As Kansas City Chiefs fans know, it's tradition for the reigning Super Bowl champion to host the first game of the following season. The Chiefs, as the champions of the 2019, 2022, and 2023 seasons, opened the next NFL regular season with home games on that first Thursday night of the season.
This year, the Seattle Seahawks will get the honor of hosting the first game of the 2026 NFL regular season due to defeating the Patriots in Super Bowl 60. For those wondering, the Chiefs do play the Seahawks in Seattle in 2026, prompting the obvious question if they'll be the team opening up the season on that Thursday night in September.
According to Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, however, the chances of K.C. being in that first game of the 2026 regular season seem unlikely. Nate Taylor of ESPN reported that Hunt mentioned at the NFL owners' meetings that the league would likely steer clear of it due to the uncertainty of Patrick Mahomes' health and when he could return to the starting lineup.
“I don’t think that’s on the table anymore. I think from a league standpoint, there would be some concern whether [Patrick Mahomes] would be ready to go."
Clark Hunt says Patrick Mahomes' health will likely keep Chiefs out of primetime contention in Week 1
This makes perfect sense. Why would the NFL want to schedule the Chiefs for that season-opening game if there's no guarantee that Mahomes will be healthy enough to play? Do we really want to see Justin Fields opening the season against a ferocious Seahawks defense on primetime?
With the schedule announcement not coming until May, we likely won't know if Mahomes is cleared to be the Week 1 starter by then. Therefore, it wouldn't be shocking if Kansas City was held out of primetime games for the first month or maybe even first two months of the season just to ensure that one of the most well-known players in the league is going to be out there.
The Chiefs will surely be scheduled to play some primetime games in 2026 but don't be shocked if they come later in the year. After all, when you have a quarterback as good as Mahomes, you want to make sure that he'll be the one taking the snaps for those big standalone games.