Our regular season schedule is no where near as tough as last year's.

[chiefsfan1963]

We should be able to squeeze out 11 wins just by having our D improve to a top 20 position. The benefits of being 7-9 last year is a softer schedule. This will give us some momentum going into the playoffs and beyond! :clap:

[Ghost]

09/11/05 New York Jets
09/18/05 at Oakland Raiders
09/26/05 at Denver Broncos
10/02/05 Philadelphia Eagles
10/09/05 Bye
10/16/05 Washington Redskins
10/23/05 at Miami Dolphins
10/30/05 at San Diego Chargers
11/06/05 Oakland Raiders
11/13/05 at Buffalo Bills
11/20/05 at Houston Texans
11/27/05 New England Patriots
12/04/05 Denver Broncos
12/11/05 at Dallas Cowboys
12/17/05 at New York Giants
12/24/05 San Diego Chargers
01/01/06 Cincinnati Bengals

I don't know, there are some much improved teams on there including the Raiders. However, if the Defense plays middle of the pack or better and the offense has a *healthy* Priest, who knows how much damage we can do. I could easily see 11 wins there if the said happens.

[T-post Tom]

Didn't the NFL recently change their format so that the schedule is no longer impacted by the prior year's record? This change was implemented fairly recently. I'm sure someone here can elaborate on this in more detail. Moreover, I believe that we're playing at least 7 games against last year's playoff teams. Not what I'd call a soft schedule. In fact, it may be tougher than last year's. That includes both Super Bowl teams. Yikes!

[keg in kc]

The benefits of being 7-9 last year is a softer scheduleThe scheduling format changed when the league expanded to 32 teams a couple years back and prior year's record means very little now. 14 of our opponents are the same for all teams in the division (counting each other...), only 2 are decided by finish.

It can be (easily) argued that this year's schedule is tougher. I don't buy into so-called "strength of schedule", but for those who do, our opponents heading into 2004 had a combined record of 125-131 in 2003, or a 0.488 win percentage. Our '05 opponents had a combined record of 137-119 last year, or 0.535. We play both Conference champions, to boot.

We start the season with a playoff team at home, then have two prime time division games on the road (oak and den) followed by a home game against last year's NFC champion. We have a bye, and then play on the road 4 of 6 weeks.

Nothing easy about that. Hopefully the 4 of 6 we have at home to finish the season mean something. We're certainly set up for a playoff run. But we'll have to be a much better team than we were last year to survive the first 10 weeks.

[Kylo Ren]

09/11/05 New York Jets -- W
09/18/05 at Oakland Raiders -- W
09/26/05 at Denver Broncos -- L
10/02/05 Philadelphia Eagles -- W
10/09/05 Bye
10/16/05 Washington Redskins -- W
10/23/05 at Miami Dolphins -- W
10/30/05 at San Diego Chargers -- L
11/06/05 Oakland Raiders -- W
11/13/05 at Buffalo Bills -- W
11/20/05 at Houston Texans -- W
11/27/05 New England Patriots -- W
12/04/05 Denver Broncos -- W
12/11/05 at Dallas Cowboys -- W
12/17/05 at New York Giants -- W
12/24/05 San Diego Chargers -- W
01/01/06 Cincinnati Bengals -- W

I call for a 14-2 season. I don't think this is a really tough schedule. The Broncos and Raiders will suck. Philly will take a step back. New England will be tough, but with our new defense, I think we'll pull off a win.

[T-post Tom]

The scheduling format changed when the league expanded to 32 teams a couple years back and prior year's record means very little now. 14 of our opponents are the same for all teams in the division (counting each other...), only 2 are decided by finish.

It can be (easily) argued that this year's schedule is tougher. I don't buy into so-called "strength of schedule", but for those who do, our opponents heading into 2004 had a combined record of 125-131 in 2003, or a 0.488 win percentage. Our '05 opponents had a combined record of 137-119 last year, or 0.535. We play both Conference champions, to boot.

We start the season with a playoff team at home, then have two prime time games on the road followed by a home game against last year's NFC champion. We have a bye, and then play on the road 4 of 6 weeks.

Nothing easy about that. Hopefully the 4 of 6 we have at home to finish the season mean something. We're certainly set up for a playoff run. But we'll have to be a much better team than we were last year to survive the first 10 weeks.

Proof once again that you need look nowhere else for everything and anything Chiefs. Great post, Keg.

