Chiefs Clips
The Chiefs didn’t make the playoffs in 2025, but the release of the schedule for the 2026 season showed that the NFL still sees them as a marquee attraction.
Kansas City is scheduled for six primetime games and two of them come in the first two weeks of the season. They’ll be home against the Broncos on Monday night in Week 1 and back at Arrowhead Stadium to face the Colts on Sunday night in Week 2.
The scheduling suggests that the league believes Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be playing after recovering from last season’s torn ACL, but their head coach Andy Reid said on NFL Network Thursday that the team did not speak to the league about Mahomes’s health as part of the scheduling process. Reid did give another positive update on how things are going, however.
“He’s doing great right now and that’s kinda how you gotta go about this,” Reid said. “People go ‘well, he’s ahead of schedule.’ Who made the schedule? Everybody’s different, let’s just take it day by day. Nobody is spending more time than he is rehabbing, he spends seven hours here going through it. He hasn’t missed a day and he wants more, all the things that are Patrick Mahomes. Let’s see where we are at as we go forward as we get a little bit closer to the game.”
Broncos quarterback Bo Nix is coming off of a broken ankle and Reid joked that the league might have scheduled that as the opener as “motivation” for the two quarterbacks as they rehab, but said the scheduled won’t determine any of the team’s plans.
“He’s making progress, but you don’t know,” Reid said. “That’s the reality of it. You’re not going to put the player in a position where he can’t tend to himself on the football field.”
The league will continue to pay close attention to that progress in hopes of welcoming Mahomes back to the field on a grand stage.
The NFL did the Chiefs a favor, giving them an early off week as Patrick Mahomes works his way back.
The Chiefs and Panthers have the earliest possible bye, getting an off week in Week 5.
The Chiefs quarterback tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee in a Dec. 14 game against the Chargers and underwent surgery the following day. There is no timeline for his return, although Mahomes reportedly is ahead of schedule in his rehab and is shooting for Week 1.
If he’s not ready, Mahomes would miss only four games in six weeks. Those four games are the Broncos, Colts, Dolphins and Raiders, so the start to the season is not nearly as hard as it could have been.
The Cowboys and Cardinals have the latest possible off week, with their bye coming in Week 14.
Here are the other bye weeks:
Week 6 — Bengals, Lions, Dolphins, Vikings.
Week 7 — Bills, Jaguars, Chargers, Commanders.
Week 8 — Giants, Texans, Saints, 49ers.
Week 9 — Steelers, Titans.
Week 10 — Bears, Broncos, Eagles, Bucs.
Week 11 — Seahawks, Rams, Falcons, Patriots, Browns, Packers.
Week 13 — Ravens, Jets, Colts, Raiders.
Though quarterback Patrick Mahomes is coming off a torn ACL suffered in December, the league apparently has faith that the Chiefs will be a compelling team to watch in 2026.
Kansas City has six scheduled primetime games in the coming season — with at least one more potential standalone game.
The Chiefs will open the season against the Broncos on Monday Night Football and will be featured once again in Week 2 on Sunday night, hosting the Colts.
After another few games — including a bye in Week 5 — the Chiefs will be back on Sunday night with an away game against the reigning champion Seahawks.
Then in Week 12, the Chiefs will be in Buffalo for what should be an electric matchup against the Bills on Thanksgiving night.
They’ll follow that with a week of regular rest, taking on the Rams in Los Angeles in Week 13. The last time those two teams played in L.A. was one of the best Monday night games in recent memory. But this time they’ll be on Prime Video on a Thursday night.
In Week 15, the Chiefs will host the defending AFC Champion Patriots at home on Monday night.
Then in Week 17, Kansas City is set to take on the division-rival Chargers on the road. That game is one of four in a pool for two Saturday matchups that will air on NBC and Peacock.
Of course, in Week 18, the Chiefs could end up taking on the Raiders in primetime if that is one of the league’s most compelling matchups to end the regular season.
We don’t know if Fernando Mendoza will be starting at quarterback for the Raiders in Week 1 of the regular season, but we do know who the Raiders will be playing in the first overall pick’s potential debut.
The NFL’s schedule reveal on Thursday night shows that the Raiders will host the Dolphins at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 13. The game will be on Fox.
Mendoza will have to get the nod over Kirk Cousins in order to start for the Raiders. Offseason addition Malik Willis is expected to make his first appearance for the Dolphins. Both teams will definitely have head coaches making their offseason debut as Las Vegas hired Klint Kubiak in February and Miami hired Jeff Hafley in January.
Sunday will also feature a pair of divisional games in the late afternoon window. The Packers will visit the Vikings while the Commanders will be in Philadelphia to renew their acquaintance with the Eagles. The NFC North matchup will be on CBS while the NFC East clash will be broadcast by Fox.
The other late game on Sunday afternoon will see the Cardinals visiting the Chargers on CBS. Arizona could have Jacoby Brissett, Gardner Minshew or rookie Carson Beck at quarterback for that contest.
The 1 p.m. ET games will send the Bills to Houston for a date with the Texans while the Browns go on the road against the Jaguars. The Colts will host the Ravens, the Saints will visit the Lions, the Buccaneers will travel to Cincinnati for Dexter Lawrence’s first game as a Bengal, and the Steelers will kick off the Mike McCarthy era — with or without Aaron Rodgers — at home against the Falcons.
Previous reports revealed that the Jets will be in Tennessee and that the Bears will head to Charlotte to face the Panthers. The Jets-Titans game will be on CBS along with the Bills-Texans, Ravens-Colts and Browns-Jaguars games. All the other 1 p.m. games will be on Fox.
