Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs reacts before the start of last year’s Monday Night … [+]
The Kansas City Chiefs have been must-see TV ever since Patrick Mahomes became the starting quarterback in 2018.
They’ve played in at least five primetime games in each of those years, including the 2022 season’s slate of games, which was released Thursday night.
Kansas City had six primetime games in 2018, five in 2019, six in 2020, six in 2021 and now five in 2022, though it’s possible that number could change.
Sunday Night Football has a flexible scheduling option that can be used twice between Weeks Five-10 and during Weeks 11-15 and Week 17.
But it’s set that the Chiefs will play in the inaugural installment of Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime Video on Sept. 15 (Week Two) while hosting the Los Angeles Chargers in Kansas City’s home opener.
The Chargers finished in third place in the AFC West but should be a team to watch this season after adding linebacker Kyle Van Noy, cornerback J.C. Jackson and edge rusher Khalil Mack to the defense.
Week Four represents a Super Bowl LV rematch on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team that caused the Chiefs to overhaul their offensive line due to the 31-9 beating from that game.
That Sunday Night Football game is one of four Super Bowl rematches on the NFL schedule, but this one is particularly alluring because it represents the sixth matchup between legendary quarterbacks Tom Brady and Mahomes.
“His career is one of a kind,” Mahomes said when it appeared Brady was retiring. “That’s why he’s the GOAT
Brady is 3-2 all time against Mahomes.
On Monday, Oct. 10, Mahomes and the Chiefs host a team he’s had much more success against — the rival Las Vegas Raiders — on Monday Night Football.
“This place is gonna be rocking,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said during the team’s cute schedule release video.
The Chiefs open November by hosting the Tennessee Titans, who just traded AJ Brown because they didn’t want to pay him $100 million over four years, on Sunday Night Football on Nov. 6.
The Titans’ strategy with Brown was similar to the one the Chiefs employed with Tyreek Hill, who has a contract worth $5 million more a year than Brown.
On Sunday, Dec. 11, the Chiefs make their fifth primetime appearance when they travel to play the Denver Broncos, who signed edge rusher Randy Gregory to a five-year, $70 million contract, on Sunday Night Football.
Gregory was major acquisition, but it was not the Broncos’ biggest of the offseason. Trading for quarterback Russell Wilson was.
In a non-primetime holiday game, the Chiefs host the second game against the Wilson-led Broncos on New Year’s Day and then host Wilson’s former team, the Seattle Seahawks, on Christmas Eve.
The home game against Wilson and the Broncos is the penultimate game of the Chiefs’ regular season.
Mahomes and Wilson represent an exciting quarterback matchup, but there’s even more intrigue involving Mahomes in Week One.
Mahomes faces his former college coach, Kliff Kingsbury, of the Arizona Cardinals.
Kingsbury guided an explosive offense with Mahomes at the helm, but the Texas Tech Red Raiders finished with just a 16-21 record while the quarterback was on the team.
More than the coaching matchup, that Week One setting will mean something for Mahomes and the Chiefs.
The Chiefs will start the 2022 season where they hope it ends — State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., which also hosts Super Bowl LVII.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jefffedotin/2022/05/12/the-kansas-city-chiefs-have-at-least-five-primetime-games-for-fifth-straight-year/