Breaking down 2021 Chiefs schedule: 5 Things to Know
Chiefs open against Browns at home, finish with three of final four on the road
The Chiefs now know the path that lies between them and a third-straight Lamar Hunt Trophy along with a trip to sunny Southern California for Super Bowl LVI next February at SoFi Stadium.
The Chiefs kick off the 2021 season on Sunday, Sept. 12 with a 3:25 p.m. matchup against the Cleveland Browns, whom the Chiefs defeated 22-17 at Arrowhead Stadium last January in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.
The schedule also includes five primetime games with three appearances on Sunday Night Football (Week 2 at Baltimore, Week 5 at home versus Buffalo and Week 10 at Las Vegas), a Monday night Arrowhead showdown against the New York Giants and a Week 15 Thursday night visit to the Los Angeles Chargers. The Chiefs take their bye week in Week 12 during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Here’s the complete schedule (all times central time zone):
Week 1: vs. Cleveland Browns
3:25 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 12 on CBS
Week 2: at Baltimore Ravens
7:20 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 19 on NBC
Week 3: vs Los Angeles Chargers
Noon, Sunday, Sept. 26 on CBS
Week 4: at Philadelphia Eagles
Noon, Sunday, Oct. 3 on CBS
Week 5: vs. Buffalo Bills
7:20 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 10 on NBC
Week 6: at Washington Football Team
Noon, Sunday, Oct. 17 on CBS
Week 7: at Tennessee Titans
Noon, Sunday, Oct. 24 on CBS
Week 8: vs New York Giants
7:15 p.m., Monday, Nov. 1 on ESPN
Week 9: vs. Green Bay Packers
3:25 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 7 on FOX
Week 10: at Las Vegas Raiders
7:20 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 14 on NBC
Week 11: vs. Dallas Cowboys
3:25 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 21 on FOX
Week 12: BYE WEEK
Week 13: vs. Denver Broncos
Noon, Sunday, Dec. 5 on CBS
Week 14: vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Noon, Sunday, Dec. 12 on CBS
Week 15: at Los Angeles Chargers
7:20 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 16 on FOX/NFLN/Amazon
Week 16: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
3:25 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 26 on CBS
Week 17: at Cincinnati Bengals
Noon, Sunday, Jan. 2 on CBS
Week 18: at Denver Broncos
3:25 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 9 on CBS
The Chiefs also announced their 2021 preseason schedule as follows:
Week 1: at San Francisco 49ers
Time and date to be determined on KSHB/Chiefs Network
Week 2: at Arizona Cardinals
7 p.m., Friday, Aug. 20 on ESPN
Week 3: vs. Minnesota Vikings
Time to be determined, Friday, Aug. 27 on KSHB/Chiefs Network
Five observations on the Chiefs 2021 schedule
The Chiefs 2021 schedule is one that fans will probably like quite a bit.
It’s a difficult schedule — particularly early with back-to-back games against playoff teams from a year ago to begin the season — but when it comes to what Chiefs fans do the best of any fan base in the NFL — tailgating — this is a great schedule in that regard.
Here are five quick observations about the Chiefs 2021 schedule:
Of the Chiefs’ nine home games in 2021, only three have a noon kickoff. That means 66 percent of the tailgates (six of nine) will take place during prime tailgating hours.
Players and coaches will get holidays with their families this year. The bye week is during Thanksgiving, and the team plays at home the day after Christmas. It’s great for the players to get that quality time during the season.
The road game on Thursday, Dec. 6 against the Chargers will decide the AFC West race. Even though it’s months away, it’s still disappointing that a game that will probably decide a lot in the AFC playoff picture — barring any major injuries — will bring a factor like three days of rest for both teams into the mix 15 weeks into an 18-week season.
The Chiefs have five primetime games but only two of them are going to be played at Arrowhead Stadium. This marks the fifth straight year that the Chiefs haven’t had more home primetime games than road primetime games on the initial regular-season schedule. Over that same stretch of time, the Chiefs are the second-winningest team in the NFL (New Orleans). The folks at the NFL aren’t rewarding Arrowhead Stadium and Chiefs Kingdom with games under the lights at a stadium they say they love to promote. It seems like a thing to mention now.
The new-look Chiefs offensive line will be tested right from the start by the Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett and company in Week 1, and then turnaround and face the Ravens — Orlando Brown’s former team — in Week 2. The Ravens have some questions at edge rusher after losing Matthew Judon and Yannick Ngakoue. It’s obviously the top storyline of the offseason, but it won’t lose any steam looking at the first few weeks of the season for the Chiefs.
