KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The 2024 NFL schedule has officially been released and there were some curve balls thrown in the selection of games.
This will be the earliest Patrick Mahomes has had a bye week. That is less than ideal considering their stretch after Thanksgiving.
The Chiefs having to play three games in 10 days from Dec. 15 through Christmas Day is a tough stretch with eight games in front of it.
Here is an early prediction that will likely change but the time preseason ends.
Week 1 — Sept. 5 — Baltimore Ravens, 7:20 p.m. on KSHB 41
The Chiefs get to start the season off with a jolt.
An AFC Championship rematch that will pair quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson on the national stage.
The Ravens come in without their previous defensive coordinator, Mike Macdonald, who is the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.
New defensive coordinator Zachary Orr gets to call his first game against an Andy Reid offense. The Chiefs run defense will need to be on point and tackle well early.
Prediction: Chiefs move to 1-0
Week 2 — Sept. 15 — Cincinnati Bengals, 3:25 p.m.
This feels like the league wanted to make sure Joe Burrow was still available for this game.
It will be interesting this season with both Brian Callahan in Tennessee now.
New offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher will potentially still be trying to find his footing play calling wise. It will be a physical two game stretch for the Chiefs against the AFC North.
Prediction: Chiefs move to 2-0
Week 3 — Sept. 22 — at Atlanta Falcons, 7:20 p.m. on KSHB 41
The Chiefs get to experience the Kirk Cousins era early in the season.
The league gets the 8th ranked TV market in the country and Mahomes in primetime.
The numbers will do well because of the Falcons being an unknown at this point in the season.
Prediction: Chiefs move to 3-0
Week 4 — Sept. 29 — at Los Angeles Chargers, 3:25 p.m.
The Jim Harbaugh era against the Chiefs gets a quick debut in the season.
The Chargers will be building a power run game that might give the Chiefs fits.
The team seeing the Ravens in week one will answer quickly where the Chiefs are as a run defense and help prepare them for this week.
How quickly the Chargers players buy in will determine if this game is close or not.
Prediction: Chiefs move to 4-0
Week 5 — Oct. 7 — New Orleans Saints, 7:15 p.m.
GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium gets its first Monday night experience of the season.
Derek Carr likely won’t be much of a draw and this game doesn’t have much sizzle to it at this time.
Prediction: Chiefs move to 5-0
Week 6 — Bye week
This will be the earliest off week that Patrick Mahomes experiences during his time in Kansas City.
Ideally, the bye week would have been perfect in Week 12; unfortunately the Chiefs got the Carolina Panthers that week.
Week 7 — Oct. 20, at San Francisco 49ers, 3:25 p.m.
The Super Bowl rematch is perfectly fit near the middle of the season.
It allows the teams to evolve, enough time under their belts to get into a rhythm and could be a potential Super Bowl preview if both teams can remain healthy.
The 49ers will want this more as the Chiefs try to recreate their momentum from the abrupt restart off the bye week.
Prediction: Chiefs fall 5-1
Week 8 — Oct. 27, at Las Vegas Raiders, 3:25 p.m.
The Raiders will come into the Chiefs game having played the Steelers and Rams.
The will also be through three AFC north teams at that point. Head coach Antonio Pierce will know how tough his football is by this point in the season. The Chiefs will not overlook the Raiders. Pierce made sure of that.
Prediction: Chiefs move to 6-1
Week 9 — Nov. 4 - vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 7:15 p.m.
The Chiefs get another NFC South matchup in primetime.
Tampa Bay provides a Top 15 market for ratings purposes and the Chiefs are guaranteed to bring in numbers.
The matchup itself may not provide the fireworks you would hope for on Monday night.
Prediction: Chiefs move to 7-1
Week 10 — Nov. 10 — vs Denver Broncos, 12:00 p.m.
A rare noon kickoff slips into the Chiefs schedule.
Broncos head coach Sean Payton will likely know what he has in rookie Bo Nix by this point.
Payton proved to be a tough adversary for the Chiefs last year. Russell Wilson played some of his best football and the Chiefs offense struggled in both matchups.
The Broncos will be coming off a physical road game in Baltimore.
Prediction: Chiefs move to 8-1
Week 11 — November 17 — at Buffalo Bills, 3:25 p.m.
The Bills will be counting down the days for this game — the scene of their last playoff defeat. Buffalo always performs strong against the Chiefs in the regular season.
Andy Reid and Steve Spagnuolo are OK with not revealing all of their moves before the playoffs.
Prediction: Chiefs fall to 8-2
Week 12 — Nov. 24 — at Carolina Panthers, 12:00 p.m.
This is an ideal bounce back game for the Chiefs on a short week ahead of Thanksgiving and their Black Friday matchup.
Prediction: Chiefs move to 9-2
Week 13 — Nov. 29 — vs Las Vegas Raiders, 2:00 p.m.
GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium after Thanksgiving could be a charged atmosphere.
Again, the Chiefs will likely remember the comments of Antonio Pierce during the offseason and remind them of their place in the division until they get a respectable quarterback.
Prediction: Chiefs move to 10-2
Week 14 — Dec. 8 — vs Los Angeles Chargers, 7:20 p.m. on KSHB 41
Sunday Night Football returns to Arrowhead for the first time during the season.
Jim Harbaugh will have his team firing on all cylinders with the roster he has available to him.
This will not be an easy game, but the additional two days of rest does the trick for the Chiefs.
Prediction: Chiefs move to 11-2
Week 15 — Dec. 15 — at Cleveland Browns, 12:00 p.m.
There is a chance this game gets played at a different time. The Browns quarterback situation will determine a great deal of this.
Cleveland is a team on the edge between a ton of promise and a basement dweller.
Their final stretch includes the Steelers, Chiefs, Bengals, Dolphins and Ravens. They will be battled tested if they make the playoffs.
Prediction: Chiefs move to 12-2
Week 16 — Dec. 21 — Houston Texans, 12:00 p.m.
This is the middle portion of a tough stretch from the Browns to the Steelers over a 10 day period.
The Chiefs will have a formidable opponent in the Texans.
The benefit for the Chiefs will be that the Texans played the Dolphins the week before. So they should have pretty good idea on how the Texans will defend them.
Prediction: Chiefs move to 13-2
Week 17 — Dec. 25 — at Pittsburgh Steelers, 12:00 p.m.
This is where I think the 10 day stretch catches up with the Chiefs.
The NFL did a great job of evening out the fairness in this 10 day stretch between all four teams.
This feels like a spot where the Chiefs are running on empty, but if a number one seed isn’t wrapped up at this point, they might be able to push through.
Prediction: Chiefs fall to 13-3
Week 18 — Jan. 4 or 5 — at Denver Broncos
The date and time are still up in the air until around Christmas.
The Chiefs get an extra three days of rest over the Denver Broncos. Denver takes on the Bengals the previous week on Saturday.
If the number one playoff seed in on the line, the Chiefs go full throttle with this game.
But if they are able to rest their players I see the Broncos coming away with a victory to begin their 2025 campaign.
Prediction: Chiefs move to 14-3
I will release another prediction article in September ahead of the Chiefs 2024 season. That one will have a better gauge of the Chiefs roster from training camp and preseason observations.
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