Top Three Most Intriguing Games on the Kansas City Chiefs 2026 NFL Schedule
The fateful day has finally come. After many days of speculation and leaks, the NFL finally released the full schedule for the 2026 season. This means that in 123 days, the Kansas City Chiefs will return to action with a chance to bounce back from a disastrous 6-11 campaign in 2025. This will not be easy since Kansas City will head into the year with the fifth-toughest strength of schedule in the league, one of the mightiest divisions in football, and a target on its back that still lingers from its dynasty. There are a few games that stand out amongst the others and will surely be circled on more than a few calendars.
Week One: vs Denver Broncos - Monday Night Football
The Chiefs will have to wait a little longer than other teams to get their season going as they host their division rival, the Broncos, in the first Monday Night contest. The Broncos finished last season with a stellar 14-3 record and won the AFC West for the first time in a decade, snapping the Chiefs’ nine-game division title streak. Both games between these two teams last year came down to the wire, with Denver taking both. They won the first on a walk-off Wil Lutz field goal in Week 11 by a score of 22-19, and the second in Week 17 on Christmas Day by a score of 20-13.
This matchup will also be marked by the potential return of both teams’ quarterbacks. Broncos quarterback Bo Nix broke a bone in his ankle during a Divisional Round win over the Buffalo Bills, which caused him to miss the following week’s AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots, which they lost. He will certainly look forward to making a statement in his return. On the flip side, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes II tore his ACL in a Week 15 defeat to another division rival, the Los Angeles Chargers, which eliminated the Chiefs from playoff contention. Given the severity of his injury, there is some doubt as to whether Mahomes will be ready to play by the first game, meaning that either newly acquired backup quarterback Justin Fields or seventh-round rookie Garrett Nussmeier may get the start. Regardless of the starting quarterback, this will be a marquee game to kick off these teams’ seasons. They will match up a second time in Week Eight in Denver.
Week Seven: at Seattle Seahawks - Sunday Night Football
This will be Kansas City’s second Sunday Night game of the year, after their Week Two game against the Indianapolis Colts, and is easily one of the highlights of their schedule. Like the Broncos, the Seahawks also finished 14-3, except they went on to defeat the New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX to earn the franchise’s second Lombardi. Given that these two teams are in separate conferences, this will be the first time they have played each other since 2022, when the Chiefs got the 24-10 victory at home on Christmas Eve. Coincidentally, though, the last time they played each other in Seattle was also on Sunday Night Football all the way back in 2018, when Russell Wilson was still with the Seahawks, and Mahomes was in his first year as a starter. The Seahawks won, 38-31.
Back to this season, the 2026 contest will feature a dose of revenge as Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III will have his chance at revenge against his former team. Last year, Walker had the best season of his career with Seattle, capping it off with a Super Bowl MVP award, the first running back to win the award since Broncos running back Terrell Davis in Super Bowl XXXII. He wants to make the Seahawks regret letting him walk in free agency. If it were possible for the battle of two recent champions to be even spicier, this storyline sure could.
Week 14: at Cincinnati Bengals
A rivalry renewed. A battle between two teams that just a few years ago were playoff heavyweights, but have recently dealt with disappointment. The Bengals also finished 6-11 last season, in large part due to quarterback Joe Burrow missing half the season with a turf toe injury. The Bengals went just 1-8 without him as midseason acquisition Joe Flacco struggled to win games. 2025 was the third consecutive season Cincinnati missed the playoffs after back-to-back deep playoff runs in 2021 and 2022, both including AFC Championship matchups with Kansas City. The last time these teams squared off was in 2024 in Week Two at Kansas City, when the Chiefs narrowly escaped with a 26-25 win.
The frequent playoff and regular season matchups between the Chiefs and Bengals have led to plenty of trash-talk back and forth, with several Bengals dubbing the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium ‘Burrowhead’, after he won his first three games against the Chiefs. Since then, Mahomes has evened the series at three wins apiece, so if one were to look at this as a classic best-of-seven series, this would be Game Seven. Especially with this game being in December, there will likely be a large number of playoff ramifications stemming from this game. Both teams will need to be on their A-game to pull out a win.
