17(ish) thoughts on the Chiefs' 2024 schedule
Looking at one thing from each week that interests me for the upcoming season.
One would think that the releasing of a schedule of games that we already knew existed would not be a big deal. After all, we already know WHO the Chiefs are playing. We just don’t know precisely when. Not that big a deal, right?
Well, no. Because that ignores a few things. First and most importantly, the NFL’s desire (largely realized) to dominate every month of the year with some form of news. Second, the need in my industry (and society, if we’re being honest) to have a take about absolutely everything. And finally and most actually important (but least considered)… the way a schedule lays out is at least somewhat interesting in terms of how burned out a team will be by the time January and February roll around.
Because of those three things (but mostly the first two), the NFL schedule “rollout” has become a hyped event every year. Nevermind that by the time the schedule is officially announced most of the games have been leaked (which leads to a pretty funny day on Twitter if we’re being honest), it’s an opportunity for an event. And the NFL never turns down an event.
Similarly, content creators never turn down an opportunity for content! And since I haven’t had a chance to really think about the Chiefs’ schedule at all yet, I thought this would be a good moment to look through each week of the upcoming schedule and talk about one thing that interests me in each game. Some of these thoughts will be very hyper-focused and as film nerdy as you would expect. Some of them might be looking at issues more from a “10,000 feet in the air” perspective. Some of them will have very little to do with football at all.
But either way, I think it’s always fun to talk about the Chiefs defending their crown, ahem, two-time crown in the upcoming season. So let’s talk about it from Week 1 on forward.
First, I have to note that the most interesting thing in this entire season is a shot at history. And not just “historically great.” Mahomes and company have already accomplished that by cementing their dynasty status last season. As I wrote after they hoisted the Lombardi Trophy for the 3rd time in 5 years, the Chiefs have already cemented themselves as a historic team, one of the best five-year runs in NFL history (arguably the very best). So when I say a shot at history, I don’t mean that.
I mean it in the sense that the Chiefs have a chance to do something NO ONE has done in the Super Bowl era. Threepeat. Even the word is incredible. It’s something that the all-time dynasties of the Packers, Steelers, Cowboys, 49ers, and Patriots never managed. Terry B’s defenses couldn’t carry him to it. Cool Joe was never able to pull it off. Troy and Emmitt? Forget about it. And Tom? That’s one hill he never was able to climb.
And so that’s what the Chiefs have a chance at this year. They’re already historic. They’re already one of the best dynasties to ever exist. But this 2024 team has a chance to make the Mahomes/Kelce/Jones/Reid/Spags iteration of the Chiefs the most successful team in history. Not “one of.” THE. Chances at history almost never come (they are, after all, historically rare). But this season we’re watching them give it a shot.
All right, let’s talk about one thing that interests me in each week of the 2024 Chiefs’ season. I’ll try not to cheat by having more than one thing each (and will undoubtedly fail).
Week 1: Ravens (TNF 9/5)
What interests me?
The same thing that interests me in Week 1 of every season under Andy Reid… What will this year’s offense look like?
Every year, the Chiefs change things up in order to stay ahead of the curve on offense. Some of these changes are based on what new personnel they have on offense (or who they lost from the previous year), some of them are based on what teams did against them with success the year before, and some of them are just natural “unfolding” of the offense from previous concepts.
In recent years, the Chiefs have gone more and more towards punishing teams for playing it “safe” against them (with deep shells regardless of middle field closed or middle field open safety looks) with death by a thousand paper cut dink and dunk attacks. But last year, teams started to play a great deal more aggressive in their looks and willingness to play man and/or creep towards the line of scrimmage, taking advantage of the Chiefs’ WR room lacking the same pop it had in previous years.
This year, even with Rashee Rice likely out for the first (insert whatever amount you think it’ll be) games of the season, Reid’s group packs considerably more punch at the deep and intermediate portions of the field, starting with Hollywood Brown.
As I wrote in Brown’s film review, he’s a burner down the field but also does his best work in the intermediate areas. Both of those areas (deep especially) were a challenge for the Chiefs to threaten last season. With Brown and Worthy in town, IN THEORY Reid ought to be able to go back to a much more vertical offense. With a tough Ravens defense coming to KC for banner night (even with a new defensive staff), it’ll be a lot of fun to see what changes have been made to the offense to account for Mahomes’ new toys.