First five games pose test for Chiefs
The NFL didn’t do the Chiefs a ton of favors with the first five games of the 2021 schedule. Andy Reid and company will see some heavy hitters in the AFC to start their season. The Cleveland Browns (Week 1), Los Angeles Chargers (Week 3) and Buffalo Bills (Week 5) all come to Arrowhead to take on the defending AFC champions. In between those games are road trips to Baltimore (Week 2) and Philadelphia (Week 4) for Reid’s return to where his head coaching career started. The latter shouldn’t be a major challenge but the emotions for Big Red will certainly be there for that trip.
The Chiefs will repeat their road to the Super Bowl and go toe-to-toe with Lamar Jackson and Justin Herbert within the first five games. Three AFC playoff teams from last year — that’s a major challenge. But there is good news! The Chiefs have been dominant in the first five games of the season in recent memory. In the last four seasons, the Chiefs have been white-hot to start the season. They are 18-2 in the first five games of the season over the last four campaigns. In 2017 they beat the two Super Bowl participants that year to start their season (New England and Philadelphia).
The 2017 season may seem like a selective endpoint but Reid has really flexed his muscles offensively out of the gate these past four years — and a more aggressive attack in the passing game has driven the success. The offense has seen considerable growth and freshness year-over-year but these last four seasons have been noticeably different. Having the best player in the world under center for the last three seasons hasn’t exactly hurt either.
The new era of Chiefs football has seen this team consistently start hot regardless of who is in front of them. Even though it’s a difficult early slate, I wouldn’t bet against the Reid/Mahomes combo sustaining the same success they have had in recent memory. A team built with a lot of speed has shown an ability to start fast.
2021 Chiefs schedule by the numbers
Primetime games: 5
Noon games: 7
Late afternoon games: 5
The Chiefs are one of the NFL’s marquee franchises, as evidence by schedule makers setting them up with at least five primetime games for the fifth straight season. As BJ noted, the lack of night games at Arrowhead (10 scheduled since 2017 compared to 16 road games) is a curiosity given the stadium’s reputation as a premier setting. But the late afternoon window isn’t just for AFC West games anymore. Chiefs-Packers is a de facto national TV game, which also means it won’t get flexed to primetime. Games against the Browns, Cowboys and Steelers in the late window will also largely serve as national telecasts as well.
Games against 2020 playoff teams: 7
Teams on the Kansas City schedule went 138-132-2 last season, tied for the 11th strongest schedule heading into the season. The Chiefs play a total of eight games against teams that finished 8-8 or better in 2020. Yet while the Chiefs play six returning playoff teams in the first nine weeks, they play just one in the second half of the season and only have three games in the final nine weeks against returning teams with a .500 record or better.
Longest homestand: 31 days
One quirk of the schedule will leave the Chiefs with a chance to stay at home for an entire month. Once the club returns from their Week 10 contest in Las Vegas in the early morning hours of Nov. 15, they won’t take to the skies again until flying to Los Angeles on Dec. 15 to face the Chargers the following night. That month-long stay at home includes games against Dallas, Denver and Las Vegas along with the bye week. That should leave the team fresh heading into the season’s homestretch.
Longest road streak: 2 games
Not only do the Chiefs host nine home games in this year’s 17-game schedule, they only play back-to-back games on the road twice all season. Neither of those travel situations poses much concern either — a Week 6 trip to Washington followed by a visit to Tennessee and a Week 17 flight to Cincinnati with a trip to Denver the next week.
Key matchups
Week 1 vs. Cleveland Browns
This game will probably appear on every list of important contests. The Browns are an up-and-coming team and the Chiefs are the Darth Vader of the AFC — anyone who wants to become a Jedi must overcome Patrick Mahomes first. Myles Garrett and the Browns pass rush poses a key Week 1 test for the rebuilt Chiefs offensive line.
Week 2 at Baltimore Ravens
This contest doesn’t have quite the luster as the past two matchups between the clubs but Lamar Jackson versus Mahomes will always be a treat to watch. If the Chiefs can start the season 2-0, their Super Bowl odds will skyrocket.
Week 5 vs. Buffalo Bills
The AFC is the quarterback conference and Josh Allen is another prolific passer who needs a win over the Chiefs to prove himself. Sunday Night Football at Arrowhead Stadium sells itself, making this arguably the premier game on Kansas City’s home schedule.
Week 7 at Tennessee Titans
In their last 24 regular-season games the Chiefs are 21-3 with a Week 17 throwaway loss to the Chargers and a subpar Week 5 performance against the Raiders last year … and a 35-32 loss at Tennessee in 2019. The Chiefs later exacted their revenge in the AFC Championship game, but the Titans still pose an intriguing challenge for the Chiefs. Tennessee is 3-1 against Reid in Kansas City, his second-worst record versus any NFL team (more on that in a moment).
