On Friday night, the Kansas City Chiefs begin their campaign for what they hope will be a fourth consecutive Super Bowl appearance by traveling to Arena Corinthians in São Paulo, Brazil for an International Series game against an AFC West rival: the Los Angeles Chargers. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Arrowhead Time. The game will be carried on the free YouTube streaming service and two television stations: KSHB/41 in Kansas City and KNBC/5 in Los Angeles.
After losing their bid for an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl victory in February, Kansas City hopes to turn things around with first-round rookie left tackle Josh Simmons and second-year left guard Kingsley Suamataia anchoring the blind side of the offensive line. Meanwhile, quarterback Patrick Mahomes is hoping to rejuvenate the team’s deep passing attack — which has lain dormant for the last couple of seasons — with a reworked wide receiver group: second-year man Xavier Worthy, a healthy Hollywood Brown, veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster and exciting newcomer Tyquan Thornton. But the team’s top wide receiving threat — Rashee Rice — will miss this matchup. It will be the first of six games in which he will serve an NFL suspension.