Honestly, looking at the chiefs football schedule 2025, it’s a bit of a surreal landscape. We just watched a season where the unthinkable happened. The Kansas City Chiefs, a team that basically owned the AFC for half a decade, finished the 2025 campaign with a 6-11 record. It was a nightmare. Seeing Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid struggle to find a rhythm while the rest of the AFC West—specifically the Broncos and Chargers—surged ahead felt like a glitch in the Matrix.
But if you're a fan, you know the NFL is cyclical. The schedule for 2025 was a brutal gauntlet that started in an entirely different hemisphere and ended with a Christmas Day thumping that most of us would rather forget.
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The Logistics of a Global Opener
It all kicked off in São Paulo, Brazil.
The NFL decided to send the reigning (at the time) titans to South America to face the Los Angeles Chargers. That Friday, September 5, 2025, matchup was supposed to be a celebration of the Chiefs' global brand. Instead, it was a 27-21 loss that set a grim tone for the rest of the year. Traveling that far for Week 1 is a massive ask for any roster, and the Chiefs looked sluggish.
The travel hangover seemed real.
They came back home for Week 2 against the Philadelphia Eagles—a Super Bowl LVII rematch—and lost a 20-17 heartbreaker at Arrowhead. Starting 0-2 isn't usually a death sentence for Mahomes, but this year felt different. The explosive plays were missing. The "Mahomes Magic" was more of a "Mahomes Muddle."
Key Matchups and Primetime Slates
Despite the losing record, the league still banked on the Chiefs being a ratings juggernaut. They were plastered all over the primetime slots. You probably remember the Monday Night thriller against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5 (a 31-28 loss) or the Sunday Night beatdown they handed the Detroit Lions in Week 6.
That Week 6 win was actually one of the few high points. 30-17. For a moment, it looked like they were back.
Here’s a look at how that mid-season stretch actually shook out:
- Week 7: A 31-0 shutout against the Raiders. Pure dominance.
- Week 8: They handled the Washington Commanders 28-7 on Monday Night Football.
- Week 9: The wheels started coming off again in Buffalo. 28-21. Josh Allen just had their number.
After a Week 10 bye that everyone thought would fix the issues, the team went to Denver and lost 22-19. That was the moment most experts realized the AFC West crown was actually up for grabs for the first time in years.
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Why the Schedule Strength Was Deceptive
A lot of people looked at the chiefs football schedule 2025 before the season and thought it was manageable. They had nine home games because of the AFC's rotation for the 17th game. In theory, more games at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium should mean more wins.
It didn't work out that way.
They faced the entire NFC East and AFC South. On paper, playing the Giants and Titans sounds like a "get right" opportunity. They did beat the Giants 22-9 in Week 3, but the Week 16 trip to Nashville was a disaster—a 26-9 loss to a Titans team that had no business beating them that badly.
The "17th game" opponent was the Detroit Lions, the NFC North champions. While the Chiefs won that specific matchup, the cumulative fatigue of playing first-place schedules for years finally caught up. Andy Quach from Sports Illustrated noted that while a "third-place schedule" in 2026 might help, the 2025 slate was a murderer's row of elite quarterbacks and physical defenses.
The Christmas Day Collapse
If there was a rock bottom, it was December 25, 2025.
Hosting the Denver Broncos on Christmas Day on Prime Video. The atmosphere was there, but the execution wasn't. A 20-13 loss to a division rival on national television effectively ended any lingering playoff hopes. It was the first time in the Mahomes era that the team felt truly vulnerable at home in December.
Roster Turnovers and the 2025 Draft
You can't talk about the schedule without talking about who was actually on the field. The roster looked a lot different. We saw DeAndre Hopkins leave for Baltimore and Mecole Hardman head to Green Bay. Even the "reliable" guys like Justin Reid and Joe Thuney were gone—Thuney was traded to the Bears for a 4th rounder.
In their place, the Chiefs tried to get younger. They drafted Josh Simmons, an offensive tackle from Ohio State, with the 32nd pick (after a trade with the Eagles). They also picked up Gardner Minshew to back up Mahomes, which, honestly, felt like a weird move at the time, but ended up being necessary when Mahomes dealt with nagging ankle issues mid-season.
Looking Forward: Actionable Insights for Fans
So, what do we do with this information now that the 2025 season is in the rearview mirror?
First, ignore the "dynasty is over" talk. Yes, 6-11 is ugly. But because of that record, the Chiefs are heading into the 2026 season with a much easier "third-place" schedule. Instead of playing the first-place finishers from the AFC East and North (like the Bills and Ravens), they'll be matched up against teams that also struggled.
What you should watch for next:
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- Draft Capital: The Chiefs have a higher pick in the 2026 NFL Draft than they've had in a decade. This is the time to reload the defensive line.
- The "Third-Place" Advantage: Keep an eye on the 2026 schedule release in May. The matchups against the 3rd-place finishers in the AFC North and AFC East will be the "swing games" that determine if KC bounces back.
- Salary Cap Reset: With several high-priced veterans gone, the front office has room to be aggressive in free agency this March.
The 2025 season was a reality check. The schedule was grueling, the travel was historic, and the results were disappointing. But in the NFL, today's disaster is often the blueprint for tomorrow's rebuild. If you're tracking the chiefs football schedule 2025, the most important thing to remember is that the "easy" games on paper are where this team actually faltered. Success in 2026 won't be about who they play, but about fixing the internal consistency that vanished somewhere between São Paulo and that cold Christmas night in Kansas City.