stacked roster and a quarterback with the potential to be deadly. As for the Houston Texans, they have firepower galore now and a young QB stud who has proven he’s one of the best in the league.

Even so, it’s not so much the opponents as it is the timing of the games that makes the Chiefs schedule so difficult this season.

The Chiefs are scheduled to have five prime time games: 2 SNF games, 2 MNF games and a TNF game to kick off the 2024 NFL season. They will also have a total of eight stand-alone games this season. The only teams that have more prime time games than the Chiefs are the NY Jets, the SF 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys, with six each.

The Chiefs play on Black Friday, Christmas Day (which falls on a Wednesday) and they also play on a Saturday.

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It’s no surprise to the NFL that the Chiefs schedule is difficult when it comes to the timing of the games. In fact, the league’s vice president of broadcast planning, Mike North, admits that the NLF may have given the Chiefs “the hardest schedule in the league.”

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“Put a Chiefs game there.” It seems to be a pattern or a theme.

He says this — “we maybe gave the Chiefs the hardest schedule in the league” — because the Chiefs will have to play three games in 10 days followed by two road games to end the season. They also have four short weeks during the season. They’ve been scheduled only one home game in a 49-day stretch.

Regardless of the strength of schedule, the team is determined to make it back to the Super Bowl. If they make it back and win, they will have cemented their dynasty in the annals of the NFL. It will be exciting to watch to see how the team handles the early bye, the odd days and the short weeks. They’ve handled everything else that’s been thrown at them, so there’s little doubt this team will be ready for the challenge.

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Lisa Foxx — ArrowheadOne

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