Who are the KC Chiefs biggest rivals outside of the AFC West?
Chiefs rivals in the modern NFC feature the conference’s elite teams
San Francisco 49ers
As discussed in historical rivalries, any time you battle with a team for the Lombardi Trophy, there is some inherent rivalry embedded as the teams move into the future. After the Chiefs 31-20, soul-crushing victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV, we suspect the Chiefs-49ers games will have a little extra sauce in the years that will follow.
Beyond the big game itself, the teams are led by outstanding head coaches, have excellent young cores of players, and made a huge (now infamous) trade for pass-rusher Dee Ford just months before the showdown in Miami.
There is also a lot of history here. The Chiefs share significant amounts of player history, especially at the quarterback position, as players like Joe Montana, Elvis Grbac, Steve DeBerg and, more recently, Alex Smith have both spent significant years in both the Bay Area and Kansas City.
This rivalry will be a lot of fun for a lot of years to come and, if February 2, 2020 was any indication, the Chiefs will be happy having Patrick Mahomes at the helm.
The all-time series is tied 7-7.
Seattle Seahawks
The Seattle Seahawks and their fans are no strangers to the Kansas City Chiefs.
For starters, when both were members of the AFC West from 1977-2001, Kansas City dominated Seattle to the tune of a 30-16 record. Also, while the Chiefs lost the actual game, Derrick Thomas‘ seven sack performance stands out as one of the more memorable moments in Chiefs history, especially for this writer.
Now that they’re not in the same conference, let alone the same division, Kansas City’s domination over Seattle has a entirely different, and much louder, tune. The rivalry between the Seahawk’s 12th man (a cute moniker they gave to their fans to make them feel special), and Chiefs Kingdom exists now in large part to the stadium’s back-and-forth tiffs about who has the loudest outdoor stadium in the world. Of course, its not much of a competition, since Arrowhead Stadium not only holds the world record for its decibel-creation. The volume was generated without cheating, so K.C. has that over the Seahawks too.
Of course, having two of the best quarterbacks in football helps generate some buzz, too. Unfortunately, Russ Wilson currently boasts a 1-0 series lead with the Chiefs’ Super Bowl MVP quarterback.
The Chiefs lead the all-time series 33-19.
Green Bay Packers
This is the oddest inclusion on the list and frankly, was the toughest position to fill of all the different lists we’ve created. It does not feel like Kansas City has very many rivalries in the NFC these days. That’s as it should be, given that they play only once every four years or so, barring Super Bowl matchups.
There are two reasons why we included the Packers here. First, goes back to that first Super Bowl. You cannot listen to a Chiefs-Packers game and not here about how the Chiefs were throttled at the hands of Bart Starr and Vince Lombardi and it always seems that, as a Chiefs fan, there is a little extra desire to beat them now.
The second reason is due to the quarterbacks. A lot of people like to compare the natural arm talent and overall ability of Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes and that feels like a reason why this rivalry will exist into the next few years, or at least until Rodgers is replaced by Jordan Love (in theory). Oddly and sadly, though, Mahomes was not a part of the teams’ first battle during his tenure. We hope there will be more to come.
The Chiefs lead the all-time series 7-5-1.