KC Chiefs schedule: First eight opponents had winning records from ’21

The 2022 NFL schedule is out and Kansas City Chiefs fans have a reason to be thrilled as their first two home games are prime time games and three of their first five games of the season are on prime time. Following the 2022 NFL Draft, Chiefs fans are excited to see their team come together after what many are saying is a great draft for the Chiefs.

To no one’s surprise, the Chiefs have one of the harder schedules in the NFL in 2022, which is common for teams that finish in first place in their division. But this schedule provides a challenge that the Chiefs have never seen. In fact, no team in NFL history has dealt with a schedule this tough.

The Chiefs will open their first eight games against teams that had a winning record in 2021.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Chiefs are the first team in NFL history to start a season with eight consecutive games against teams that finished above .500 from the previous year.

The crazy part is that the Chiefs will play the two teams that participated in Super Bowl 56. However, that will be later in the season as those teams, the Rams and Bengals, are not part of the first eight games on Kansas City’s schedule.

Every team the Chiefs face in their first eight games finished with a 9-8 record or better in 2021. Two of those teams, the Chargers, and Colts missed the playoffs. Meanwhile, the Cardinals, Buccaneers, Raiders, Bills, 49ers, and Titans all made the playoffs last season.

Chiefs fans might have mixed opinions on this. Some might welcome this while others will view this negatively as a very difficult schedule or come up with a theory that the NFL is trying to hurt the Chiefs.

The best way to look at it is that the Chiefs have a chance to prove something here. Let’s face it: there are a lot of doubters out there who believe Patrick Mahomes will struggle without Tyreek Hill. Coming off a solid free agency and a great draft, Mahomes can prove that he can win with new talent around him.

Obviously, no one is crowned as a Super Bowl champion just eight games into a season. At the same time, we know the Chiefs will catch everyone’s attention if they win the first eight games or go 7-1 and the oddsmakers are certainly going to favor the Chiefs heavily moving forward.

If you’re a Chiefs fan, you should be excited about the fact that this is an opportunity for Mahomes and the Chiefs to shine and prove this team can still operate at a high level without Hill. The Chiefs have dealt with difficult schedules the entire time Mahomes has been in Kansas City. Other than a string of eight straight games against winning teams from the previous year, this really isn’t anything new.