Chiefs playing league-high six primetime games, including season-opening visit to New England
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs kickoff the upcoming NFL season with a visit to the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. The team’s 2017 schedule includes six primetime games, including three at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kansas City Chiefs visit the New England Patriots to open the NFL season on Sept. 7, 2017. The two teams last met during the divisional round of the playoffs on Jan. 16, 2016. (Photo courtesy Chiefs PR, Chiefs.com)
The Chiefs face an uphill challenge visiting the Patriots for the NFL’s season opener. Since the NFL began the routine of the Super Bowl champions playing in prime time before the opening weekend, the defending champs stand 11-2. The Patriots are 3-0 in Thursday night season openers.
Other highlights of the schedule include three primetime home games: a week four matchup against Washington on Monday Night Football; a week eight AFC West contest on Monday night against the Denver Broncos; and a Saturday night game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Dec. 16 on the NFL Network.
In addition to the season opener at New England, the Chiefs visit the Houston Texans in week five for Sunday Night Football on NBC. In week seven the Chiefs visit the Oakland Raiders for a Thursday night game broadcast as part of the league’s package with CBS, NFL Network and Amazon online streaming.
The Chiefs take their bye during week 10. The Chiefs visit the New York Giants the following week.
The six primetime games add to a quirky schedule for the Chiefs. The team plays five of its prime time games during the first eight weeks of the season. The Chiefs also play three late Sunday afternoon games during the first half, including a week six home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The team has just one noon kickoff during its first nine games. Only four of the team’s home games kickoff at noon.
Another schedule oddity: the Chiefs never play back-to-back road games, but do have three straight home games in December before finishing the season on the road at Denver.
Here’s an overview of the Chiefs 2017 schedule. Listed kickoff times are central time.
Preseason games:
Friday, Aug. 11, 8 p.m., Chiefs Network: San Francisco at Kansas City
Saturday, Aug. 19, 6 p.m., Chiefs Network: Kansas City at Cincinnati
Friday, Aug. 25, 7:25 p.m., CBS: Kansas City at Seattle
Thursday, Aug. 31, 7:30 p.m., Chiefs Network: Tennessee at Kansas City
WEEK 1 , Thursday, Sept. 7, 7:30 p.m., NBC: Kansas City at New England
The Chiefs earn the honor of visiting the Super Bowl champs and open the season on Thursday night. New England offers a strong test for the Chiefs, but several players said this week they relish the chance at the champs. A loss doesn’t hurt here, but a win would be huge in terms of momentum and a potential playoff tiebreaker.
WEEK 2,Sunday, Sept. 17, noon, FOX: Philadelphia at Kansas City
Andy Reid Bowl II comes to Arrowhead Stadium, with the only two teams coached by Reid squaring off for the second time in his Chiefs tenure. The Chiefs dominated the Eagles in week three of the 2013 season in 26-16 win in Philadelphia on a Thursday night. The Eagles finished last in the NFC East last season at 7-9.
WEEK 3, Sunday, Sept. 24, 3:25 p.m., CBS: Kansas City at Los Angeles Chargers
The Chiefs make their first trip to Los Angeles to face the Chargers. Fans anticipating traveling for the game might run into a crunch getting tickets, however. The Chargers will play the 2017-18 seasons at StubHub Center, a soccer stadium originally built for the LA Galaxy. Modifications expect to bring the capacity up to 30,000 for football season, which makes it just more than one-third the capacity of Arrowhead Stadium. It remains to be seen what kind of environment the StubHub Center will present for football and what if any home field advantage the Chargers have.
WEEK 4, Monday, Oct. 2, 7:30 p.m., ESPN: Washington at Kansas City
Washington finished last season 8-7-1, narrowly missing the playoffs. The Chiefs have dominated the series between the two teams over the years, owning an 8-1 record. The Chiefs have won six straight against Washington, with the only loss coming in 1983. Many of the games haven’t been close, including the Chiefs’ 45-10 runaway win in week 14 of the 2013 season.
WEEK 5, Sunday, Oct. 8, 7:30 p.m., NBC: Kansas City at Houston
The Chiefs seemingly annual trip to Houston brings them up against another playoff team from 2016. The Texans won the AFC South with a 9-7 record last season, which included a 19-12 win over the Chiefs in week two. The Chiefs struggled with turnovers and converting touchdowns, settling for four Cairo Santos field goals. Reid owns a 3-1 record against the Texans during his Chiefs tenure, including the 30-0 pasting of the Texans in the wild card round of the 2015 playoffs.
