Many football fans around the country will be saying the same thing on Friday: “The NFL didn’t do us any favors.”
There’s usually some griping following the release of the NFL’s season schedule as fans and teams grouse about the difficulty of how the games were set up.
Kansas City Chiefs fans have a legitimate gripe this year.
ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter, quoting the Elias Sports Bureau, noted the Chiefs are the first team in league history to start a season with eight straight games against teams that had a winning record the previous season.
Here are the teams the Chiefs will play through Nov. 6.
Week 1: at Cardinals (11-6)
Week 2: Chargers (9-8)
Week 3: at Colts (9-8)
Week 4: at Buccaneers (13-4)
Week 5: Raiders (10-7)
Week 6: Bills (11-6)
Week 7: at 49ers (10-7)
Week 8: Bye week
Week 9: Titans (12-5)
Another quirk of the Chiefs’ schedule: they play three straight road games to open the month of December.
Here is what others are saying about the Chiefs’ schedule.
The Chiefs’ schedule is ranked as the fifth-most difficult by Nick Shook of NFL.com.
But Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post said the Chiefs and Rams are tied for the most difficult schedule.
“Only the Kansas City Chiefs are projected to have as strong a schedule in 2022 (as the Rams), playing opponents that are also estimated to be 1.5 points per game better than an average team,” Greenberg wrote. “Both the Chiefs and Rams have regular season win totals set at 10 1/2 — two of the highest totals in the league — making the under for those propositions enticing.”
Sharp Football Analysis shows the Chiefs’ schedule is the most difficult in the NFL.