Chiefs face unprecedented schedule no NFL team has faced in nearly a century

The Kansas City Chiefs are hoping to become the first NFL team to secure the elusive feat of winning three consecutive Super Bowl championships. In a post-Tom Brady landscape, the Chiefs have found consistency and discipline that no other team has been able to match. Even with a dearth of offensive talent, their coaching and experience has propelled them past more talented opponents year after year. Led by an opportunistic defense and a strong running attack, the Chiefs were able to secure their second consecutive Super Bowl championship in 2023.

The path to Super Bowl LIX will be a difficult one, even for Kansas City. No team has ever made a Super Bowl appearance — much less won the game — after winning the past two championship games.

But there's one other unexpected element that could fell the mighty Chiefs, and it's something that no amount of roster moves would be able to solve. The Chiefs can outmaneuver their opponents, but they won't be able to outmaneuver the gauntlet of a schedule they've been given in the 2024 NFL season.

The Chiefs will play on six different days of the week in 2024

Kansas City will play games on six separate days of the week during the 2024 regular season. They will become the first team to do so since the 1927 New York Yankees, according to NFL Research.

The NFL has looked to expand its schedule and audience as growth has exponentially skyrocketed over the past several decade. The season is longer, games are broadcast on more networks and streaming platforms, and teams are playing internationally. The action is expanding across the weekly schedule as well — the NFL is no longer known for just Sunday afternoons.

The NFL schedule manages to fill the TV schedule with ample games on Sunday, bookended by marquee games on Thursday and Monday nights. Along with the weekly Thursday Night Football and Monday Night Football games, this season will feature Wednesday night matchups. 

The Chiefs will become the first team in the Super Bowl era to play a game on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It's a consequence of their success. Whether it's due to fan interest in their three-peat attempt or due to their affiliation with pop icon Taylor Swift, the Chiefs will play eight exclusive-window games.

As Super Bowl champions, Kansas City will earn the right to kick off the regular season on opening night. Their schedule also includes two Sunday Night Football tilts, two Monday Night Football contests, a Black Friday matchup, a Saturday game in Week 16, and a Christmas feature on Wednesday in Week 17. The Chiefs could become the first team in NFL history to win a game on five different days of the week during a single season.

The uneven schedule could be a wild rollercoaster ride for Kansas City. The amount of time to prepare in between games matters. Teams are accustomed to a certain schedule between Sunday games, which includes treatment and recovery on Monday and Tuesday, game plan and practice through Friday, and a walkthrough on Saturday.

When a team plays a Thursday Night Game, much of the game planning and practicing is eliminated from preparation. As a result, many Thursday night games have featured simplified game plans and unpredictable outcomes. Conversely, a team that plays on a Monday game may get an extra day to recover, which could give them a boost.

With teams rotating between Thursday and Monday games, teams are inevitably tasked with shorter periods in between NFL games to allow players to rest, review, and recover. The schedule advantages and disadvantages are distributed rather evenly throughout the season among teams. But not this year, especially for the Chiefs.

Football’s Yankees finished the 1927 season with a 7-8-1 record and played on every day of the week except Monday.