Chiefs’ schedule makes NFL history: First eight opponents had winning records last year

Posted by Michael David Smith on May 13, 2022, 5:38 AM EDT
AFC Divisional Playoffs - Buffalo Bills v Kansas City Chiefs
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The Chiefs’ 2022 schedule is unprecedented in NFL history.

Kansas City opens with eight straight opponents who had a winning record last season. That makes the Chiefs the first team ever to start the season with eight consecutive games against teams that had a winning record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

Here are the Chiefs’ first eight opponents, with their records the year before:
Week 1: at Cardinals (11-6)
Week 2: Chargers (9-8)
Week 3: at Colts (9-8)
Week 4 at Buccaneers (13-4)
Week 5: Raiders (10-7)
Week 6: Bills (11-6)
Week 7: at 49ers (10-7)
Week 8: Bye.
Week 9: Titans (12-5)

Not until Week 10, when the Chiefs face the Jaguars, do they meet a team that didn’t have a winning record in 2021.

The Chiefs knew they’d have a lot of good opponents this season: They play the first-place schedule, they’re in a tough division in the AFC West, and they play their nonconference games against another tough division in the NFC West. But no one knew they’d play so many good opponents in a row to stat the season.

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24 responses to “Chiefs’ schedule makes NFL history: First eight opponents had winning records last year”

  1. 17 games is an odd number, therefore it is harder for a team to end .500 at 8-8. There are a couple of 9-8 teams in those first few games. Still a tough run.

  3. The chiefs have the toughest schedule by far. First game is an away game followed by a Thursday night home opener 4 days later against the chargers. If there is a year to take the afc west crown from the chiefs this is it. Which will make it that much better when they win it again.

  4. On average the Chiefs have played the toughest schedules the last 4 years. So nothing new here.

  5. Whatever. As we see every year, even bad or mediocre teams can win. KC is a good team and Mahomes is great, but the last four years have shown just how tough it is to get back to the SB, let alone win the thing even if you do get back.

  6. They have to play them sooner or later. Might as well have an easier schedule to finish up the season and make a charge into playoffs.

  7. There’s a reason the NFL didn’t want KC playing against the Rams in the SB. KC would’ve won by 30. But it was nice to setup the Cinci game for the largest market, yet worst fan base, California. It was a game that LA could win. That said, the NFC west is way overrated!

  8. I’m sure it would have happened before if there weren’t an even number of games on the schedule until last year

  9. Last season has no bearing. Half of those teams won’t even make the playoffs.

  10. This seems pretty irrelevant and more coincidence than anything. 1st place schedule and they play in a good division. Of course you will have a lot of teams with winning records from the year before. Just happens to be earlier in the season.

  13. Funny you say the NFC west is overrated because, If I remember. The Superbowl champ came from the NFC West and all 3 NFC west playoff teams were eliminated by other NFC west rivals in the playoffs.

    Meanwhile Cincinnati eliminated both AFC west opponents

  16. For Real, what does the NFL have against the Chiefs? KC has one of the toughest schedules every season? Other “Top” NFL Teams don’t get the same treatment.

  17. Or possibly a Cinci fan who thinks Mahomes just up and forgot how to play football after posting a perfect 1st half… Cinci won’t sniff the playoffs, the NFL provided the path, and the reality of who the bungles really are struck against an average rams team. Worst super bowl in decades.

  20. i prefer the buy week a bit later in the season… other than that the opponent is irrelevant.

  21. The Chiefs tend to play down to inferior opponents anyway, so this will be a good thing for them. They will have to be on their toes from week one instead of coasting for half the year like have been for the past few seasons.

  24. I was a big fan of the 1971 New England Patriots (rookie year for Jim Plunkett) and remembered them having a really tough schedule. I just did the math and the prior-season percentage of their opponents over the Pats’ first eight games was .617 (versus six winning teams and two losing teams), almost matching the .625 for the first eight games of this 2022 Chiefs schedule. And if you look at just the ’71 Pats first SEVEN games, the percentage is a towering .670 (vs. six winning teams and one losing team) versus a seven-game average of .613 for the Chiefs’ 2022 opponents. I wonder how many teams have faced tougher eight-week schedules when measured by percentage.

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