KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The NFL schedule will be released on Wednesday and there’s a lot of intrigue regarding which team the defending Super Bowl champions will open their season against.
The Kansas City Chiefs know who and where they’ll face most of their opponents, now it’s just a matter of when.
The Chiefs will face these teams in 2024:
Home: Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, LA Chargers, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Houston Texans
Away: Broncos, Raiders, Chargers, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers
Specifically, there will be a ton of eyes on the NFL season opener, the team the Chiefs will drop their third Super Bowl banner in four seasons against. As the Chiefs finished first in the AFC West for the eighth straight season, another schedule will have plenty of playoff contenders and viable candidates for the NFL’s opening night.
Here is a list of teams that would likely fit the bill.
Houston Texans
The Texans would make for a very interesting matchup.
They boast one of the league’s best young quarterbacks in C.J. Stroud and are a young, up-and-coming team. The Texans are also coming off a Divisional Round appearance in last year’s playoffs. They also added wide receiver Stefon Diggs this offseason to a solid receiving core that already includes Tank Dell and Nico Collins. It would also be the first meeting between Patrick Mahomes and Stroud. This matchup has plenty of reasons for fans to tune in.
Baltimore Ravens
An AFC Championship rematch to start the year? Why not.
The Ravens will be looking for vengeance after the Chiefs shut down their offensive attack and ended their season after the Ravens had the best record in the NFL last season. It will also be another battle between the last two NFL MVPs in Lamar Jackson and Mahomes. The Ravens also added running back Derrick Henry in the offseason to complement Jackson in the run game. These two teams have seen each other in primetime plenty over the past five seasons. Will the season opener be added to the list?
Cincinnati Bengals
Over the past few seasons, the Bengals have developed a rivalry with the Chiefs, including facing each other in back-to-back AFC Championships.
The Bengals are expected to be among the Super Bowl contenders once again with quarterback Joe Burrow returning from a wrist injury. They did lose wide receiver Tyler Boyd but arguably have the best receiving duo in the league with Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. The league could wait to put this matchup later in the season since Burrow is coming off of injury, but this is surely a top candidate for the season opener.
Los Angeles Chargers
No coaching hire received more attention than that of the Chargers hiring former Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh. Justin Herbert is one of the league’s most talented QBs and has had some thrilling duels with Mahomes in past seasons. While a matchup between the division foes seems the least most likely, it shouldn’t be completely ruled out.
