Peter King predicts the Chiefs will open the season playing on the road against the New England Patriots.
The NFL has yet to unveil the official schedule for the 2017 regular season, but teams already know who their opponents will be, both at home and the road, and now it’s just a matter of timing and bye weeks. All eyes will be upon key games, which means NFL analysts have already discussed the likely season-opening game for the defending Super Bowl champions, the New England Patriots. For Peter King, his money is on the Kansas City Chiefs.
King first mentioned the Chiefs as his bet several weeks ago, but he’s even firmer on the idea of it now. The Atlanta Falcons are also a good guess, but King has someone from the Falcons saying they will not open the road against the Patriots after all. It’s hard to say whether that’s known as a fact or educated guess, but it’s enough to throw King off that trail. He writes:
"Could be Houston, could be Carolina. But my money’s on Kansas City. The fact that the Chiefs have an excellent defense and a competitive offense, and the fact that they’re likely to play the Patriots tough (K.C.’s had one double-digit loss in its past 31 games) gives Andy Reid’s team the best chance to play at Foxboro in game one of 256 in 2017."
More from Arrowhead Addict
- Multiple Chiefs execs mentioned as strong GM candidates in 2024
- Former Chiefs cornerback in legal trouble in Las Vegas
- Chiefs Kingdom: Get ready to break contract news
- Chiefs news: Travis Kelce wants to host fan ‘chug-off’ in Germany
- Podcast: Breaking down the Chiefs biggest roster battles
For the Chiefs, it would get the single biggest test of the season over and done with out of the gate, and it’s hard to tell how that would play out. Andy Reid has struggled in season openers before. Every Chiefs fan will certainly remember getting trounced by the Tennessee Titans in game one in the year they earned the No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft. In 2016, it was another slow start against another bad team—the San Diego Chargers—although the Chiefs ended up completing the biggest comeback in franchise history for a crazy win (in a season marked by one odd win after another).
Then again, as King points out, the Chiefs always play the Patriots very well and playing such a strong team immediately could help aid the growth curve of young players by showing them immediately what will it take to compete with the best. The game film from a season opener against the Pats could prove helpful no matter the game’s outcome. And, of course, if the Chiefs were to win, it would set the tone in the locker room that last year’s playoff exit is in the past.
What the NFL will want, either way, is a tough, close game, and if the Chiefs can avoid the sluggish start, they’re guaranteed to give them exactly that.