[Ghost]

Didn't the NFL recently change their format so that the schedule is no longer impacted by the prior year's record? This change was implemented fairly recently. I'm sure someone here can elaborate on this in more detail. Moreover, I believe that we're playing at least 7 games against last year's playoff teams. Not what I'd call a soft schedule. In fact, it may be tougher than last year's. That includes both Super Bowl teams. Yikes!


Out of every team on the schedule, we are the most improved in my honest opinion without any doubt. Considering we were a few defensive stands away from 9-7 last year with the tough schedule, I think with the improved D we are a legitimate AFC contender and some of those playoff teams are sure to fall off, while others will step up.

[Nzoner]

We should be able to squeeze out 11 wins

As long as the Chiefs make the play-offs without a 13-3 record it'll all be good.

[milkman]

As long as the Chiefs make the play-offs without a 13-3 record it'll all be good.

I'm pretty sure you're not serious, but winning 13 games had nothing to do with losing in the playoffs.
The fact that we had either a flawed team, or a flawed coach is the reason for the early playoff exits.

[Over-Head]

So if your schedule is so easy, what excuse are you going to use for not making the playoff's this season? :hmmm: j/k ROFL

[CoMoChief]

Jets - Win, home opener at Arrowhead, the place will be rockin, defense will be fired up. Pennington doesnt stand a chance coming off an injury. This is the year Martin runs out of gas.

@Raiders - Win, Defense is still horrific, you would think they would do something to improve it, but they didn't. They have NO running game and Moss won't win games by himself, esp. with Surtain on board.

@Broncos - Lose, I want to say win, given that they took all of Cleveland's draft busts, making them worse on def., but I have to go with recent history of us playing at Denver.

Eagles - Lose, this team is tough as hell in all aspects of the game. Their defense is awesome, along with a really good but not great offense.

BYE
Redskins - Win, There offense is going to suck again, S. Moss won't do anything this year. Ramsey is garbage. They also let go of some key def. players in FA.

@Dolphins - Win, blowout I should say. This team is in a rebuilding mode. Though I still wonder how they managed to beat NE last season.

@Chargers - Lose, I dont think last season was all that of a fluke. They drafted Merriman, and Gates will continue to get better. I'll say we split this year.

Raiders - Win, Welcome to Arrowhead Randy Moss. By the way, how was that ass kicking we just handed to you. This will be another blow out win for KC.

@Bills - Win, Buffalo in mid Nov.? Hmmm, their defense is really good but so was the Ravens def. last year. They have a rookie QB starting. Not good for someone to go against Bell and DJ.

@Texans - Win, bitter from last years game, were gonna hand it to them, the Texans havent gotten any better. This is going to be a game where we run it down their throat. Sharper is gone.

Patriots - Win, yeah I know theyre the champs. They also lost there 2 coords. and some veteran leaders on the field. Look for this year to be like 2002 Pats after they beat the Rams in 2001.

Broncos - Win, this will be a repeat from last season's matchup at Arrowhead. Jake Plummer will never live up to the hype of Elway, not even close.

@Cowboys - Lose, the Cowboys are the sleeper team this year. They had an amazing draft and Bledsoe is a whole lot better than Vinny. Give Bledsoe some time, and he can do some damage.

@Giants - Win, another blow out as Eli Manning will continue to mature in the NFL, yes that means TO's for our defense.

Chargers - Win, Like I said before, we should split this season. Whether its this game or the previous one, only time will tell. Though

Bengals - Win, It will actually be pretty close due to the fact at this rate we should be 11-4, and have the division already wrapped up, so we might rest our starters this game. But if theres a race for homefield advantage in the playoffs, then expect this game to be a blowout win for KC.

Final Record.....12-4 2005 AFC West Champions

[htismaqe]

I'm pretty sure you're not serious, but winning 13 games had nothing to do with losing in the playoffs.
The fact that we had either a flawed team, or a flawed coach is the reason for the early playoff exits.

Actually, 13-3 is a curse for the AFC. I wish I could find my old research, but something like 10 AFC teams have gone 13-3 since 1990 and like 7 of them have lost in the 1st round.

[runnercyclist]

There is no way we lose to the Cowboys. Not with Tempest at the helm. Other than that I think you;re spot on! :thumb:

[sparkky]

I'm sure I'm in the minority with this take but I think the AFC west schedule is kind of tough and 10-6 will win the division.
I have my doubts if that will be us.

[whoman69]

I'm sure I'm in the minority with this take but I think the AFC west schedule is kind of tough and 10-6 will win the division.
I have my doubts if that will be us.
doubt no more Sparky. no team has made more improvement than us, and we have the same core team that went 13-3 in 2003. the raiders defense still suck, the browncos took a step backwards, and the chargers will prove last year a fluke.