The entire Week 1 slate will kick off on Wednesday, September 9 with a Patriots-Seahawks Super Bowl rematch in Seattle on NBC. Thursday will bring a Netflix game between the 49ers and Rams in the NFL’s first game in Melbourne and Sunday night will find the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium to meet the Giants on NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Those games were all announced ahead of Thursday’s full schedule reveal, which was also the case for the ESPN Monday night game between the Broncos and Chiefs in Kansas City.
The NFL announced the matchups for its first Thanksgiving Eve game and all three Thanksgiving games ahead of Thursday night’s schedule reveal, so the only thing left to announce for the three-day holiday spread of games was the Black Friday matchup.
That game will feature the Broncos visiting the Steelers in a game that will start at 3 p.m. ET. The game will be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video.
It will be the first time that either franchise has played a Black Friday game. The NFL first held a game on the day after Thanksgiving in 2023 and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has said that the league is considering ways to add a second game.
That is what they’ve done with the Thanksgiving Eve game. It will involve the Packers visiting the Rams on Wednesday night in a game broadcast by Netflix.
Thanksgiving’s schedule will start in Detroit as usual. The Lions will host the Bears at 1 p.m. ET on CBS and the Eagles will visit the Cowboys on Fox at 4:30 p.m. ET. Thursday’s action will conclude with the Chiefs in Buffalo to face the Bills at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC.
One of the most highly anticipated games of the season will take place in Week 7, according to Jordan Schultz of The Schultz Report.
That’s when the Seahawks will host Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Mahomes is expected to be back by then after undergoing surgery to repair a torn ACL and LCL in his left knee on Dec. 15.
The Seahawks are the defending Super Bowl champions, but Mahomes has won three titles.
The Seahawks last faced the Chiefs in 2022 at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City last traveled to Seattle in 2018 for a game the Seahawks won 38-31 on Sunday Night Football.
Cornerback Nazeeh Johnson is visiting another NFC East team as he looks for a place to play in 2026.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Johnson is visiting with the Giants on Thursday. Johnson visited with the Eagles last week.
Johnson was a 2022 seventh-round pick in Kansas City and has spent the last four seasons with the Chiefs. He was limited to two late-season games last year after injuring his shoulder in the preseason and he missed all of 2023 with a torn ACL.
When healthy, Johnson had 66 tackles and a sack in 29 regular season games. He also has eight tackles in the postseason.
The Chiefs’ first visit to the Bills’ new stadium will reportedly close out the NFL’s Thanksgiving slate of games.
Per NFL reporter Jordan Schultz, the Chiefs will be at the new Highmark Stadium on Thursday night in Week 12. The primetime game will be televised by NBC.
The two teams have met at least once per season since the start of the 2020 season. The Bills are 5-1 in the regular season matchups, but the Chiefs are 4-0 in their playoff confrontations.
With the game set for late November, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’s recovery from a torn ACL should no longer be an issue. There will undoubtedly be other injury issues that impact who will be on hand for the latest chapter in the rivalry headed by Mahomes and Bills quarterback Josh Allen, but both teams will hope they aren’t significant enough to rob the game of its usual luster.
The Chiefs ended their 2025 home slate with a visit from the Broncos. The Chiefs will start 2026 the same way.
After announcing on Tuesday morning that the Broncos and Chiefs will cap the first week of the season with a Monday night game, the league has now supplied the location: The game will be played in Kansas City.
The Christmas night 20-13 win by the Broncos ended a 10-year losing streak at Arrowhead Stadium. Denver won that game with the Chiefs not having quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who had suffered a season-ending knee injury two weeks earlier. His availability will now hover over the prime-time division matchup to start the year.
By all indications, Mahomes will be ready to go. And Mahomes is wired to do everything he can, and then some, to get back. The fact that the season opens with the defending AFC West champs coming to town will serve only to make him more determined to be ready to play, and to play well.
The announcement locks in three of the four prime-time games for Week 1. On Sunday night, the Cowboys will visit the Giants. On Thursday night, the 49ers will face the Rams in Australia. The only game left to be determined is the Wednesday night opener in Seattle, where the Seahawks will host an opponent to be announced.
Running back Isiah Pacheco is known for his aggressive style, often described as someone who runs as if he’s angry at the ground.
After completing his rookie contract with the Chiefs, Pacheco signed a one-year deal with the Lions in free agency. Though Pacheco has been a starter for much of his career, helping Kansas City win back-to-back Super Bowls in 2022 and 2023, he’s now set to slot behind Jahmyr Gibbs in Detroit. Effectively, Pacheco is replacing David Montgomery, who was traded to the Texans earlier in the offseason.
With the way the Lions want to run the ball, Pacheco should still be a key piece of Detroit’s offense in 2026.
In a recent interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio, Lions General Manager Brad Holmes noted that he and head coach Dan Campbell have always been aligned on needing two good backs to have a truly effective run game.
“Getting Pacheco, me and Dan have always been big fans of Pacheco,” Holmes said. “It’s his mindset and his intent in how he runs. As you know, it’s hard to get yards in this league, and those holes close up quick. And so, if you have the right mindset, you can get a lot of hidden yards — if you just have a little bit more desire.
“So, I think he’s going to be a really good complement. Always been a fan from afar, just love how he runs [since] he’s been in the league. And we don’t expect anything different to being a really good complement to Jahmyr.”
Pacheco has dealt with injuries the last two years, limited to 20 games over that span. In 2025, he rushed for 462 yards with one touchdown and caught 19 passes for 101 yards.
Pacheco’s best season was his second, as in 2023 he rushed for 935 yards with seven touchdowns and caught 44 passes for 2244 yards with two TDs.
