The 2026’ Kansas City Chiefs’ full regular-season schedule is here!
The biggest game on the schedule: Week 12 on the road against the Buffalo Bills (Thanksgiving Day at 7:20 p.m. on NBC)
There’s an argument to be made that the Chiefs’ season opener could qualify for this title, but the momentum, positive or negative, from a Week 1 result doesn’t match the significance of a late-November duel with a perennial AFC contender in the Buffalo Bills.
On Thanksgiving night, Kansas City will face the Bills, knowing only six regular-season games remain after the contest. That could make the result as impactful for playoff seeding
as any between these two; it is the second-latest matchup these franchises have had in the regular season since quarterbacks Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen took over the reins.
In 2023, the two AFC rivals squared off in Week 14, and a Buffalo victory helped towards having home-field advantage for the postseason rematch — although the Chiefs came out on top in the end, regardless.
Close behind: To open the season, the Chiefs will play arguably their toughest division opponent. The Denver Broncos have made life hard on Kansas City in every matchup since head coach Sean Payton was hired, and it does feel like the result of that primetime season opener could cause ripple effects throughout the season, one way or another.
In that Week 1 contest, the Chiefs opened as 2.5-point betting favorites, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Instant analysis
The Chiefs have six primetime games scheduled, and additionally, three other games will kick off in the late-afternoon window for NFL Sunday to maximize the available television audience.
Week 1: Broncos at home on “Monday Night Football”
Week 2: Colts at home on “Sunday Night Football.”
Week 6: Chargers at home, kickoff scheduled for 3:25 p.m.
Week 7: Seahawks on the road for “Sunday Night Football”
Week 12: Bills on the road for the nightcap of the Thanksgiving Day NFL slate.
Week 13: Rams on the road for “Thursday Night Football.”
Week 14: Bengals on the road, kickoff scheduled for 3:25 p.m.
Week 15: Patriots at home on “Monday Night Football.”
Week 16: 49ers at home, kickoff scheduled for 3:25 p.m.
That’s over half of Kansas City’s schedule being put into the national spotlight, and leaves just four noon kickoffs currently (the Week 17 and 18 game times are to be determined).
It’s also worth pointing out the Chiefs have the bye week in Week 5 this year. Kansas City hasn’t been off that early in the year since the 2016 season. The team rattled off five consecutive victories starting in Week 6 that year after starting with a 2-2 record.
In 2024, the team had its earliest off-week in a long time: Week 6, and it did little to disrupt the team on its way to a 9-0 start that season.
Last year, the Week 10 bye week seemed to do little to stop the downslide that started the week before in Buffalo, a 28-21 loss that was followed by a stretch of eight games with just one win to finish the year.
So it’s hard to know what to think of such an early bye week, but one potential silver lining, if an early bye week feels like an issue: if Mahomes is feeling the wear of not being 100% at the start of the season, he has a pretty early week off to ease into the 2026 campaign.
Strength of schedule
Based on the opponents’ winning percentage from the 2025 season, the Chiefs have the fifth-highest strength of schedule for 2026.
