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Kansas City Chiefs: Potential opponents for 2020 season opener

By Leigh Oleszczak

KANSAS CITY, MO - OCTOBER 2: Fireworks shoot off before the game between the Washington Redskins and Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on October 2, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. ( Photo by Brian Davidson/Getty Images )
KANSAS CITY, MO - OCTOBER 2: Fireworks shoot off before the game between the Washington Redskins and Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on October 2, 2017 in Kansas City, Missouri. ( Photo by Brian Davidson/Getty Images ) /
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As the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Kansas City Chiefs more than likely will open up the 2020 NFL season. Who will they raise their banner against?

Aside from this past year, it’s become tradition for the reigning Super Bowl champion to open up the NFL season and that means it’ll more than likely be the Kansas City Chiefs being part of the first regular season game for the 2020 campaign, which will take place on Thursday, September 10th.

While this past year’s game didn’t follow the tradition, it was also the NFL’s 100th season and the consensus seemed to be that people were sick of the Patriots. Things should go back to normal this year, as the Chiefs are new blood and it won’t be a special occasion.

So, which opponent could be the one who the Chiefs raise the Super Bowl LIV champions banner against?As we all know, the Chiefs have eight games at Arrowhead, meaning there will be eight potential choices when it comes to picking the opponent.

The Chiefs will host the following teams in 2020:

  • Atlanta Falcons
  • Carolina Panthers
  • Denver Broncos
  • Houston Texans
  • Las Vegas Raiders
  • Los Angeles Chargers
  • New England Patriots
  • New York Jets

When looking at the 2020 teams coming into Arrowhead, only two really stand out to be the 2020 season opener and those are the Patriots and Texans. The Patriots stand out for obvious reasons and it could be revenge for the Patriots for KC coming into their house and ruining their banner night in 2017.

At the same time, however, we’ll have to see what happens with Tom Brady this offseason. If Brady doesn’t return to New England, then it’s unlikely the Patriots will be chosen as the team coming into Arrowhead for the week one game.

The Texans would be a popular choice because it would pit Patrick Mahomes against Deshaun Watson. It’d be a rematch of the AFC Divisional Round in which the Chiefs rallied from down 24-0 to then blow out the Texans by 20+ points.

Some dark horse choices could be the Broncos, Chargers, or Panthers.

  • The Broncos have the potential to be a sneaky team next year assuming Drew Lock takes the next step and their defense improves.
  • The Chargers have been rumored to be a potential landing spot for Tom Brady, so if he chooses Los Angeles as his next team, then the Chargers would be a strong candidate as the opponent for the season opener.
  • Carolina probably won’t be the choice, but if they make some kind of noise at the quarterback position, that could be a match-up people wouldn’t expect.

We’ll have a better idea of what the potential week one match-up could be once free agency and the draft take place. Tom Brady’s next team (if there is a next team) will play a big role in deciding who marches into Arrowhead on September 10th.

Who would be your pick to play the Kansas City Chiefs on banner night in September to kickoff the 2020 NFL season?

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