Fresh off the 2026 schedule being revealed for the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday, head coach Andy Reid appeared on Friday’s episode of “The Rich Eisen Show.”
Among the scheduling quirks troubling the Kansas City fanbase is the Chiefs drawing their bye in Week 5 — the earliest in-season break available.
Reid appeared less concerned when speaking to Eisen.
“I’m ok,” the coach remarked. “I’m kind of nutty about that. Whoever we’re playing, we play. Whenever we play, we play them. Then, you go do your
thing. I don’t get too caught up on what it looks like or doesn’t look like. These are all good football teams at this level, and you have to play them somewhere and at some time. Let’s get ourselves ready and go.”
The Chiefs have a reputation for one of the league’s most grueling training camps under Reid, and the veteran coach noted that it may be a positive to get the break after the first month of the season. He also noted that the Chiefs will get extra rest between a pair of road contests in Weeks 13 and 14. Kansas City will face the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday December 3 — before next traveling to play the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday December 13.
“You just came out of a long training camp,” Reid explained. “You have an opportunity to play four games against good opponents. So, you take that time and you kind of rekindle it up. We get a mini bye down a little bit further with the two Thursday back-to-back games before we play the Cincinnati Bengals. You get a mini bye there for ten days to get yourselves ready to play against a good team. You take advantage of those times and get yourself going and ready for the rest of the season.”
Games in Los Angeles and Cincinnati will conclude a difficult three game road stretch that begins at Highmark Stadium — the new home of the Buffalo Bills — on Thanksgiving evening.
Reid does not worry about the three road games against quality opponents coming consecutively because he knows he will not have to sell his players on the importance of the contests.
“They’re all good teams,” said Reid. “We play Buffalo for the first one. You’ve got the Rams, Buffalo and then you’ve got Cincinnati. They’re all three really good football teams. That, to me, kind of charges it up. You don’t have to say much to the guys about getting fired up. It doesn’t matter the days or where you play. The teams that you are playing are explosive football teams on both sides of the ball — and special teams for that matter. That fires you up. It really doesn’t matter.
“We’ll go play in the McDonald’s parking lot — as long as they’re giving out cheeseburgers.”
Overall, Reid trusts his team to understand the ebbs and flows of the season and adjust accordingly through Kansas City’s final two regular season games at home against AFC West foes in the Los Angeles Chargers and Las Vegas Raiders.
“You’d better be ready to go all the way through the season,” he declared. “You finish with two AFC West opponents. You’d better not relax [against] those two teams right there. Make sure that you don’t do that. That’s a positive. The guys see that. They understand it. They know how the season goes. It’s a long season. A lot of things can happen. There are always ups and downs. You just keep pounding forward.”
