The 2022 Kansas City Chiefs schedule is nothing if not a complete gauntlet. Six out of the first nine games will be played against playoff teams from a year ago. Kansas City will take on both Super Bowl participants this season as well as attempt to swim in the shark-infested waters of the AFC West.
If the Chiefs are going to clam its seventh straight division titles or has hopes of participating in a fourth consecutive AFC championship game, there are many things that will have to go their way with regards to the schedule. Obviously, all six games in the division are first and foremost and anything better than 3-3 in those contests would be gravy at this point.
Other AFC games against teams like the Titans, Bills and Bengals will go along way as far as playoff seeding but there are four games in particular the Chiefs CANNOT lose if they hope to have a memorable season.
Four games the Chiefs cannot lose in 2022
- Week 1 @ Arizona. It’s an NFC opponent in the first game. Of course you can recover from a loss like this but let’s delve deeper. The Chiefs turn around and play the Chargers just four days after this game. The Cardinals rode the struggle bus down the stretch last year and were non-competitive in their playoff loss to L.A. They will also be without top receiver DeAndre Hopkins week one.
- Week 9 vs. Jacksonville. This is one of those losses that could cripple a season. The Jaguars were team turmoil in 2021 and attempting to start from scratch with new coach Doug Pederson. The Chiefs need to finish no worse than 3-1 against the AFC South and 4-0 would be preferable.
- Week 14 @ Houston. The Texans are still trying to pick of the pieces from the Deshaun Watson era and are in no shape to compete. With the Chiefs having to navigate an incredibly difficult schedule, games against also-rans are few and far between.
- Week 15 vs. Seattle. The Seahawks shipped out start quarterback Russell Wilson so that they could have Drew Lock and Geno Smith battle it out for the job. This is a franchise in disarray and another opportunity for the Chiefs to pick off a losing opponent.
