Top 5 Games on Chiefs' Schedule for 2024-25 Season

Kansas City's 2024 schedule is out, and there are plenty of marquee matchups to look forward to this upcoming season.

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL released the schedule for all 32 teams on Thursday, and the Kansas City Chiefs weren’t given any favors coming off back-to-back Super Bowl championships. For starters, the Chiefs will play every day of the week except for Tuesday. Players like having a routine, and having so many wacky weeks throughout the season won’t be easy.

Between December 15-December 25, Kansas City will play three games. That’s a rough stretch late in the season, especially since they were given a bye in Week 6.

Despite the challenges that will certainly come their way, the Chiefs are favored to win the Super Bowl again. There are five prime-time matchups, as well as three standalone games, around the holidays. All of that is to say, this is the most unique schedule I’ve ever seen for an NFL team. Joshua Brisco of Arrowhead Report on SI.com did a rundown of the full schedule, but let’s take a look at the top five games.

Week 1: Baltimore Ravens at Kansas City Chiefs

A rematch of the AFC Championship Game to kick off the NFL season is absolutely perfect. The Lamar Jackson-led Ravens have only defeated a Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs team once so far in their young careers, and Mahomes proved again last year why he is the best quarterback in the league. The Ravens arguably had the more complete roster last season, but the Chiefs were able to come up with big plays when needed most and earned another trip to the Super Bowl and won another ring because of it.

The new banner will drop in front of a Ravens team that will likely still be feeling the sting of their final loss from last season. Both of these teams look to be at or near the top of the AFC again this season, so this should be another great game. Start getting the grills ready for a tailgate, because Sept. 5 will be here before you know it.

Week 7: Kansas City Chiefs at San Francisco 49ers

The Super Bowl rematch. It seems obvious that this game will be circled on everyone’s calendar. The first time the Chiefs beat the 49ers in the Super Bowl, the Niners struggled the following season while the Chiefs made it all the way back again. Will San Francisco be able to overcome the Super Bowl slump and be able to maintain their right as one of the top teams in the NFC?

This will be a big game for both teams in the first half of the season. The Niners should have most of their team back from last year’s run, and the Chiefs will have retooled a bit but may possibly have a better roster top-to-bottom by the time this game rolls around. Mahomes tends to step up his already stellar game even more on the road, and I wouldn’t expect anything less in this game. Andy Reid coming off a bye gives the Chiefs another advantage in this one. A final note to consider: Mahomes has never lost to San Francisco, and I wouldn’t expect that to change now.

Week 11: Kansas City Chiefs at Buffalo Bills

This will be one of the rare games that many people will likely pick against the Chiefs. It may also be one of the rare games where Mahomes is an underdog. We saw how that worked out in the postseason last year, and don’t forget Mahomes is 2-0 in Buffalo. A Nov. 17 game there doesn’t necessarily mean the weather will be nice, but there shouldn’t be a blizzard leading up to this one.

CBS announcer Tony Romo will be on the call for this game, and it’s well-known how excited he gets to see both Mahomes and Bills quarterback Josh Allen play against one another. Whenever these two teams play, it seems like it turns into an instant classic. Last year, we were robbed of a Travis Kelce to Kadarius Toney cross-field touchdown pass for the win. The Chiefs got their revenge in the playoffs. This one could very well be another playoff preview. However, the Bills had a lot of roster turnover and it’s still yet to be determined if they will be able to maintain their status as the best team in the AFC East. This should be a must-watch.

Week 13: Las Vegas Raiders at Kansas City Chiefs

Last season, the Raiders came into GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Christmas Day and left a bunch of coal for Chiefs fans. In one of the ugliest games you’ll ever witness in the Mahomes era, the Raiders turned back-to-back pick sixes into a 20-14 win. The Raiders didn’t complete a pass after the first quarter. Don’t expect that to happen again but whenever the Raiders get a rare win, it feels like the old rivalry begins to simmer a little bit.

This one will be played on Black Friday and streamed on Amazon Prime. Despite the ugly game last year on Christmas, the NFL liked what it saw in the ratings and wanted to put these two teams together in a standalone time slot again. My early guess is the Chiefs dominate this one from start to finish and turn it into a Red Friday across America.

Week 16: Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs

This is another standalone game for the Chiefs. It’s a noon kickoff on Saturday, December 21. This will compete with the first-ever expanded College Football Playoff — the NFL knew exactly what it was doing putting these two teams together for this date. The Texans are widely expected to take a step forward from 2023, a season in which they surprised everyone by winning the AFC South.

With more additions, the Texans could push for a top seed in the AFC. While the Chiefs should do the same, this matchup could help decide playoff seeding late in the season. It wouldn’t shock me to see the Texans play a good game in Kansas City but with what could be at stake, it would be silly to bet against Mahomes.

Honorable mentions would go to the Sunday Night Football home game against the Los Angeles Chargers on December 8 and a road game on Christmas at the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Bengals at Chiefs in Week 2 barely cracks the top 10 this season.

The Chiefs are must-see TV, but these are the most prolific and unique matchups this season.

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