[chiefsfan1963]

If our D is in the top 20 we will win 11 games minimum, and make the playoffs. Our O will be better than last year. Last year injuries on O killed us (our D didn't help either). By the time our team heads for the playoffs we will be a well oiled machine peaking at the right time and going for the jungular. Players will want to give DV their all for his last year in the NFL, and to make up for the disappointment of last season and year before in the playoffs. Chiefs get in the playoffs this year then there will be no stopping them. This could be our year folks! We did what we should of done last offseason, add talent to our D! It's that simple. Thanks Lamar. Better late than never! If we make the SB this season, it will have been 36 years since we last visited. WOW! I was 6 years old, and barely remember it. GO CHIEFS!!!!!!!!

[raypec85]

The problem is I don't like the combination of so many new players on defense trying to gel with each other combined with the difficult part of the schedule early in the season. That's not a good recipe. However, if the Chiefs can make it through the first half of the season at or near .500 then they have a great chance to go to the play off's and do some damage.

[Wallcrawler]

09/11/05 New York Jets : Im glad that we have this game at home for the opener. Look for Blaylock to be really fired up playing in relief of Curtis Martin in front of the Arrowhead faithful. We've all seen Blaylock make some big plays, and if this defense doesnt gel perfectly in the pre-season, he will definately get his chance to break a big one. Martin is consistently good, so this run defense will definately have to bring its A game. Surtain should be able to handle Coles. Aside from that, I think this game could be easily handled if our offense comes to play. The Jets havent done much of anything on defense, and their most notable addition so far is a new kicker. not to mention that they are working with a brand new offensive coordinator, so things could be a bit rough for the Jets offense starting out.


09/18/05 at Oakland Raiders : Time for the Raider Nation to have their reality check here. Forsaking your already horrific defense for more offense hasnt worked in the past, and look for it to fail again. Randy Moss is good, but I doubt he will be able to keep up with the points that the Chiefs offense rack up against that horrible Raiders D. Lamont Jordan is a career backup, he doesnt even have 1,000 yards for his career yet. This defense could have a real good day if Moss is kept in check.



09/26/05 at Denver Broncos : Invesco Field has not been kind to the Chiefs, and I doubt it will be this season either. The Chiefs have the capability to stomp a squealing worm out of this team, but playing in the thin air must really kill their game, because the track record in Denver is not good. I look for them to lose this game, despite the defense taking advantage of the usual gift or two from Jake Plummer.


10/02/05 Philadelphia Eagles : I dont like this game at all. At Arrowhead or not, its hard to go against the Eagles here, especially if Terrel Owens is on the active roster. McNabb is a playmaker, Westbrook is a solid guy who can do it all. This defense will be tested bigtime in this game. As for our offense, they have to be firing on all cylinders, with the nitrous oxide on standby to take on such a great defense.


10/09/05 Bye : Kinda early in the year for the bye, Id rather see it a couple weeks later, toward the mid-season mark.


10/16/05 Washington Redskins : This is a win, if Clinton Portis doesnt take a trip down memory lane and completely shred this defense. He is the only hope that the Redskin offense has of putting points on the board. Surtain will take Santana Moss completely out of the game, and Warfield is more than capable of handling David Patten. Depending on which shaky QB they start, this defense could have a great day, or an outstanding day.


10/23/05 at Miami Dolphins : Surtain and Knight will be pumped for this game, and will be out to make big plays. With A.J. Feeley/Gus Frerotte at starting QB, there will be plenty of opportunities. Ronnie Brown better come to play today, because if the Chiefs are allowed to get the ball several times and get clicking, he could find himself out of the gameplan before halftime, with the Dolphins offense trying to play catch up.


10/30/05 at San Diego Chargers : Rough game here. Im going to call it a loss, because we dont play well at San Diego either. The Chargers beat us both times last season, and playing at home, they have a good shot at beating us there again this season.


11/06/05 Oakland Raiders : Second smackdown laid on the Raiders, this time in front of the Sea of Red.


11/13/05 at Buffalo Bills : J.P. Losman better be all that and a bag of potato chips if he is going to lead the Bills anywhere, especially with that shaky o-line. Rookie Quarterbacks dont normally have great years, so our defense could have a great shot at making some big plays on them. The Bills have a good defense, but I remember when they had that top 5 defense, and they came to KC for Sunday Night Football and they got royally schooled.


