KC Chiefs schedule: Worst-case possibilities for 2022

2. Playing the Bucs and then any AFC/NFC West team on the road the next week

For the most part, the Chiefs will be staying on the western side of the country. Even facing the AFC South will keep them generally in the Midwest. But Bucs are the lone exception, forcing the team to head down to Florida. Hopefully, the Chiefs will have this matchup sandwiched between two home games. Otherwise, flying cross-country in back-to-back weeks would be rough. The mileage could be worse though. The Chiefs could be playing the Bucs in Germany.

3. Ending the season with more than one road game

As I mentioned in my best-case scenario story, the Chiefs will likely end the season playing against a divisional rival. For the last several years it’s mostly been the Chargers. I wouldn’t be totally surprised if it was them again, which would mean the season ends in LA. That’s fine. But if they also have to play Week 16 on the road, that would mean several weeks away from home heading into the playoffs. This situation only gets worse if the Chiefs don’t secure home-field advantage.

4. All the easy teams at once

Playing all the ‘easy’ teams at once, like the Texans, Colts, Jags, and Raiders, may not seem like a bad thing, but it could be. I don’t think the Chiefs will have a problem with any of these teams (yes, including the Raiders), and rattling off 4-5 wins in a row against the lesser league teams could give them a false sense of security. And given the nature of the schedule, this would probably be coupled with the gauntlet scenario listed above. Yikes.

5. Three (or more) straight road games

A few years ago the Raiders had the unlucky pleasure of going 6 weeks without playing at home. That was because they played 4 away games, plus a London game, and then had a bye. Thankfully the Chiefs probably can’t get that unlucky, since they aren’t playing internationally, but I do shudder to think about having to play two or even three consecutive road games. Especially if it was against the Chargers, Bucs, Broncos, or Bengals.