The Kansas City Chiefs have just five games left on their regular-season schedule.
You’re probably thinking to yourself, “How did the season go by so quickly?” Soon we’ll be moving onto the postseason and then the 2020 offseason. Before we get there, though, let’s take a look at the remaining opponents on the Chiefs’ schedule and rank them in terms of how difficult of a challenge the game will be for Kansas City.
1. Week 14 @ New England Patriots (9-1)
Whenever you have the Patriots on your schedule, they’ll likely be rated as the toughest opponents. When you’re playing them at Foxborough, they’re almost impossible to beat. The last time New England lost a game at home came in 2017 against the Carolina Panthers in Week 4. Three weeks prior, they started off the season with a home loss to the Alex Smith-led Chiefs.
Despite being the AFC No. 1 seed and having a 9-1 record, New England hasn’t exactly looked like a dominant team. The offense has struggled amid Rob Gronkowski’s retirement and injuries along the offensive line and wide receiver group. It also looks like time has finally caught up to Tom Brady.
Where the Patriots have been dominant is on the defensive side of the ball. Through 11 weeks they’ve only allowed four passing touchdowns and five rushing touchdowns on the season. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs offense will have their work cut out for them in this one.
2. Week 13 vs. Oakland Raiders (6-4)
The Raiders remain the biggest threat to the Chiefs in the AFC West and are a half-game out of first place. They’ll have a chance to pull even on Sunday when they face the New York Jets on the road before getting the Chiefs in Week 13.
There are still a lot of moving parts for the Raiders. The offensive line is different from when the Chiefs first played them this season and perhaps better with the additions of Richie Incognito and Gabe Jackson. On the defensive side of the ball, they just added former Bengals linebacker Preston Brown to try and get better there.
Jon Gruden has the team playing more disciplined football than it has in a long time. The players will know what is at stake in Week 13 and will be playing it like it is the Super Bowl. Even with all those things in mind it still feels like this game will come down to whether the Raiders can keep up with the Chiefs offense. They squeaked out a win in Week 11 against the winless Bengals, which doesn’t give me much confidence they can get things done against Kansas City.
3. Week 17 vs. Los Angeles Chargers (4-7)
Philip Rivers didn’t have a very good game against the Chiefs in Mexico City for Week 11. Still, the Chargers were within a touchdown of tying the game in the final minute. That’s close enough to make me concerned about the rematch.
One of the reasons that I have the Chargers at No. 3 over the Bears is that they’ll likely have Derwin James back for this game. He’s one of the best players in the game today, and even if he’s only 80% healthy he could be a difference-maker.
By Week 17, the Chiefs will likely have clinched a playoff berth, and it’s not entirely clear whether they’ll be playing their starters in hopes of better seeding. Andy Reid has been known to rest his starters, so a lot is up in the air with this game.
4. Week 16 @ Chicago Bears (4-6)
In their second year, the Mitchell Trubisky-Matt Nagy pairing has been an unmitigated disaster. Nagy, of course, hails from the Reid coaching tree. So you know this game will have some personal meaning for Nagy.
The Bears are, simply put, a mess on the offensive side of the ball. They still boast an exceptionally talented defense, but there’s only so much a team can do when it’s settling for field goals and flipping the field position. Even when Khalil Mack shows up as a one-man wrecking crew, the offense has been unable to capitalize.
This game would likely be last in my rankings if not for one reason: It is at Soldier Field in the heart of winter. The Chiefs aren’t strangers to playing in football weather, but I still wonder if this is a team that is built to tough out a potential snow game.
5. Week 15 vs. Denver Broncos (3-7)
There’s something wrong with the Broncos this season. They have a good young nucleus of players on offense and a stingy defense paired with Vic Fangio. I expected some bumps with a first-time head coach and first-time offensive coordinator, but things have been ugly.
This team just doesn’t have any idea how to finish games. They’ve blown more fourth-quarter leads than they have wins this season. I’m not sure if it’s a talent problem or a motivation problem, but this doesn’t look like a team that is ready to get things together on the road at Arrowhead Stadium.
