Kansas City Chiefs: Toughest stretch on 2020 schedule
By Cullen Jekel
In 2020, the Chiefs’ idle week comes in Week 10 after which they’ll play four of their next five games on the road with the home game a Sunday night affair against a division rival.
And therein lies our answer: that five-game stretch beginning in Week 11 and ending in Week 15 will test the Kansas City Chiefs like no other cluster of games in 2020.
The first game of the stretch indeed comes off the bye week, and we all know how well Andy Reid does in such situations. Still, that game is on the road with the team playing in Las Vegas for the first time ever against a Raiders team who’ll just have faced the Chiefs about a month-and-a-half earlier. The Chiefs should win, yes, but it’ll be no cakewalk*.
*Let’s rank cakes! No. 1: Angel food, No. 2: Cheesecake, No. 3: Ice cream cake, No. 4: Red velvet, No. 5: Devil’s food, Nos. 6-999: A bunch of other cakes, No. 1,000: Fruitcake.
The Chiefs follow up that match-up with a trip to Tampa, Florida, to take on the Buccaneers – another team that underwent an overhaul in the offseason – adding Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, among others, while departing with some veterans, such as quarterback Jameis Winston.
But this game will be in Week 12. The Bucs, under Brady’s tutelage, should be a pretty cohesive unit by then, maybe even challenging the Saints for the NFC South title.
In the middle of this stretch comes a home game, a Sunday Night Football game, where the Chiefs host the Broncos. What you think of the Broncos will obviously influence what you think of this contest.
Personally, I don’t think the Broncos will be as good as they’re being hyped, but they’ll still be the second-best team in the AFC West. If Lock takes that next step, this will be a fun, high-scoring affair. But the Chiefs must take care of business while at home.