Things aren’t going to get any easier for the Kansas City Chiefs when it comes to the opponents they’ll face in the remainder of the season.
Ahead of the start of the 2021 NFL season, ESPN ranked the Chiefs with one of the most difficult schedules in the league. Through seven games and with 10 left to go, it looks like they were right.
Opponents the Chiefs have faced so far have a 26-22 record on the season. The majority of AFC conference opponents are all squarely in the AFC playoff picture. If you take out the two NFC East opponents KC has played, opponents have a 22-12 record on the year.
Moving forward, the Chiefs will face opponents with a 41-26 overall record on the year, which amounts to a .612 opponent win percentage and the toughest remaining strength of schedule in the league. The worst part of this is that only two AFC teams who are considered contention for playoffs spots (Browns and Ravens) are among the top 10 teams in terms of the remaining strength of schedule. Adding insult to injury, no AFC West opponent has a remaining schedule with over a .500 win percentage.
Here is the remaining opponent win percentage for the rest of the league and where their strength of schedule ranks through the last 10 weeks of the season:
1. Kansas City Chiefs: .612
2. Carolina Panthers: .591
3. Minnesota Vikings: .589
4. Cleveland Browns: .588
5. San Francisco 49ers: .568
6. Baltimore Ravens: .567
7. Pittsburgh Steelers: .547
8. New Orleans Saints: .542
9. Detroit Lions: .537
10. Green Bay Packers: .529
11. Los Angeles Rams: .515
12. Washington Football Team: .515
13. Seattle Seahawks: .515
14. Cincinnati Bengals: .515
15. Indianapolis Colts: .515
16. Chicago Bears: .500
17. Las Vegas Raiders: .500
18. Denver Broncos: .493
19. Atlanta Falcons: .493
20. New England Patriots: .492
21. Dallas Cowboys: .486
22. New York Giants: .485
23. Arizona Cardinals: .471
24. Houston Texans: .455
25. Jacksonville Jaguars: .452
26. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: .446
27. Los Angeles Chargers: .440
28. Miami Dolphins: .439
29. New York Jets: .438
30. Buffalo Bills: .403
31. Philadelphia Eagles: .379
32. Tennessee Titans: .379
The Chiefs still have a chance to dig themselves out of their early-season hole and make the playoffs, but it’s not going to be easy. Plus, they’ve left themselves very little room for error along the way.
While the Chiefs get another 2-5 NFC East team this week in the Giants, just around the corner is perhaps the toughest three-game stretch of the year. They’ll face the Packers (6-1) in Week 9, travel to the Raiders (5-2) in Week 10 and wrap things up with the Cowboys (5-1) in Week 11 just before the bye week. If they’re going to control their own fate heading into the playoffs, winning during that stretch will be vital.
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