3 initial observations on the Chiefs’ 2025 schedule

On Wednesday, the NFL released the 2025-26 regular season schedule. Fans of the Kansas City Chiefs should make plans for some late nights — and to plan two major holidays around football. Here’s what to know about the team’s 17 regular-season games.

The NFL doesn’t buy into ‘Chiefs fatigue’

You may have a friend or cousin living in another market groaning that the Chiefs have too many high-profile slots. Someone you’ve interacted with on social media might even swear off watching Kansas City in prime time for fear that a few seconds of the broadcast may feature a high-profile romantic partner of a certain tight end. Someone somewhere still clings to anger over perceived biased officiating, vowing to never tune in to the Chiefs — or possibly football in general — again.

The NFL appears ready to call the bluff of its most angry clients.

Via early schedule leaks, we have known that the Chiefs would be visiting the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving and hosting the Denver Broncos on Christmas night. The first third of the season, however, will feature Kansas City early and often.

In Week 1, the Chiefs will face the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil on a Friday night. The event, which will air for free on YouTube, will almost certainly set a record for the most-streamed live event. Kansas City will then appear on two of the first six Sunday Night Football telecasts on NBC — traveling to face the New York Giants in Week 3 while hosting the Detroit Lions in Week 6. The Chiefs will also play a road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on ESPN’s Week 5 edition of Monday Night Football.

Even the first two Sundays with 3:25 Arrowhead Time kickoffs will have massive viewership. In Week 2, the Chiefs will host the Philadelphia Eagles in a Super Bowl rematch that will be nationally televised on FOX. The vast majority of the country will likely also see their CBS-affiliate broadcast the Chiefs hosting the Baltimore Ravens in Week 4 — outside a small sampling of markets likely getting the Las Vegas Raiders hosting the Chicago Bears.

Many football fans may well be tired of seeing the Chiefs win. The league is betting, however, that many of the disillusioned will tune in to root for Kansas City’s opponents.

The Chiefs likely have a brutal first half of the season

A caveat in assessing the schedule should be that we do not know which teams will fail to take an expected next step, which teams will rise above meager expectations, and — most importantly — which squads will be blessed with optimal health. All things being equal, however, the Chiefs’ first nine games appear frontloaded with the best opponents.

Kansas City will play five of the other seven squads who advanced to the second round of last season’s playoffs in that span (a sixth, the Houston Texans, will subsequently visit Arrowhead in Week 14). With always tough divisional contests against the Chargers and Raiders mixed in, we may learn much about how the Chiefs will rebound from a disappointing Super Bowl loss over the season’s first half.

Kansas City will become well acquainted with the top of the 2025 NFL Draft

Former Penn State pass rusher Abdul Carter and Colorado’s two-way superstar Travis Hunter were widely considered the best players in last month’s draft. The Chiefs will first encounter both top prospects on the road during the first five games of the season, with Carter now a Giant and Hunter a Jaguar.

Late in the season, the Chiefs will get their initial look the draft’s top selection, former Miami quarterback Cam Ward, when they visit the Tennessee Titans during Week 16.

Kansas City will also now face generationally talented former Boise State running back Ashton Jeanty — now a Raider — twice each season, beginning with a home contest in Week 7 before concluding the season by traveling to Sin City in Week 17.

Time will tell on the rookies’ star power, but four of the draft’s top six selections will line up against the Chiefs in their first season.