Even the Chiefs have to face that rebounds are a fundamental part of life in the NFL. Take it from Chris Jones, who likened the 2025 season to a physical fight.
“It’s a lot of lessons we learned,” Jones said Thursday. “A lot of broken jaws we took over the course of this year. We got punched in the face a lot, and it builds you. It builds character, builds individuals. You see what type of team you have, how you respond, and how they respond in the midst of adversity.”
For Jones and the Kansas City Chiefs, the 2025 season was indeed a learning curve a building block rather than the championship run fans have become accustomed to. But as the page turns to the offseason, the focus shifts to how the franchise responds. The road to redemption in 2026 is now clearer, with the full slate of opponents officially set.
Who the Chiefs Will Face in 2026
Thanks to the NFL’s scheduling matrix and the results of Week 18, we now know exactly who Kansas City will line up against next season. While dates and times won’t be released until May, the matchups themselves promise a grueling test for a team looking to reestablish its dominance.
Home Games at Arrowhead:
- Divisional Rivals: Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders
- AFC East: New England Patriots, New York Jets
- NFC West: Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers
- AFC South (3rd Place Finisher): Indianapolis Colts
Away Games:
- Divisional Rivals: Denver Broncos, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders
- AFC East: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins
- NFC West: Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks
- AFC North (3rd Place Finisher): Cincinnati Bengals
- NFC South (17th Game): Atlanta Falcons
The “third-place schedule” might look like a reprieve on paper, but context matters. The Bengals, Colts and Falcons all dealt with significant quarterback injuries in 2025. Assuming Joe Burrow, Anthony Richardson and Kirk Cousins return to form, those “easier” matchups instantly become high-stakes battles. Furthermore, road trips to Buffalo and Seattle are notoriously difficult environments, regardless of standings.
A Rare Offseason for Kansas City
For the first time since 2014, the Chiefs are entering an offseason without a playoff game to prepare for. It’s an unfamiliar feeling for a franchise that has been the gold standard of the AFC for a decade. The streak of consecutive playoff appearances ending at 10 seasons is a tough pill to swallow, but history suggests a bounce-back is possible even likely.
In the modern NFL, parity is designed to keep teams in the hunt. Six teams in the current playoff bracket Carolina, Chicago, Jacksonville, New England, San Francisco and Seattle missed the postseason entirely last year. For 36 consecutive seasons, at least four teams have made that leap from non-playoff status to postseason contender.
There is no reason to believe a team led by Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid cannot join that list in 2026.
The Work Starts Now
The disappointment of missing the playoffs provides one distinct advantage: time. While their rivals are battering each other in the Wild Card round, the Chiefs are already in evaluation mode.
Head coach Andy Reid didn’t mince words about the task ahead.
“Yeah, listen, there’s plenty to work on,” Reid said Friday. “So, we’ll dive in and try to evaluate everything we possibly can and get it right. I mean, that’s what we’re going to do. So, it is what it is here, but what we do is we work, work at the problems and make sure we fix them.”
The upcoming months will be critical. The front office must address the roster holes exposed during this down year. They need to decide how to navigate the draft and free agency to surround Mahomes with the tools necessary to compete in an increasingly crowded AFC West.
The 2025 season may have felt like a punch in the face, as Jones described it. However, in the NFL, it’s not about how hard you get hit it’s about how you respond when the schedule resets. The opponents are set. The work begins now.
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