The Kansas City Chiefs finished the 2019 regular season at 12-4 at the top of the AFC West standings. They pulled off an astonishing postseason run, erasing double-digit deficits in each of their three postseason games including Super Bowl LIV. Now they’re the reigning Super Bowl champions for the first time in 50 years.
As AFC West champions the Chiefs play a tough schedule in 2020, which will include all of the division winners around the AFC. They’ll also play the NFC South, which is a challenging and contentious division. There will be a lot of intrigue surrounding several of the opponents Kansas City faces in 2020 for various reasons. Here’s a look at some of the most interesting of them:
Los Angeles Chargers
The window for the Los Angeles Chargers closed extremely quickly. After finishing second in the AFC West with a wild card spot in 2018, they plummeted to last place in the division this past season. They’ve since announced they’re set to part ways with longtime QB Philip Rivers. It’s an end of an era for Los Angeles and the beginning of a new chapter. But what will that new chapter look like?
Head coach Anthony Lynn recently claimed that backup QB Tyrod Taylor could possibly step up into a starting role. That’d be his first time operating as a true starter since his 2017 stint in Buffalo. He went 8-6 that season and his reward was to be traded to the Cleveland Browns the following season. In any event, the Chargers will look a whole lot different in 2020. With a need to compete in the Los Angeles market, the pressure to find some success is approaching critical mass.
Las Vegas Raiders
Yes, we’re officially calling them the Las Vegas Raiders now. The Chiefs’ most hated division rivals are officially set to move into their new stadium in Sin City for the 2020 NFL season. That alone makes things quite a bit more interesting because Las Vegas is a destination town. Will fans of opposing teams travel well and leave the Raiders with little home-field advantage? The stadium might look like the Death Star, but it must be more welcoming than the Black Hole.
As for the roster, well, there’s no telling what Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock have up their sleeves. They have five selections in the top-100 and they have two within the top-20 of the 2020 NFL Draft. There’s even some speculation that they’ll go after Tom Brady if he were to reach the free-agent market. Will they take a risk and try to make a splash as they take hold of a new and captive audience in Las Vegas? More of the same might be the death knell before they’ve even begun.
New England Patriots
Speaking of Tom Brady — the Patriots are at a bit of a crossroads. On one hand, he’s the most successful quarterback the NFL has ever seen. On the other hand, the 42-year-old needs an excellent supporting cast at this point in his career in order to get over the hump. He had the No. 1 overall defense in 2020, but he couldn’t manage to get the offense running as well-oiled as it once was with Rob Gronkowski and other stars in their prime.
There’s no telling if New England has the guts to cut Brady loose, but they need to improve if they’re to get back to winning. They’ll at the very least look to add some more weapons on the offensive side of the ball. They’ll look for a stud tight end and a receiver who can stretch the field. They’ll also continue to build upon their dominant defensive group. Reinforce or rebuild, it’s up to Belichick to decide.
Carolina Panthers
The only head coach that wasn’t hired from within the NFL this season was Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule. He was coaching the Baylor Bears, who placed second in the Big 12 to the University of Oklahoma. I’m interested to see how Rhule’s coaching translates to the NFL. He’s not the Kliff Kingsbury type of coach that’s supposed to be an offensive innovator. Instead, he’s a guy who is supposed to be a leader of men and bring a winning culture to Charlotte.
The big decision Rhule will have to make during this season is what to do at the quarterback position. He’s got an all-time great in Cam Newton coming off of a Lisfranc injury, and then there’s Kyle Allen who went 5-7 as a starter in 2019. I suspect that Rhule could cut Newton loose, keep Allen as a bridge starter and draft his guy or bring someone in as a free agent. No matter what happens, this opponent is an interesting one to keep an eye on for the 2020 season.
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins dismantled a good portion of their team in 2019 in order to amass a haul of draft picks. They currently have three picks in the first round and a total of six picks in the top-100. Ryan Fitzpatrick looks poised to be the starter right now, but the Dolphins could be targeting one of the many talented quarterbacks in this class. Could they go bold and take an injured-yet-talented Tua Tagovailoa out of Alabama? Perhaps they’ll go best players available and target a player like Georgia QB Jake Fromm later in the draft.
Beyond the draft, the Dolphins are set to have nearly $90 million in cap space for the 2020 NFL season. This team will look vastly different from the 5-11 team that did the Chiefs a solid by defeating the Patriots late in the 2019 season. If Brian Flores and Chris Grier bring in the right players, well, they could turn this thing around very quickly.
Don’t agree with the opponents we’ve chosen? Take a look at the full list of 2020 opponents here.
