Given their third-place finish in the AFC West a season ago, one would expect the Kansas City Chiefs' schedule to lighten up a bit in 2026-27.
That's certainly the case... early on.
Kansas City's full schedule is out, which sees quarterback Patrick Mahomes and company have the easiest schedule in Weeks 1-4 (per Sharp Football Analysis) based on forecasted win totals. There's no denying a relatively simple start, but having a Week 5 bye is also a major bummer.
That's just the tip of the iceberg, too. A more complete look at the schedule reveals that the Chiefs could be challenged down the stretch, which coincides with a presumed run at the postseason.
Chiefs could face six consecutive playoff teams in Weeks 12-17
Over a 12-week stretch, the Chiefs will play at Arrowhead Stadium just three times.
That's a grind. https://t.co/xzb8SHeXp1
— Sam McDowell (@SamMcDowell11) May 14, 2026
Weeks 9-11 feature bouts with three struggling franchises: the New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals. Week 18 contains a regular-season finale against the Las Vegas Raiders. It's the slate of outings in between that likely will define the 2026-27 Chiefs campaign.
Week 12: at Buffalo Bills
Week 13: at Los Angeles Rams
Week 14: at Cincinnati Bengals
Week 15: New England Patriots
Week 16: San Francisco 49ers
Week 17: at Los Angeles Chargers
Of those six games, four are on the road and five are against teams that made the playoffs last year. Half of the contests are in primetime. The Week 14-18 games make up the seventh-hardest strength of schedule, Warren Sharp tweets. That's a lot of pressure for a team to face while it's trying to ramp up for January.
The six future Chiefs foes boast a combined record of 67-35, good for a .657 winning percentage. For reference, per ESPN, the Chicago Bears have the hardest whole-season strength of schedule based on an opponent win rate of .550 from the year before. This grueling span of games for Kansas City, statistically, is 10.7% more difficult than that.
The worst team from a year ago, the 6-11 Cincinnati Bengals, was the only one even remotely close to below .500 in record. If quarterback Joe Burrow is healthy, Cincy could pose a threat as yet another postseason contender. It's possible that all teams in this six-week period qualify for the playoffs.
Add in that the Chiefs are one of eight teams with two or fewer overall games coming off a rest advantage, and you get a full view of the schedule. That's without even considering their five games with a rest disadvantage.
Sure, this isn't the most daunting schedule in the league. It's far from a cakewalk, though, and the aforementioned Week 12-17 gauntlet drives that point home.
If the Chiefs accomplish their goal of winning a Super Bowl, it could be because they were battle-tested in November and December. There's a world in which they're playing postseason-style football for six of their last seven regular-season contests.
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