As we await the full NFL schedule to be released tonight at 7:00 p.m. Arrowhead Time, there have been plenty of unconfirmed but trustworthy leaks indicating the national spotlight still gravitates towards the Kansas City Chiefs, despite a down season in 2025.
It starts right off the bat: the Chiefs will definitely be opening the 2026 season against the Denver Broncos on “Monday Night Football” in Arrowhead Stadium, but there are also rumors that Week 2 will be under the lights at home as well: a date
with the Indianapolis Colts on “Sunday Night Football” appears to be in the NFL’s plans.
That would be an unprecedented start to a season in the history of this storied franchise: no Chiefs team has ever begun a regular season with two “night” games, or games kicking off 7:00 p.m. or later. Whether that fact is an advantage for Kansas City is unknown, though I do see the Chiefs starting out hot in 2026, and each is at Arrowhead Stadium.
Which, if you ask me, has always been at its most raucous in September. It’s hard to compare postseason games, so those are excluded, but when the weather is nice, and Chiefs Kingdom’s vocal cords are fresh (along with their livers), it makes for some of the most memorable crowds in the history of the stadium.
The one that comes to mind, given the similarities of facing an AFC West rival on “Monday Night Football” in Week 1, is the 2010 season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, a 21-14 win. A thrilling, rainy game was complemented by a stir-crazy atmosphere, hungry for a big win after years of cellar dwelling.
The NFL may agree that primetime Arrowhead is best on display in September… or it just wants the Chiefs and quarterback Patrick Mahomes — who is generating little concern about missing the start of the season — in primetime as much as possible.
That’s feeling like the case, considering Kansas City will be showcased on Thanksgiving night, along with the rumors of a “Thursday Night Football” showdown on the road against the Los Angeles Rams the following week, along with another “Monday Night Football” home game in Week 15 against the New England Patriots.
The annual battle, seven years running with the Buffalo Bills was taken out of its de facto primetime slot at 3:25 p.m. Arrowhead Time on CBS, but other games on Kansas City’s schedule may be treated that way, like the potential Week 16 home game against the San Francisco 49ers, a rematch of Super Bowls LVIII and LIV. It is set to kick off at 3:25 p.m. Arrowhead Time in Kansas City.
The second matchup with the Broncos is rumored to kick off in the usual, late-afternoon window when most of Denver’s home games take place, but that was the case last season as well, and the game ended up garnering the fifth-most viewers among all NFL regular-season games last season.
The road game against the Cincinnati Bengals, rumored for Week 14, will likely meet that level of national hype in a similar way despite kicking off at 3:25 p.m. Arrowhead Time. As long as Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow is across the field from Mahomes, that will be a highly anticipated and watched game.
We will know the full extent of how much the spotlight will be on the Chiefs in 2026 soon, but with the leaks that are out there, it’s clear the NFL has no desire — and no good reason — to stop highlighting its most recent dynasty and the star players that have grabbed the attention of the football world over the last decade.
