Chiefs will play first game of 2024 season. Here’s who likely is coming to Arrowhead

The NFL threw a changeup a year ago and nearly everyone whiffed on it.

Excuse the mixed-sport metaphors for this story about the 2024 NFL schedule, which is expected to be released as soon as Thursday and no later than the middle of May.

As the defending Super Bowl champions, the Chiefs will play host to the NFL Kickoff Game. That will be the Thursday before the first Sunday of the season.

A year ago, there was plenty of speculation about who the Chiefs might open the season with, but few expected it would be the Detroit Lions. Not only did Detroit beat the Chiefs in the opener, but the Lions advanced to the NFC Championship Game.

Who might the Chiefs face in this year’s NFL Kickoff Game?

Here are the eight teams the Chiefs will play at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium this season: Bengals, Broncos, Buccaneers, Chargers, Raiders, Ravens, Saints and Texans.

Here’s a quick look at each potential opening-night opponent in reverse order of who I believe the NFL will pick.

8. Broncos

The NFL rarely schedules a divisional game in the Kickoff Game, so it’s unlikely Denver would be chosen. Sure, the Broncos beat the Chiefs a year ago for the first time since 2015, but there is zero buzz surrounding Denver heading into the season.

7. Saints

New Orleans has a few former Chiefs players on its roster, including Tyrann Mathieu, Khalen Saunders and Willie Gay Jr. But this game seems more suited for a noon Sunday kickoff.

6. Buccaneers

Yes, Tampa Bay won a playoff game last year and this would be a Super Bowl LV rematch, but as Bob Dylan sang, “things have changed” since that Bucs-Chiefs championship game.

5. Raiders

The appealing part of this game would be what happened on Christmas Day. After winning the Super Bowl, the Chiefs talked about that loss to the Raiders as being the kick in the, well, backside they needed to regain their focus.

4. Chargers

If the NFL picks a Chiefs-Chargers game to start the 2024 season it’ll be because of the new guy running the Bolts: former Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. His return to the NFL will be a hot topic this season and would give the broadcasters plenty to discuss in the opener.

3. Ravens

A rematch of the AFC Championship Game would be full of great storylines, including the last two NFL MVPs going head to head: the Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes and Ravens’ Lamar Jackson.

Here is what the NFL Network’s Jeff Chadiha wrote about a potential Chiefs-Ravens game to start the season: “One of the popular beliefs coming out of last year’s AFC Championship Game was that the result came down to Baltimore blowing it instead of the Chiefs winning it. That makes for great theater in a rematch to start the season. Kansas City is chasing its third straight championship. The Ravens need to prove they didn’t waste their best chance to win a title in the Lamar Jackson era by melting down and relying on a bizarre offensive game plan.”

This will be a high-profile game in 2024 and likely will end up in a prime-time window during the season, so I don’t expect the Ravens to be the Chiefs’ first opponent.

2. Texans

When the Chiefs played Houston in the 2020 NFL Kickoff Game, it looked like the Texans would be a challenger for years to come. Instead, the Deshaun Watson era soon ended and Houston fell on tough times. But last season, the Texans won the AFC South thanks to the strong play of rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud. Is Houston ready to push the Chiefs going forward? This game could answer that question.

There is a good chance this is the matchup the NFL chooses because it sort of feels like when up-and-coming Detroit was picked a year ago.

1. Bengals

These teams have met in two of the last three AFC championship games with each side winning once. Joe Burrow is the only active quarterback to have defeated Mahomes in the postseason, and the Bengals are looking for redemption following last season’s last-place finish.

That was because Burrow was injured for much of the season. He’s back with the Bengals, and his return to game action will be noteworthy.

Oh, and Burrow said the Bengals are “kind of built to beat” the Chiefs. That quote would absolutely come up during the opener.

This would be a crackerjack matchup.

Fox Sports broadcaster Nick Wright, an outspoken Chiefs fan, shared his thoughts on what team might be coming to Arrowhead to start the season. He sees the Texans as the likely opponents.