Kansas City Chiefs 2020 NFL schedule: 5 must-win games

2. At New Orleans Saints

The next two games on our list are among the matchups that will be the most anticipated in the NFL season. Unfortunately for Kansas City, both of them are on the road, including this matchup with the New Orleans Saints.

Few teams in the NFL have the firepower to keep up with the Chiefs’ offense, but New Orleans is one of them. Led by future Hall-of-Famer Drew Brees, the Saints are capable of putting up plenty of points against the Kansas City defense in the Superdome.

This matchup is also a huge measuring stick contest for that Chiefs’ defense, which is solid but unquestionably the lesser unit of the roster. Kansas City retains nearly everyone from last year’s Super Bowl title team, which should help against the likes of Alvin Kamara, Michael Thomas, Jared Cook and Emmanuel Sanders.

This contest is also unique since it will, in all likelihood, be the only matchup between Brees and Patrick Mahomes. Those two were in the running for the NFL’s MVP award in 2018 with Mahomes’ historic season stealing the trophy out of Brees’ grasp.

This game is most important as a litmus test of where the Chiefs are in 2020, but it won’t have as much weight in tiebreakers since it is a non-conference game. That being said, there is no way the Chiefs can afford to lose this game if they have designs on winning home-field advantage in the AFC Playoffs.