Caleb Harris
The Kansas City Chiefs will look to make history in the 2024 NFL season. Kansas City became the NFL first repeat champions since the 2003-04 New England Patriots, and the Chiefs are now poised to try for a third. Travis Kelce and Andy Reid will be back in 2024 and the team will be reloaded at wide receiver, so the Chiefs have a legitimate chance to make history.
The road to a one-peat begins in Week 1, where the Chiefs will host the NFL opener for the second year in a row. Who could the Chiefs face first next season? Which teams are at the table and who would be the best opponent? Let’s rank the Chiefs’ eight local opponents who could travel to Arrowhead in September.
The 9-8 Saints missed the playoffs in 2023, and new quarterback Derek Carr hasn’t exactly endeared himself to the Saints faithful in his first season. New Orleans has some talented weapons in Chris Olave and Alvin Kamara, and a decent defense led by Dennis Allen. But scheduling the Saints in Week 1 would not be an attractive decision.
The Bucs surprised a lot of people in 2023 by winning the NFC South with a 9-8 record and then defeating the defending NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles on Super Wild Card Weekend. Baker Mayfield had a career year working with Mike Evans, and both players have said they want to return to Tampa Bay in 2024. The Bucs lost Dave Canales but gained an interesting offensive coordinator in Liam Coen, so the offense should look a little different . Mayfield is a fun player who could be even more comfortable in year two with the Bucs.
The Broncos snapped a 16-game losing streak to the Chiefs last October, but fans in Denver would like to ignore the fact that Mahomes was dealing with the flu less than 24 hours before kickoff. Opening their season against a divisional opponent adds some intrigue, but we don’t know who the Broncos’ quarterback will be.
Another revenge point against a divisional opponent. The Raiders, of course, defeated the Chiefs in Kansas City on Christmas Day behind Antonio Pierce’s stout defense. Now there is optimism in Las Vegas and it’s always fun to watch Maxx Crosby chase Mahomes down the field, but this is another situation where we don’t know who the starting quarterback will be.
Welcome back to the NFL, Jim Harbaugh. The Chargers are always seemingly one of those teams that gets hype in the offseason and fails to deliver, but with Harbaugh calling the shots instead of Brandon Staley, you have to keep an eye on them.
Justin Herbert’s offenses have averaged 24.4 points per game, which is the second-highest points per game average by a quarterback with a losing record since 1950. Herbert has been disappointing with his defense since entering the league. He recorded the most passes completed (1,613) and passing yards (17,223) in a player’s first four seasons in NFL history, and tied Mahomes for the second-most passing touchdowns (114) in his first four seasons. also. With Harbaugh now as head coach, we could begin the new chapter of this rivalry in primetime Week 1.
The first meeting between Mahomes and CJ Stroud. Perhaps this is a growing AFC rivalry that we will see a lot of in the coming years. The Offensive Rookie of the Year became the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game last season and led the league in passing yards per game (273.9) and TD-INT ratio. Only two other quarterbacks have done this in the last 50 seasons! Stroud found success with weapons like Nico Collins and Tank Dell right away, plus DeMeco Ryans improved the defense. Houston has allowed the sixth-fewest rushing yards per game in 2023 after the Texans ranked last in that category in 2022.
The Texans were expected to be one of the worst teams in the NFL in 2023. Instead, the front office crushed the draft with the NFL’s Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year, leading to the Texans winning the division and a postseason victory . Maybe they’ll be a contender in 2024.
What a way to welcome Joe Burrow back to the field after his 2023 season-ending wrist injury. Let’s send him straight to Arrowhead to face his main AFC rival, Mahomes. Burrow is actually 2-0 against Mahomes in the regular season and 1-1 against him in the postseason. The rivalry between the Chiefs and Bengals has been entertaining, to say the least. Starting the 2024 season with this matchup would be a fun idea.
The most fascinating Week 1 matchup for the Chiefs would undoubtedly be the Ravens – the team the Chiefs defeated in the AFC championship game. Lamar Jackson won MVP this season, but that award couldn’t have been as nice to receive considering his offense floundered against the Chiefs defense, which held the Ravens to a season-low 81 rushing yards and the lowest rushing time. ball possession (22). :30) in Jackson’s career.
The Ravens were probably the best team in the NFL last regular season. They became the first franchise to lead/co-lead the league in defensive scoring, sacks and takeaways, while OC Todd Monken returned Jackson to MVP form in his first year as offensive coordinator. This is the season opener the NFL world has been waiting for.
