The Kansas City Chiefs 2016 season has been one for the history books. The Chiefs played a relatively tough schedule this season, but were able to pull out close games when they needed to. Statistically, the Chiefs’ 2016 opponents ended with a 113-97 record, which ties the Chiefs with the Philadelphia Eagles for the second hardest schedule of the season (.538). Only the Denver Broncos had a tougher schedule based on winning percentage thanks to the Cincinnati Bengals having a game end in a tie, giving the Broncos a .540 strength of schedule. While the playoffs are just beginning for the Chiefs, it’s never too early to look ahead at the 2017 schedule.
Previewing the 2017 Kansas City Chiefs Schedule
The NFL uses a rotating schedule that is created well in advance to determine a teams opponents each season. Each team faces the other three teams from their division twice (six games), every team from another division within their conference (four games), every team within a division from the other conference (four games), rounded out by the remaining two games being determined by how the team finishes in their division. If a team finishes first in their division, they will play the division winners of the other two divisions within their conference. The same formula applies to the second, third and fourth place teams in the division. Because the Chiefs finished in first place in the AFC West, Kansas City will go head to head with the three other division winners in the AFC. The 2017 rotation also slots the AFC West to go up against the AFC East and the NFC East. The international games have been determined and the Chiefs will not have to travel abroad to play next season.
Home Opponents
Arrowhead Stadium will play host to the usual AFC West foes, the Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders, and San Diego Chargers. The Chiefs will also welcome two opponents each from the AFC East and the NFC East as well as the AFC North division winner, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers possess one of the most explosive offenses in the league, despite losing a considerable amount of depth at the wide receiver position. Ben Roethlisberger is a great quarterback even though he does seem to struggle a little on the road. This is likely going to be a big game next season and Kansas City is lucky to have the game in Arrowhead.
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins will visit Arrowhead with second year head coach Adam Gase leading the way. Gase is the former offensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos, so he is familiar with Arrowhead and everything that goes in to playing in Kansas City. The Dolphins earned a wild card berth in the playoffs this year, so this has the potential to be a very good game.
Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills will pay a visit to Kansas City. The Bills are in a transition right now as the team will be looking for a new coach and likely a new quarterback this offseason. There is some talent on this roster, but this is shaping up to be one of the easier home games for the Chiefs next season.
Washington Redskins
Jay Gruden and the Washington Redskins are on the Chiefs slate of home games next year as well. The Redskins have a decision to make this offseason on Kirk Cousins, who played the entire 2016 season on the franchise tag. The Redskins will need to decide if they are all in on Cousins or if they want to look another direction moving forward. This team had a chance to make the playoffs going in to their week 17 game, but were unable to clinch a spot.
Philadelphia Eagles
Finally, Andy Reid will get a visit from his old team, the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles are a young team lead by former Chiefs Offensive Coordinator Doug Pederson. Pederson’s future relies on the development of Carson Wentz, who finished his rookie campaign with 16 touchdowns, 14 interceptions and almost 3,800 passing yards.
Away Opponents
The Chiefs will travel to take on their AFC West foes, as usual. The question will be where these games will be played. Obviously the Broncos will still be in Denver, but there is uncertainty surrounding where the Raiders and the Chargers will be playing games next year. Outside of the division, the Chiefs will travel to play two AFC East and two NFC East opponents as well as the winner of the AFC South, the Houston Texans.
Houston Texans
The Texans seemed to win the AFC South by default this year. The rest of the division struggled at times and could not take advantage of poor offensive play in Houston. The Chiefs lost in Houston this season, thanks in large part to turnovers on the Kansas City side of the field and penalties wiping away a Tyreek Hill punt return. This should be a winnable game for Kansas City on the road.
New York Jets
Kansas City will travel to take on the New York Jets. The Jets are a team that is about to undergo a major rebuild. The team has decided to keep Todd Bowles as the head coach. However, the rest of the staff will undergo numerous changes. The roster will be churned as well, with many aging veterans likely to be cut to start the rebuild process. After this game and the Texans game, the road does not get easy for the Chiefs.
New York Giants
The Chiefs will play two games in MetLife Stadium, as they are also scheduled to face the New York Giants. The Giants are a wild card team this year and will look to make some noise again in 2017. There is a ton of talent on both sides of the ball for the boys in blue, and will undoubtedly be one of the toughest games on the schedule next year.
Dallas Cowboys
Kansas City will also have to make their first trip to AT&T Stadium and play the resurgent Dallas Cowboys. The Cowboys are led by two rookie phenoms, Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. The Chiefs will have their hands full with these two in their second year as pros. This has the potential to be one of the marquee Thanksgiving Day games for the 2017 season.
New England Patriots
The most daunting game on the entire schedule will be the Chiefs visiting Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. In his career, Brady is 102-16 while playing in Foxborough. Since 2007, Brady has lost only one game at home to an AFC opponent, and that was in a game where the Patriots had already clinched their playoff spot and had nothing to play for. This game will be one of the marquee matchups of the entire NFL season next year and will almost certainly be in prime time.
Overall Thoughts
The schedule next year is not very friendly for the Chiefs. Granted, things could always change and a team that is projected to be stellar could falter somewhere along the way, but this schedule appears to be tough. The teams on the schedule for 2017 have a combined winning percentage of .564, which currently stands as the fourth toughest schedule heading in to the offseason.
Obviously, we do not know the exact dates or times for the 2017 slate of games. Hopefully the schedule makers give the fans in Kansas City a couple of home prime time games, as well as a few opportunities to see the team in prime time on the road.
