National NFL experts offer their thoughts on Chiefs’ 2020 schedule
The “Run It Back” tour dates have been announced.
That’s the motto the Chiefs are using for the 2020 season as they hope to win a second straight Super Bowl championship.
With the schedule release on Thursday night, they know the road ahead. NFL observers aren’t all on the same page about what lies ahead for the Chiefs.
Here is what is being said about the Chiefs’ schedule:
Judy Battista, an NFL.com reporter, listed the Chiefs as one her five key takeaways from the schedule release.
She wrote: “The Chiefs’ schedule is a gift from the football gods to fans who are desperate to watch sports. Although there is no Super Bowl rematch with the 49ers, the Chiefs play nearly every other opponent you would hope to see Patrick Mahomes face, including the matchup we dreamed of seeing in the AFC Championship Game last season: the Chiefs versus the Ravens.”
Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk wrote about the Chiefs’ early season foes.
This is an excerpt of what he wrote: “The defending Super Bowl champions will have a gauntlet of an opening schedule. Kansas City plays the other three defending division champions in the AFC in its first four games. .... It won’t be easy for the Chiefs to start 4-0 with that schedule. But if they do, they’ll have taken a big first step toward successfully defending their championship.”
In its look at all 32 team schedules, ESPN’s NFL Nation predicted the Chiefs would have a 12-4 record. It wrote: “The Chiefs will face defending division champion opponents in three of their first four games. The Thursday night opener against the Texans at Arrowhead Stadium features an opponent the Chiefs split with in two home games last season.”
The Chiefs’ travel early in the season was part of ESPN’s “Get Up” discussion:
USA Today’s Henry McKenna listed the Chiefs as having one of the easiest paths to a division title.
He wrote in part: “Kansas City’s defense doesn’t have much to worry about in the division with quarterbacks Drew Lock (second year), journeyman Tyrod Taylor (or rookie Justin Herbert) and Derek Carr (or Marcus Mariota. This is the Chiefs’ division — no problem.”
Jeff Chadhia of NFL.com wrote a story with the headline, “Chiefs’ 2020 schedule creates difficult road back to Super Bowl.”
This is part of what he wrote: “The Kansas City Chiefs understand all the potential hurdles that come with being defending Super Bowl Champions — the lost hunger resulting from a dream fulfilled, the emotional drain of an intense journey, the long-term impact of an offseason in perpetual celebration. Today, things just got even more real. This is a team that adopted the mantra ‘run it back’ as it embarks on an attempt to claim back-to-back titles. If that actually does happen, then the Chiefs’ schedule indicates that they will have earned every last bit of that desired glory.”
ESPN Stats & Info took note of the Chiefs being the only team with this quirk to their schedule:
CBS Sports’ R.J. White said the Chiefs are big favorites to win their opening game against the Texans.
He wrote: “The Kansas City Chiefs closed the 2019 season in grand fashion, winning Super Bowl LIV after a late rally took down the San Francisco 49ers. Oddsmakers at William Hill Sports Book are expecting the defending champs to keep rolling, as the Chiefs have opened as the biggest favorites of Week 1 at -10.5 at home against the Houston Texans.”
The NFL on CBS noted a historical matchup on the Chiefs’ schedule:
This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 9:17 AM.
