Kansas City Chiefs preseason schedule & how to watch

Here's a look at the Chiefs full preseason schedule and how you catch the exhibitions.

The Kansas City Chiefs schedule is officially out and it's going to be a brutal season filled with hurdles for the defending champions. Fortunately, things start off relatively simple in terms of travel expectations for the team starting in the preseason and heading into the games that count.

The Chiefs are on the road to start the preseason, but from there, K.C. is able to stay at home through the final two games of the preseason as well as the first two games of the regular season. That's a full month at home in football season, which hardly ever happens.

Of course, those two regular-season home games are primetime contests against the Baltimore Ravens and Cincinnati Bengals so no one should be too relaxed about the situation.

Before we get to the regular season, however, we've got Chiefs preseason games to look forward to. And just like the team needs some tune-ups before the real thing, that might be true of your tailgate setups. These few weeks in August give us a chance to reorient ourselves to the traditions of fall and football.

Want to catch the games? NFL Network has not yet announced its run of preseason games live, but they show every game eventually—whether live or recorded—and serves as an outlet to watch the Chiefs at some point. Locally, KSHB 41 in Kansas City carries all the preseason games as well.

You can see the full slate of games below with their dates and times relative to K.C.

Preseason Week 1 - Chiefs @ Jaguars - Saturday, August 10 - 7:00p

The Chiefs will get their first taste of action on a likely blistering day in Florida when visiting the Jacksonville Jaguars. Last year, the Chiefs' starters played about a quarter of the game against the New Orleans Saints in the opener, and a veteran coach isn't likely going to mess with his long-standing approach here.

Preseason Week 2 - Lions @ Chiefs - Saturday, August 17 - 3:00p

A rematch of last year's regular-season opener would be nice to see if the game was going to matter at all. That said, the first game at Arrowhead on this year's calendar—preseason or not—should feature the most playing time for Patrick Mahomes and company as they prepare for the regular season.

Preseason Week 3 - Bears @ Chiefs - Thursday, August 22 - 7:00p

The final preseason tilt keeps the Chiefs at Arrowhead for the third and final preseason game in which we shouldn't expect to see much, if anything, from the team's starters. Instead, given the short rest from the last preseason game, this exhibition is all about the fringe roster players doing their best to convince someone—Chiefs-related or not—to give them a chance on an active roster or practice squad. This will be a key battle for the last couple of roster spots.