While much has been made about the Kansas City Chiefs' late-season schedule that includes a truly brutal run, what lies before this has been overlooked. The schedule-makers have stacked Kansas City's winnable games, giving the franchise a chance to get off to an incredibly hot start and build its confidence going into the season's most difficult stretch. After opening the season in Arrowhead against the Denver Broncos, the road becomes far easier with KC being set up to go on a clear run that puts them at the top of the AFC West.
After Week 1, the Chiefs are scheduled to play the Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins, Las Vegas Raiders, and the Los Angeles Chargers. This is a stretch of games that has 4-0 written all over it, no matter how the team fares in the first week showdown with Denver. After this stretch, there are two difficult games against the Seattle Seahawks and the second matchup against the Broncos as the Chiefs go on the road.
However, this is again followed by as easy a stretch as you will see with the New York Jets, Atlanta Falcons, and Arizona Cardinals scheduled. Even if the Chiefs were to split with Denver and lose to Seattle, this sets the team up to start the season 8-2 before heading into a difficult stretch.
Chiefs early-season schedule sets up Kansas City for hot start
It isn't out of the question that KC could even run the table in the first ten games with Patrick Mahomes having a 13-2 record against Denver, and the Seattle Seahawks perhaps regressing coming off last year's Super Bowl run. Regardless of how it shakes out, there is no denying the franchise is set up for an incredibly hot start that should announce their return to prominence in the playoff picture.
There is reason to wonder if the schedule makers did this on purpose, offering Kansas City a runway to dominance before putting all of their most difficult games in a row towards the end of the 2026 season. A decision that makes sense from a watchability standpoint, stacking Kansas City's toughest matchups after the team has put itself back into the conversation among the league's elite.
No matter the reasoning behind why things shook out the way they did, the Chiefs stand to benefit. It offers Patrick Mahomes a great chance to ramp up, and KC the opportunity to establish itself as the class of the AFC, stacking up early wins thanks to a schedule offering no shortage of underwhelming franchises to take on over the season's first ten weeks.
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