Fans of the Kansas City Chiefs are waiting for the first game of the 2026 season.
To kill some time and beat the summer heat ahead of training camp in St. Joe, let’s think about which teams we enjoy seeing the Chiefs beat the most, the helmet and color combination Chiefs Kingdom hates losing to more than any other.
Who is the Chiefs’ biggest current rival?
We’ll narrow it down to a poll question later, based on your responses, but let’s list the possibilities.
The AFC West foes, of course
Las Vegas
Raiders
The other perenniel AFC heavyweights
Proven bad blood
Darkhorse
My take
It feels good to feel the rivalry with the Donkeys from Denver as much as we do, based on the overthrowing of the AFC West throne in 2025. That feels like the easy pick here.
That said, the Chiefs-Bills matchups really do have the vibe of the classic games between Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts. There’s an argument to be made that the Chiefs-Bills “rivalry” is the best going in the NFL, but maybe it’s simply the best quarterback duel.
From purely the eye test, when the two teams are playing each other, the Bengals do still have the most villainous vibe of Kansas City’s AFC foes. It’s still the same core of players that has toppled the dynasty before, and any perceived stagnation in the rivalry is simply because the two teams haven’t matched up since early in 2024.
When I think of the word rival, and all it encompasses, the Broncos are the choice at the end of the day.
Share your thoughts on the Chiefs’ current rivals in the comments!