Week 9 vs. Green Bay Packers
Sure, it may not end up Rodgers-Mahomes I, it could be Mahomes-Jordan Love I or Mahomes-Blake Bortles II. But Chiefs-Packers will always be a Super Bowl I rematch, and the atmosphere is electric when the Cheeseheads invade Arrowhead. Also, the Packers have beaten Reid’s Chiefs twice, making them the only team Reid hasn’t defeated since arriving in Kansas City
Week 10 at Las Vegas Raiders
The road game that Chiefs fans have been waiting for — the opportunity to head to Sin City and visit the new Death Star in the desert. The Raiders still have work to do in becoming a playoff team, and another win against the Chiefs would go a long way toward that goal. How many Chiefs fans will pile into that new stadium? And how many of them will place bets on the Chiefs to win the Super Bowl while they are there?
Week 16 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
It remains to be seen if the Steelers can repeat their 12-4 season from a year ago that included a bit of smoke and mirrors, and who knows how much 39-year-old Ben Roethlisberger will still have in the tank in December? But the Chiefs have a front-loaded schedule, facing just one returning playoff team in the last nine weeks — the Steelers. Unless one of Kansas City’s AFC West rivals jumps into the playoff race or Dallas or Cincinnati reverses their fortune, Pittsburgh poses the one last test for the Chiefs heading into the playoffs.
Tough stretches
Week 1 vs. Cleveland, Week 2 at Baltimore
As Kent mentioned earlier, the Chiefs open up a tough early-season schedule with back-to-back tests against playoff teams from a year ago that also expect to appear in the hunt again this season. The Browns and Ravens each won 11 games last season, making this the only occasion in which the Chiefs play consecutive games against teams with more than eight wins in 2020. The Chiefs under Andy Reid have had great success against both squads, however, going undefeated in four contests against both the Browns and Ravens.
Week 5 vs. Buffalo, Week 6 at Washington, Week 7 at Tennessee
This is the only stretch of the season where the Chiefs play three consecutive games against playoff teams from a year ago, even if Washington snuck in with a 7-9 record. The trip to Washington falling between tough games against the Bills and Titans serves as the only arguable “trap game” on the schedule, although the Chiefs should be a prohibitive road favorite in this one. The Bills lost twice to the Chiefs last season, and this will be the game Buffalo circles on their schedule. Don’t forget Kansas City lost their last trip to Tennessee, the disappointing 35-32 loss that served as the springboard to the club’s Super Bowl LIV run.
Three of four on the road finishing the season
Reid owns a 24-8 record in the final four games of the regular season since arriving in Kansas City, thanks in large part to a 15-4 home record in that stretch. This season the Chiefs finish with three of their final four games on the road. On the bright side, the Chiefs face the Chargers, Bengals and Broncos in those three road games, teams that combined for only 16 wins last season. The Chiefs have the tough task of visiting the Chargers with short rest on a Thursday night (Reid’s Chiefs own a 5-4 record on Thursday night). Another upside is the 10-day mini-bye week before hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Flexible scheduling
Increasingly the NFL schedule is set in pencil, not pen, especially late in the season with the league determined to put marquee matchups in prime television windows.
Flexing games from Sunday afternoon to Sunday night applies to Weeks 5 through 18 this season. The league can flex two games from Week to Week 10, and any Sunday afternoon game can move to the primetime slot that night starting in Week 11. In Week 18 there will also be two Saturday afternoon games with playoff implications flexed from Sunday.
The NFL’s latest round of contracts with its broadcast partners for the new 17-game schedule permits teams to appear in primetime games a maximum of seven times. That means that the Chiefs could always find themselves with two more games in primetime, but don’t necessarily bet on it. It’s unlikely the Packers, Cowboys or Steelers games will flex from their 3:25 p.m. start times. That makes home games against the Broncos and Raiders and the road game at Cincinnati candidates, but it also means for those clubs to outperform expectations.
What’s your prediction for the Chiefs’ record in 2021? What do you think of the schedule? Visit the KC Sports Network and let us know your thoughts!
Great appraisal.
Given the notorious complexity of Reid's offense, I am prepared for OL growing pains, but there's nothing like Myles Garrett in Week 1 to get that room focused through the summer. The front-loaded schedule (Joey Bosa in Week 3) would seem to favor starting Remmers over a rookie, which may lead to more turnover that lowers the ceiling later on.
The Clark/Reed duo is gonna need to produce pressure early, too.
The late short week at the Chargers takes me back to Super Bowl season in '19, where we needed a near-fluke Chargers loss to win the AFC West and avoid a road wild card game. It could get messy, and we gotta hold serve in Week 3.
13-4 feels right, but with more upside than downside.
I think the Chiefs lose 2 or 3 games this year but I'm not sure which ones they'll be yet. They'll most likely be stupid losses to bad teams since that seems to be our MO the past couple of years.