Everything you need to know about the Chiefs schedule release

Adam Schefter reported this morning that the Chiefs will kickoff the NFL season against the Baltimore Ravens on September 5th. Let's dive into what else we will find out over the next two days.

We have known who and where the Chiefs' 2024 opponents are since the conclusion of the 2023 season, but on Wednesday we will find out when. Games get leaked the days leading up to the release, so unless the NFL cleans up some of that, we may know the answers to a lot of questions before Wednesday evening. This morning, for instance, the NFL announced the Baltimore Ravens will be the ones kicking off the NFL season at Arrowhead against the Kansas City Chiefs. Before diving in, let’s check out who the Chiefs have on the docket in 2024 in their quest for a three-peat. 

Home Games:

• Denver Broncos

• Las Vegas Raiders

• Los Angeles Chargers

• Baltimore Ravens (Home opener)

• Cincinnati Bengals

• Houston Texans

• New Orleans Saints

• Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

Away Games:

• Denver Broncos

• Las Vegas Raiders

• Los Angeles Chargers

• Cleveland Browns

• Pittsburgh Steelers

• Buffalo Bills

• Atlanta Falcons

• Carolina Panthers

• San Francisco 49ers

The Chiefs' opponents had a combined winning percentage of .502, which is tied for 16th among all NFL teams for their 2024 NFL schedule. That is particularly low for a reigning Super Bowl Champion, so with the way the divisional rotations shook out, the Chiefs wound up pretty lucky in that regard. With that said, a year prior is no indication of success or failure in the following year. 

Other than the Chargers, the AFC West will probably remain bottom feeders in the league, but the AFC North is very talented, and the NFC South can only improve from how bad they were last season. All of the Chiefs' first-place opponents should remain on the up and up, other than maybe the Buffalo Bills after their mass exodus this offseason. They still have the second-best quarterback in the league though. 

Other than the Miami Dolphins, the Chiefs will have a rematch with the rest of the three playoff teams they faced on their way to hoisting Super Bowl 58’s Lombardi Trophy. When those games happen will be exciting in and of itself, but here are some things I am going to look for on Wednesday evening and the hours leading up to it. 

In the following year of the Chiefs' past Super Bowl seasons, they kicked the NFL season off with the Houston Texans and the Detroit Lions. The usual suspect is a reigning champion to take on an up-and-coming team. The NFL is breaking away from that a bit, as we now know it will be against the 2023 AFC Championship opponent with the Ravens coming to town. 

The Ravens and Chiefs have faced off many times over the past six years since Mahomes took over and that storyline in week one speaks for itself. Patrick Mahomes is 4-1 in battles going up against Lamar Jackson, including the playoffs. Marquise Brown, who played three seasons in Baltimore is surely excited for this game, but the Ravens likely will be too after the Chiefs left them one game away from the Super Bowl. With defensive end, Charles Omenihu recovering from a torn ACL in that game and cornerback L’Jarius Sneed bolting for Tennessee this offseason, the Chiefs defense will have something to prove. Both of those players played a key role in Kanas City’s AFC Championship victory. 

The next question becomes, how many prime-time games will the Chiefs have, who will they come against and when will they happen? Many believed the Texans were primed for the season kickoff game, but they may have had too much hype attached to their name. They are a step ahead of where the Lions were last season, especially after adding defensive ends Danielle Hunter and Denico Autrey, as well as former Bills star receiver, Stefon Diggs. I would imagine this will still be a prime-time matchup. 

C.J. Stroud and the Texans rose to stardom last season under first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans. They came on late and caught the Jacksonville Jaguars to take the AFC South and even won a playoff game, routing the Cleveland Browns, 45-14 in the Wild Card round. Stroud won Rookie of the Year, tossing over 4,100 yards and 23 touchdowns, while only throwing five interceptions. Stroud and Mahomes have yet to face off and if the Texans are all they are cracked up to be, 2024 could be a start to a renewed rivalry that was left behind by Deshaun Watson. 

Another thing to watch out for is when, where and against whom the Chiefs will play on their annual Thursday night game. Even when a team wins the Super Bowl, they can still be scheduled for an additional one. The past few seasons it has been against a divisional opponent, which helps with familiarity on short rest. 

Each NFL team can be scheduled for six prime-time games but can be flexed to a seventh in the middle of a season. For the last several years the NFL has maxed out the Chiefs six due to all of the demand for their product, but they were flexed down to five last season because the New England Patriots underperformed. 

Especially with Kansas City kicking off the NFL season, I would presume they get maxed out again. With the CBS game of the week being such a prime slot in the afternoon hour, the six-night games might not necessarily mean that they will play the best teams, similar to how New England was scheduled last season. 

With seven playoff teams, plus the Bengals on Kansas City’s schedule, it will not be hard to find opponents for these games, though. Typically, at least one divisional game is prime time too, and I would put my money on the Chargers being one of those. Another game I would bet my mortgage on is the 49ers road-game matchup. After the two have played in two of the last five Super Bowls, prime time is a no-brainer. 