WEEK 6, Sunday, Oct. 15, 3:25 p.m., CBS: Pittsburgh at Kansas City
The Pittsburgh Steelers delivered the Chiefs their most devastating losses of the 2016 season. The 43-14 embarrassment in week four seemed to deliver the wake-up call the Chiefs needed. But the bitter disappointment of January’s 19-17 playoff loss still lingers for Kansas City, making payback the theme of this game. The Steelers have had the Chiefs number of late, winning five of the last six. Reid is just 1-3 against the Steelers as Chiefs head coach.
WEEK 7: Thursday, Oct. 19, 7:25 p.m., CBS/NFLN/Amazon: Kansas City at Oakland
The AFC West race begins in earnest with the Chiefs visiting the Raiders in Oakland. The Chiefs own five straight wins over the Raiders, but the last loss was a sloppy Thursday night game in the rain in Oakland.
WEEK 8, Monday, Oct. 30, 7:30 p.m., ESPN: Denver at Kansas City
The Chiefs own an 11-game AFC West win streak, but their last loss came to the Broncos in primetime at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs overcame four turnovers to tie the game at 24-24, but the team’s fifth and final turnover on Jamaal Charles’ second fumble of the game provided the Broncos the winning score in the final minute of the game.
WEEK 9, Sunday, Nov. 5, 3:25 p.m., CBS: Kansas City at Dallas
The Chiefs joined the AFL as the Dallas Texans, but the city continues playing a rotten host to its former residents. The Chiefs stand just 1-4 at Dallas in team history, the lone one coming in a 34-31 Monday Night Football win on Nov. 10, 1975. The Chiefs will try to exorcise those demons in their first trip to AT&T Stadium.
WEEK 10, Nov. 12: Bye Week
WEEK 11, Sunday, Nov. 19 noon, CBS: Kansas City at New York Giants
The Giants are coming off an 11-5 season, yet another 2016 playoff team on the Chiefs’ schedule. But the key number for this game is Reid’s legendary regular-season bye week record: He’s 16-2 including 3-1 with the Chiefs following the bye week.
WEEK 12, Sunday, Nov. 26, noon, CBS, Buffalo at Kansas City
Don’t blame the Chiefs if this game appears to be a breather on Thanksgiving weekend after running the gauntlet through much of the season. The Bills finished a respectable 7-9 last season, which doesn’t make them a pushover. Buffalo is looking for a fresh start under new head coach Sean McDermott.
WEEK 13, Sunday, Dec. 3, noon, CBS: Kansas City at New York Jets
The Jets are looking for revenge when the Chiefs visit MetLife Stadium. Kansas City’s defense utterly dismantled the Jets in 24-3 win, forcing eight turnovers and holding Ryan Fitzpatrick to a quarterback rating of 18.2. Thet Jets bottomed out at 5-11 last season.
WEEK 14, Sunday, Dec. 10, noon, CBS: Oakland at Kansas City
With so many primetime games and marquee later afternoon time slots, it sees like an oversight to see this game as as noon kickoff. This could be the deciding game to determine the AFC West winner. The Raiders weren’t happy playing on the road against the Chiefs on Thursday night last December.
WEEK 15, Saturday, Dec. 16, 7:30 p.m., NFL Network: Los Angeles Chargers at Kansas City
The Chiefs have own the snake-bitten Chargers of late, rattling off six straight wins against their divisional rival. Last year the Chiefs overcame a 21-point second-half deficit to knock off the Chargers 33-27 in overtime in the season opener at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs finished the season with a 37-27 win in the Chargers’ final game in San Diego. Tyreek Hill punctuated the win with a 95-yard punt return.
WEEK 16, Sunday, Dec. 24, noon, CBS: Miami Dolphins at Kansas City
Yet another playoff team from a year ago, illustrating just how challenging this Chiefs schedule stands. The Chiefs won the last matchup between the teams in week 3 of 2014, a convincing 34-15 romp. But the Dolphins own an 8-3 mark between the two teams since 1993. The good news for the Chiefs is this game comes in Kansas City in December, rather than in the swamp of south Florida where they have struggled.
WEEK 17, Sunday, Dec. 31, 3:25 p.m., CBS: Kansas City at Denver
Kansas City’s 30-27 overtime win at Denver in week 12 of 2016 proved one of the most thrilling games of last season. Can history repeat itself in the Mile High City? Denver owned the Chiefs from 2012 to 2015, reeling off seven straight win. But Reid now owns the upper hand, with his Chiefs winning the last three matches. This game could prove pivotal to both team’s playoff hopes on New Year’s Eve.
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Matt Derrick is the lead beat writer for ChiefsDigest.com. Use the contact page to reach him or find him on Twitter: @MattDerrick.
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