Three things that stand out from the Chiefs' 2026 schedule
There are very few easy stretches for any NFL team, but the Chiefs' start and finish to the season are already fascinating.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ 2026 schedule is set, and their release video was funny! What else could you ask for?
Well, how about six primetime games and arguably the toughest six-game stretch in football? Could I interest you in an early bye week, while we’re at it?
Just to be extremely clear: I don’t think the Chiefs “got screwed by the NFL” or anything like that. Nothing about their schedule is unfair or unreasonable. It is, however, a heck of a gauntlet, even while KC avoided one of the harder slates by some predictive strength-of-schedule metrics.
Winning games in the NFL is hard, and every team has their gripes and most vital stretches. Here are three of the things that stand out to me from the Chiefs’ schedule, as discussed on today’s edition of Everything Else:
1. Start fast or prepare for The Takes
The Chiefs open the season with the Broncos on Monday Night Football and the Colts on Sunday Night Football, both at Arrowhead.
If the Chiefs win both of those games (particularly if they win with any sort of conviction), the NFL world will spend Week 3 proclaiming that the Chiefs are back and that 2025 was the obvious aberration.
If the Chiefs lose to Denver, and/or, heaven forbid, Indianapolis… Well, expect a torrent of takes across your favorite national media platforms proclaiming that the Chiefs’ dynasty is fully, officially over. The AFC West belongs to the Broncos. Last year was the beginning of the end. This year is the actual end. Time for an overhaul. Turn it off and turn it back on again. Try again in ’27.
Of course, win or lose, neither of those takeaways would actually be accurate after two games, but they won’t let that stop them.
2. The Chiefs have to be midseason road warriors
From October 25 (at Seattle) through December 13 (at Cincinnati), the Chiefs will play six road games and just two home games. No bye weeks, no neutral sites — just trips to Seattle, Denver, Atlanta, Buffalo, Los Angeles and Cincinnati, with two weeks of home-game respite against the lowly Cardinals and Jets.
3. Thanksgiving is the start of a season-defining stretch
From Thanksgiving through Week 17, the Chiefs play the Bills, Rams, Bengals, Patriots, 49ers and Chargers (with only New England and San Francisco at home). That’s an outrageous stretch featuring six consecutive teams with over/under win totals set at 9.5 or higher. (The Bills and 49ers are at 10.5, while the Rams are one of just two teams at 11.5.) From a standings perspective, this is another reason the Chiefs need to start fast and survive the aforementioned road gauntlet. You’d like to be in a position to survive some losses to other very good teams.
Everything Else: Drake’s drops and our first albums
Also on today’s show, Tucker D. Franklin (the D stands for Drizzy) and I discussed Drake’s triple-album-drop. Tucker is fully enjoying the vast majority of Mr. Graham’s 43 new songs, and I continue to draw a line of demarcation after his 2016 album, Views. As I realized during the show, 2016’s Starboy is also my cutoff from The Weeknd, so this may be more about my nostalgia than anything. Oh, no.
Everything Else with Joshua Brisco is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.