Kansas City Chiefs: Toughest opponents on 2018 schedule

The opponents for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2018 were determined at the end of the 2017 regular season. It won’t be an easy road for the Chiefs next season.

The road schedule in particular will be brutal for the Kansas City Chiefs, as they’ll face five teams with winning records from a season ago on the road, with three of those teams being playoff squads.

While the dates of the games haven’t been announced yet, we can still dive into the opponents and which games will be the toughest for the Chiefs. We haven’t seen what anyone’s done in the draft yet, but the bulk of free agency has come and gone, so fans have an idea as to what these teams will look like this upcoming season and whether they’ll be good or not.

So, let’s get to it. Who will be the toughest teams for the Chiefs in 2018?

TOUGHEST OPPONENTS ON 2018 SCHEDULE – SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS

The Chiefs will face the NFC West this year and one of the teams on the rise from that division is the San Francisco 49ers. A year ago, the 49ers would not have made this list, but all it takes is a good quarterback to make a team scary.

The Niners got their quarterback midseason in 2017 in the form of Jimmy Garoppolo and he appeared to make all of the difference for them down the stretch. They went from having just one win to finishing the year with six wins and it’s hard not to give Jimmy G props for that. He sure got paid for his efforts.

The Niners are going to be a popular “Dark Horse” pick by a lot of analysts this offseason and deservedly so. I’m still not sure that they’re the best team in their division, but having a good quarterback at least puts you in position to compete every week.

This game will be played at Arrowhead, which is nice, but still not a guaranteed win. Plus, 49er fans travel quite well (and they appear to be everywhere), so don’t be shocked if a darker shade of red can fill up a good portion of Arrowhead Stadium when these two square off.