Laddie Morse
The Kansas City Chiefs open the NFL season for a second year in a row. That’s because they were the winner of the previous season’s Super Bowl. While the question is: “Who Will K.C. Play on Opening Day?” the real question is: “Who Will K.C. Play on Opening NIGHT?…
and that’s because the Chiefs will play their opening game opponent on the Thursday evening before the full schedule of weekend games in the NFL, which starts the 2024 season. The problem is, we won’t know exactly who that opponent will be until next Wednesday at 8:00 EDT — May 15 — when the Full NFL Schedule is set to be released.
However, the NFL has already released a full list of Home and Away games for each team, we just don’t know the order of those games… yet. Here’ what the Home and Away games look like for the Chiefs:
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Adapted from ArrowheadAddict.com – Credit
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Adapted from ArrowheadAddict.com – Credit
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While those are the Home and Away games for the Chiefs, we can narrow the possibilities down to 5 possible opponents because I seriously doubt the league will have them starting the season vs an AFC West opponent. So, that leaves these five possible games:
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Let’s discuss each possibility.
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This seems like the most likely team the Chiefs would face on opening night. Like the Lions of 2023, the Texans are the most up-and-coming team so… why not? The Chiefs are planning on raising a Banner that says “2023 Super Bowl Champions” — or something like that — so why not put the Chiefs primary AFC opponent up front in the season. The Chiefs either get the satisfaction of beating their next real rival, or their rival finds out what it’s like to raise a banner. Seems like a win-win situation to me.
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With the expected return of Joe Burrow, the Bengals may at first glance look like a solid opening day opponent but they sound more like an end of the season opponent to me. The question becomes, is Joe Burrow 100% ready to return after his wrist injury? In his press conference on Tuesday of this week, Burrow said: “It’s the flashes of consistency. I want to become more consistent” and about the beginning of the season he said, “We’ll just have to wait and see.” That’s probably why I don’t think the league puts a Bengals at Chiefs game up front in the season. BTW, it’s in that same press conference when Burrow called the Chiefs, “The Gold Standard.“
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The Baltimore Ravens seem like a great possibility, but like the Bengals, seem more like a late season opponent to me. The last time the Chiefs faced the Ravens was in Baltimore for the AFC Championship game and they came away with a 17-to-10 victory. Having the Ravens watch the Chiefs raise a banner is not like something the NFL would do to an opposing team. It shouts “In your face” a little too much. So I’m not guessing the Chiefs opening day opponent will be the Ravens.
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Even though QB Baker Mayfield had a good year in 2023, and the team came away with an NFC South best record of 9-and-8 (tied with New Orleans) and it doesn’t appear they done enough this offseason for me to think they’re going to be a legitimate NFC post season threat. That 9-and-8 record is only one-half a game better than .500 and one game better than their 2022 record in Tom Brady’s last season. Does any of that matter if they are to be the team chosen to visit the Chiefs on opening day (night)? I’m unsure, but having Baker Mayfield face a stiff Chiefs defense will not be the test that a national audience will likely tune in for.
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The Saints seem like a real possibility and I’d place them right behind the Texans in terms of likely opponents for the season opener. With Derek Carr as their QB, his rivalry with K.C. while he was with the Raiders was nearly legendary. A national audience would likely want to see that game and tune in just to see how he does. Although the Saints finished the 2023 season with an identical record to the Bucs, at 9-and-8, they look like they had a better offseason. I like RB Alvin Kamara even though he’ll be coming off of an ankle injury… the result of a hip drop tackle. The Saints also rebuilt their OL (drafting Taliese Fuaga with the 14th overall pick) and should give Kamara good lanes to run through.
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Do you have a favorite for the opening of the 2024 season? Let me know.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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