Will the Chiefs go 16-0?

The Kansas City Chiefs had a few hiccups in 2019 but turned on the afterburners to end the season and into the playoffs on their way to a Super Bowl win. Could a thoroughly healthy Patrick Mahomes have pushed the Chiefs to a 16-0 record last season? There is an argument to be made, as one of their losses came when Mahomes was out and the other three came around the time he was limited. The question for this year is, can they do what only one other team has done before, go 16-0?

Draftkings Sportsbook has the Chiefs with the best odds to do just that with a +2500 line. The Baltimore Ravens come in second to go 16-0 with a +3000 line for perspective, while the Philadelphia Eagles are the last team you can bet on to go 16-0 at +12500.

Below, we will take a look at the Chiefs 2020-21 schedule to see what it will take for Kansas City to win every regular season game.

Easy matchups

Week 2: at Los Angeles Chargers
Week 5: vs. Las Vegas Raiders
Week 8: vs. New York Jets
Week 9: vs. Carolina Panthers
Week 13: vs. Denver Broncos
Week 14: at Miami Dolphins
Week 17: vs. Los Angeles Chargers

The AFC West got better this offseason with Denver and Oakland both upgrading their offense, but they will both need to take a big step forward to compete with the Chiefs. Drew Lock’s growth will be important this year. If he can get going, he’ll make the Broncos a tough out. But for now, the AFC West games in Kansas City look fairly easy.

The Chargers, on the other hand, are weak at quarterback right now. They’ll need Justin Herbert to cut through his learning curve quickly while winning with their defense. Until we see a real turnaround, both home and away games against the Chargers look good for wins.

Their non-division games verses the Jets, Panthers and Dolphins all look like they can coast. The only road game from this group will be against an extremely young Dolphins team while the Chiefs are fully formed and ready to dominate.

Winnable, but could be close

Week 4: vs. New England Patriots
Week 7: at Denver Broncos
Week 11: at Las Vegas Raiders
Week 16: vs. Atlanta Falcons

I almost put a home game against the Jarrett Stidham led Patriots into the “easy” column, but we can’t underestimate Bill Belichick too much. But, in Kansas City, or anywhere really, the Chiefs have the better team by a good margin. Playing division rivals, the Raiders and Broncos, on the road is somewhat perilous, especially if they can integrate their rookies in a positive way early, but again, the Chiefs are still the superior team. The Falcons make for a tough matchup, but they also didn’t do much to upgrade this offseason after going 7-9 in 2019.

Tough matchups

Week 1: vs Houston Texans
Week 3: at Baltimore Ravens
Week 6: at Buffalo Bills
Week 12: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 15: at New Orleans Saints

Kansas City’s tough matchups also happen to be on the road, making them even tougher. These games are all going to be real tests to a 16-0 season. The first one, which is also the NFL kickoff game on Thursday night, might be the easiest of the group. The Chiefs host the Texans, who they beat in the playoffs after getting down big last season. Houston also lost DeAndre Hopkins, which is a big loss, especially as the team works to get their offense going in Week 1 on the road.

The Bills upgraded this offseason with Stefon Diggs and they already have a strong pass defense, making a game in Buffalo tougher for a passing team like the Chiefs. Kansas City will be favorites, but this is a game they can’t take for granted.

The Buccaneers are still a question mark, but the talent is overflowing with additions of Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin. The Chiefs will also need to go into Tampa Bay late in the season, after the team might be rolling with their new pieces in place.

Playing at Baltimore and New Orleans will be the toughest matchups on paper. Both teams were great last season and only got better this offseason. The Chiefs are +2.5 underdogs in Baltimore and could be underdogs in New Orleans as well. Both teams are strong on both sides of the ball and should be the Chiefs toughest matchups of the year.