The 2024 NFL regular season is still over three months away, but the schedule will be released in full on Wednesday, May 15. Other networks were able to release a marquee matchup leading up to the official release on ESPN and ESPN+ at 7 p.m. ET. Only a handful of games have been released so far, but the Kansas City Chiefs are featured in two of them. The back-to-back Super Bowl champs will take on the Baltimore Ravens in Week 1 and the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2. Will this tough start eliminate Kansas City’s chance at a three-peat?
History on the line
It is tough enough to win the Super Bowl in any given season, but winning back-to-back is even more difficult. 58 Super Bowls have been played in the history of the NFL, and only eight times has a team won two in a row dating back to 1967. No team has ever won three consecutive. When the Chiefs won the Super Bowl in January 2024, it marked the first time in nearly 20 years that a team had won back-to-back Super Bowls with the New England Patriots being the last to do it in 2004 and 2005.
Even though it has never been done before, Kansas City has the best odds to win this year’s Super Bowl at DraftKings Sportsbook. The Chiefs are installed at +550 and lead the San Francisco 49ers (+600), Ravens (+900), Detroit Lions (+1200), and Bills (+1200). The Bengals have +1300 odds to win the 2025 Super Bowl.
Week 1 vs. Ravens
This matchup is not only in the first week but is the first game of the 2024-2025 season. Kickoff in Kansas City is set for 8:20 p.m. ET on Thursday, September 5. These teams are consistently favorites in the AFC, yet haven’t run into each other much. They’ve played just five times since 2017, but the most recent was the biggest. The Chiefs beat the Ravens on the road in last year’s AFC Championship Game to clinch a Super Bowl berth. Kansas City is 4-1 against Baltimore in their last five games, with the Ravens’ lone win coming in September of 2021, 36-35.
It will be a revenge game for new Chiefs wide receiver Marquise Brown, who began his career with the Ravens. Quarterback Lamar Jackson, coming off his second career MVP season, will look to pick up a big win against perennial MVP favorite Patrick Mahomes. The biggest knock against Kansas City the past two seasons was that they didn’t have the wide receivers to compete. Hindsight is 20/20 as they won back-to-back Super Bowls, but this year, they are heading into the season with Brown and rookie Xavier Worthy, who set the all-time 40-yard dash record at the NFL Combine. They could also have Rashee Rice, but he is dealing with off-the-field situations, and there’s a chance a suspension of sorts is heading his way. Still, this huge matchup could set the tone early for the AFC landscape next season.
The Chiefs are three-point favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook. Kansas City has -155 moneyline odds, while Baltimore is the +130 underdog. The point total is set at 47.5.
Week 2 vs. Bengals
Kansas City and Cincinnati have developed an intense rivalry over the last few seasons, but that’s to be expected when you match up five times in two calendar years. The way that the regular season and playoff schedules have shaped up, these two teams played five games between January 2022 and December 2023, with the Bengals winning the first three and losing the most recent two.
It’s important to note that the game will be played in Kansas City. The Chiefs have held strong on their home field against the Bengals, winning 25-17 and 23-20. Even the lone Cincinnati win in KC in the AFC Championship Game in 2022 went into overtime. We don’t know who the Bengals play in Week 1 yet, and a lot can change between now and Week 2. Cincinnati is expected to have a fully healthy Joe Burrow back under center after he missed the end of the 2023 campaign due to torn ligaments in his wrist. The Bengals won’t be able to afford a slow start with the Chiefs looming in Week 2.
The Chiefs are four-point favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook. Kansas City has -198 moneyline odds, and Cincinnati is installed as the +164 underdogs. The point total is set at 49.
Final Thoughts
The early season schedule for the Chiefs is shaping up to be a tough one. Will starting off with two losses hurt their shot at a three-peat? Sure. But when you look at the rest of the AFC West, it is hard to see how Kansas City doesn’t at least win yet another division title, which would give them a top-four seed in the playoffs.
The Denver Broncos will have a rookie quarterback that many believe they reached on. The Las Vegas Raiders are likely going with Minshew-Mania or Aidan O’Connell under center again, so they could easily have another losing record. Jim Harbaugh will start the Los Angeles Chargers’ rebuild with an island of misfit toys surrounding Justin Herbert.
The Chiefs have -225 odds to win the AFC West, and they should. Mahomes and company have excelled in the playoffs, so even if they lose their first two games, that shouldn’t tank their odds to win the Super Bowl. If anything, heading into Week 3, either 2-0 or 1-1 should increase their odds of bringing home their third consecutive Lombardi.