11/20/05 at Houston Texans : We will get these guys back for what happened this past season. The Chiefs in every game against the Texans have usually dominated the stat column. Last year, in the loss, the Chiefs once again dominated everything, but the turnover that led to a score changed the entire game. I think the Chiefs offense takes better care of the football, and we dominate the Houston Texans.


11/27/05 New England Patriots : The Patriots have been the talk of the league for far too long. Now, with both coordinators gone, the loss of Tedy Bruschi, I think the Patriots are in for a rough year. They do still have Brady, Dillon, and Branch, so the offense has the potential to make plays. The defense will have to play a solid game, but this game is definately a winnable game at home.


12/04/05 Denver Broncos : Jake Plummer....Arrowhead Stadium...Nuff said. Chiefs win big at home.


12/11/05 at Dallas Cowboys : This could be a game we ask the defense to win for us. The Cowboys have made some big defensive upgrades this season, and could give the Chiefs offense some trouble. Bill Parcells is an awesome coach, and if anyone can come up with a plan to stop the Chiefs offense, he can. I think we can win it though if we dont screw ourselves over.


12/17/05 at New York Giants : Eli Manning. Heh. Chalk this one up for the Chiefs.

12/24/05 San Diego Chargers : Big divisional game at home, should be huge in deciding who the AFC West champs are. Arrowhead advantage gives the Chiefs the win here.

01/01/06 Cincinnati Bengals : Sammy Knight puts mouthy jackass wideout Chad Johnson into a coma with a huge hit across the middle. Wishful thinking there....Its payback time for that "guarantee" year before last.


I really only see 3 losses in there that Im pretty sure of, unless we can play really well against Denver or SD on the road.

I really dont want to see that 13-3 mark again. Id rather have 14-2.

[Rausch]

09/11/05 New York Jets = Win
09/18/05 at Oakland Raiders = Toss up
09/26/05 at Denver Broncos = Toss up
10/02/05 Philadelphia Eagles = Toss up
10/09/05 Bye
10/16/05 Washington Redskins WIN
10/23/05 at Miami Dolphins WIN
10/30/05 at San Diego Chargers = Toss Up
11/06/05 Oakland Raiders WIN
11/13/05 at Buffalo Bills WIN
11/20/05 at Houston Texans = Toss UP
11/27/05 New England Patriots =Loss
12/04/05 Denver Broncos = Toss up
12/11/05 at Dallas Cowboys = Toss Up
12/17/05 at New York Giants = Win
12/24/05 San Diego Chargers = Toss Up
01/01/06 Cincinnati Bengals = Win

How is that an easy schedule?...

[tk13]

Denver definitely has the schedule advantage early on... they open @ a rebuilding Miami team, then get to play SD and KC at home before going to Jacksonville.

We definitely don't have it easy the first month..... two playoff teams at home and our two biggest rivals on the road.

The Raiders have to open @ NE, play KC, then go play @ Philly, brutal.

And then you look at San Diego and they might have the most brutal schedule of all. Their road schedule is horrible (@ DEN, OAK, KC, WAS, NE, PHI, NYJ, IND) and they have a gauntlet of games before their bye week. They could play well and have a losing record at midseason.

I could see Denver taking the early division lead if they hold serve at home, but Denver's got 5 of the last 8 on the road, and the three home games are the Jets, Baltimore (who has owned them) and Oakland (who beat them in their house last year)... so Denver will probably have to get their licks in early and try to hang on.

[TEX]

We should be able to squeeze out 11 wins just by having our D improve to a top 20 position. The benefits of being 7-9 last year is a softer schedule. This will give us some momentum going into the playoffs and beyond! :clap:


I agree and disagree. I agree that we might be able to win 11 games with an improved defense. However, IMO this schedule is more difficult than last year because of how our road schedule plays out in that this season we play all our road games in pairs and that's very difficult to go on the road for two games in a row EVERY time we hit the road. Also, we play 3 prime time road games and two are against division rivals in a back-to-back scenario in weeks 2 and 3 to start the season. The other is against the TEXANS where they play very well at home during prime time.

Our schedule is very tough early on and if we get off to a bad start, we'll be in a "catch-up" mode all year. It might be too late to take advantage of an "easier" schedule down the stretch. :hmmm:

[RealSNR]

Any record that gets us into the playoffs and isn't 13-3 is fine with me

[philfree]

IMO after the bye week our schedule looks like a piece of cake to me. The Patriots look like the toughest game to me but I don't fear them at Arrowhead. They got us last year but they won't this year, i'm calling that game a win. If we jump out with a quick start going 3-1 we'll have a good chance at Home Field for the playoffs. I feel confident in that..

PhilFree:arrow: