Chiefs won't have Christmas game for first time in 3 seasons, and more predictions about the 2026 NFL schedule for Kansas City

With all that said, here are three predictions for Kansas City as the NFL schedule release approaches.

The Chiefs won’t play on Christmas, but will play their last primetime or standalone time slot around Thanksgiving

I’m putting this one into the universe after three consecutive seasons of playing on Christmas. I think this is the year Kansas City breaks the trend.

The NFL’s VP of Broadcast Planning, Mike North, recently stated that the NFL got burned with the Christmas Day game between the Chiefs and the Broncos in 2025. Patrick Mahomes’ injury led to a primetime Christmas Day game that didn’t even make the top-100 telecasts of 2025. I do think they’ll try to insulate themselves from a situation like that again.

Obviously, the league can’t predict injuries, but I do think Kansas City’s primetime scheduling will be dense in the middle of the season. They’re not going to want to have early primetime games for Kansas City without confirmation that Patrick Mahomes will be healthy.

I think the Chiefs will get either a Thanksgiving Eve, Thanksgiving Day, or Black Friday primetime game this year, but that will be their final “official” primetime matchup on the schedule. I think they’ll situate the team with several afternoon games that could be flexed late in the season, so long as Mahomes is healthy and they’re in the playoff hunt.

The Chiefs will get a primetime game against another team that picked in the top 12

I suspect the NFL won’t stack every one of the Chiefs’ primetime games against premium opponents. Coming off a down year, I think the league will be more open to some different matchups for Kansas City in the limelight. Teams like the Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets, Las Vegas Raiders, and Miami Dolphins, for instance.

Kansas City Chiefs’ 2026 Opponents

Opponents are determined at the conclusion of the prior season.

• Away: Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, Miami Dolphins, Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals, Atlanta Falcons
• Home: Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Indianapolis Colts

A home primetime game against the New York Jets, early in the season, could make a lot of sense. If Patrick Mahomes is healthy, great. The league draws big numbers in a New York market that doesn’t get many eyeballs. If Chiefs backup QB Justin Fields has to play, he’ll face his former team, which could still yield pretty reasonable results.

The Las Vegas Raiders also make a lot of sense, especially if the game comes after LV’s bye week. It could make for an interesting storyline if the Raiders switch from Kirk Cousins to Fernando Mendoza at quarterback.

The Kansas City Chiefs will play an international game for the second consecutive season

The NFL is trending towards international games becoming a fixture of every team’s schedule. The Chiefs have been making an aggressive push to play in Spain this year, per Team President Mark Donovan, and they’re actually a realistic option. The Atlanta Falcons are the home team for this season’s Spain game, and they’re on K.C.’s list of away opponents in 2026. The only way I see this not happening is if the NFL schedules the Spain game for early in the season when the status surrounding Patrick Mahomes is in question.