Chiefs schedule: K.C. enjoys midseason bye in Week 10

The Kansas City Chiefs have to be quite pleased with the way the bye week turned out to be scheduled for the 2023 regular season.

If one of the single most important components to the success of a season in the National Football League is the health of a team, then that makes the placement of the bye week on the franchise’s regular season schedule of paramount importance.

They say there’s no greater ability in the NFL than “availability” and that’s what makes the chance to rest and recuperate at a strategic point during the regular season so vital for teams. Some teams are forced to take their week off in the league far earlier than others, with two thirds of the year remaining on the calendar. At that point, the players are likely still relatively fresh and the rigors of the season have not taken their toll. It’s akin to an hourly worker being told to take a lunch break shortly after coming in.

For the Chiefs, they were given a bye at Week 10, which is about as ideal as a bye can get, especially where it comes in the schedule for Kansas City’s slate in particular. The week before the bye is their first international exhibition in Germany against the Miami Dolphins, which means more travel than ever and the promotional demands of trying to earn as many fans while on the ground in Frankfurt as possible.

Coming home from there, Chiefs players will be allowed to go home instead of coming back on a shortened week to prepare for another opponent. And as if that was not enough time away, the Chiefs will host the Philadelphia Eagles when they return home on November 20, but even that is a Monday Night Football game, allowing them an extra day of rest.

Some teams will like their bye week even later than Week 10, and that’s certainly nice for teams playing deep into the postseason, but the Chiefs likely have their eyes set on a second bye to start the playoffs. If they can earn that, Week 10’s bye will come at the perfect time with another potential one in Week 19.