The NFL’s schedule release over the last decade has become an annual summer appointment for football fans. While the NFL does announce some of the marquee matchups a day early, the intrigue and excitement about fans seeing a regular season schedule is second to none and 2023 is no different. This year, the NFL will have several must-see games including for the first time ever, a game on Black Friday which is the day after Thanksgiving. On top of that, the International Series slate is always fun to watch and the Kansas City Chiefs are included. There’s also a game on New Year’s Eve. You can guess who might be involved…
Notable Home Games
Speaking of the Chiefs, the season will kick off on Thursday, September 7th with the defending Super Bowl champions hosting the season opener. The opponent is yet to be determined. It’s most likely Kansas City will face the Eagles to kick off the season but we will wait and see. A few other notable home games for the Chiefs outside of the AFC West include a matchup of two superstar quarterbacks Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes, and an AFC Championship game rematch against the Cincinnati Bengals on New Year’s Eve, which is during week 17.
Notable Road Games
On the road, that side of the schedule is favorable. The three division games against the Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, and Los Angeles Chargers will be essential to take advantage of. Outside of them, the one game that will jump off the page is when Kansas City faces the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. Why? We get another matchup between Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes. With Rodgers now in the AFC, it adds another level of intrigue to the conference and I can’t wait to see that particular game.
I mentioned earlier that the Chiefs were also part of the NFL’s International Series. The NFL confirmed on Wednesday that on Sunday, November 5, the Miami Dolphins will face Kansas City in Frankfurt, Germany. In other words, the Chiefs will face Tyreek Hill for the first time since trading him to Miami in 2021. Buckle your seatbelt. The entire International Series schedule for the 2023 season can be found here.
There are two other notable non-Chiefs games so mark your calendar for these:
Chiefs Face NFC North
Typically, the NFL schedules intra-conference games every year. What that means is that teams from divisions of the opposing conference play each other. This year, the AFC West is scheduled to play the NFC North. So, Chiefs fans are guaranteed to see these four teams: the Chicago Bears, the Detroit Lions, the Minnesota Vikings, and the Green Bay Packers. Out of the four NFC North games that will happen for the Chiefs, I’m most intrigued to see them play Justin Fields, the Bears’ dual-threat QB.
For the entire schedule release, tune in to NFL Network and ESPN2 on Thursday, May 11 at 8PMET. Tomorrow’s the day and I can’t wait.