I would imagine the Bengals-Chiefs will either be in prime time or the 3:25 window on CBS. With Joe Burrow’s return and the Bengals being one of the only AFC teams that have beaten the Chiefs in a meaningful game, it would make for a ton of intrigue. You can copy and paste everything said about the Bengals and apply it to the Bills as well, minus beating the Chiefs in a meaningful game. The Josh Allen-Patrick Mahomes rivalry is a sufficient enough battle in itself to warrant another prime-time game, though. 

The Saints and Buccaneers do not really have a whole lot going for them, so these could be two home games that could actually take place at noon in Kansas City time, which is a rarity these days. Tampa Bay did make the playoffs last year and returned nearly everybody. Watching Derek Carr come back to Arrowhead in black and gold instead of black and silver would be fun for Chiefs fans, but I am not sure how fun it would be for anyone else. 

My personal favorite opponent for prime-time is the Chargers given the addition of head coach Jim Harbaugh and Justin Herbert being a top-five quarterback. It would have been fun to kick off the season against a divisional opponent, but that is sort of a taboo idea. It has happened three times in the last 20 years. With Bo Nix and Gardner Minshew likely leading the other two divisional franchises, I would not consider Denver or Las Vegas an option for prime time, other than possibly a throw-away mid-season Thursday night game. 

The Browns and Steelers are good enough teams to be under-the-radar teams to watch when it comes to prime time. The Steelers are a national brand and always catch good ratings. The Browns were a very good team last year and Travis Kelce’s hometown is Cleveland, making for a good storyline. The Atlanta Falcons are a noon road game if I have ever heard one, but we all know how good Kirk Cousins is in non-prime slots. 

While not prime time by definition, the other thing to keep an eye on is if the Chiefs could be playing overseas or on Christmas Day again. There is also the possibility of them drawing a Thanksgiving Day game for the first time since 2006, which would be fun. 

It is unlikely the NFL put the Chiefs in Germany in back-to-back years, but the Chiefs do hold rights in Germany, as do the Panthers. With the Panthers set to play in Germany and host Kansas City this year, it could stand to reason the Chiefs draw that as one of their nine road games. Carolina may also not want the Chiefs in Germany, which is part of the equation as well. If the Chiefs do not get picked for Germany, I would imagine a noon game in Charlotte is incoming. 

As far as Christmas goes, this would not be a very enticing draw because it lies on a Wednesday this year. The NFL has fully taken over the day from the NBA and is willing to put players out there on short rest to do it. It should be noted that it was reported that if a team does draw the Christmas Day game, they will be scheduled for a Saturday game the week before, so it will be the same rest as a typical Thursday game. 

The Lions and Cowboys always play in the first two games of Thanksgiving, so if the Chiefs do get their first Turkey Day game in nearly 20 years, it will be a night game. It is unclear if that counts as one of the six prime-time games, but I would assume it does, as well as count as their extra Thursday game. Unlike Christmas on a Wednesday, Thanksgiving is meant for football, and it would be a glorious day watching the Chiefs in the Mahomes era at the end of it. 

The bye week is something the teams care about more than the fans, but if you care about the Chiefs winning as many games as possible, this is one to look at. Everybody knows Andy Reid’s bye-week magic, so it is nice to catch a decent opponent coming off the week of rest. In particular, you would like it to be an AFC team such as the Bengals, Texans or Bills. These are all teams that the Chiefs would want to have a head-to-head matchup advantage on. All four of those teams have a decent chance at winning their division and battling for a one-seed with Kansas City. 

The other thing to look for with the bye is if it is later on in the season. With the Chiefs playing 20 to 21 games the past couple of seasons, the later the regular season bye week, the better. The Chiefs prefer this and have had a week 10 or later bye week in six of the last seven seasons. The late-season rest will be huge for guys like Travis Kelce, Joe Thuney and Chris Jones. 

One thing to keep your eye out for in terms of a potentially grueling part of the schedule is the number of consecutive road games at any given stretch. With the NFL’s odd scheduling, the Chiefs have eight home games and nine road games. That normally is not a big deal, but after week one that ratio will dwindle down to seven to nine. With the Chargers, Browns, Steelers, Bills and 49ers as tough road opponents, you would not want to see too many of them on a three-game road trip if they were forced to take on one. 

The last thing I am looking for is who the Chiefs' week two opponent is. Much like the bye week, you might want it to be against a quality AFC team because they will have 10 days to prepare for them. Last season it was against the Jacksonville Jaguars and while the Chiefs looked lackluster in that game, it still benefited them to catch a playoff contender and tally a mark in the win column that early in the season. 

As I said, the speculation about all of this will come to an end soon and with the leaks, we will be able to put two-and-two together for some of these. Regardless, it will be highly entertaining to learn the ins and outs of the Chiefs 2024 schedule on Wednesday evening.