The Kansas City Chiefs closed out the 2015 season in authoritative fashion, and they'll look to carry that momentum over to a fresh campaign.
After starting last year 1-5, the Chiefs rounded out their slate with 10 straight wins before bouncing the Houston Texans, 30-0, in the Wild Card Round of the AFC playoffs.
Things came to a bitter end when the Chiefs failed to upend the New England Patriots in the Divisional round, but Kansas City was objectively the NFL's most impressive team throughout the final two months of the regular season.
Now the Chiefs will need to prove that success wasn't a fluke as they gear up for a rigorous 2016 schedule following an offseason full of change.
The good news for Kansas City is that, despite facing some stiff competition—especially on the road—Andy Reid's squad will have a healthy Jamaal Charles at its disposal after the running back underwent season-ending surgery to repair a torn ACL last season.
Seeking back-to-back postseason berths for the first time since the 1994-95 seasons, here's a look at the road the Chiefs will need to travel in order to make their Super Bowl dream a reality.
Schedule
| Kansas City Chiefs 2016 Regular-Season Schedule | ||||
| 1 | Sept. 11 | vs. San Diego Chargers | 1 p.m. | CBS |
| 2 | Sept. 18 | at Houston Texans | 1 p.m. | CBS |
| 3 | Sept. 25 | vs. New York Jets | 4:25 p.m. | CBS |
| 4 | Oct. 2 | at Pittsburgh Steelers | 8:30 p.m. | NBC |
| 5 | BYE | |||
| 6 | Oct. 16 | at Oakland Raiders | 4:05 p.m. | CBS |
| 7 | Oct. 23 | vs. New Orleans Saints | 1 p.m. | Fox |
| 8 | Oct. 30 | at Indianapolis Colts | 1 p.m. | CBS |
| 9 | Nov. 6 | vs. Jacksonville Jaguars | 1 p.m. | CBS |
| 10 | Nov. 13 | at Carolina Panthers | 1 p.m. | CBS |
| 11 | Nov. 20 | vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 1 p.m. | Fox |
| 12 | Nov. 27 | at Denver Broncos | 4:25 p.m. | CBS |
| 13 | Dec. 4 | at Atlanta Falcons | 1 p.m. | CBS |
| 14 | Dec. 8 | vs. Oakland Raiders | 8:25 p.m. | NBC |
| 15 | Dec. 18 | vs. Tennessee Titans | 1 p.m. | CBS |
| 16 | Dec. 25 | vs. Denver Broncos | 8:30 p.m. | NBC |
| 17 | Jan. 1 | at San Diego Chargers | 4:25 p.m. | CBS |
| Source: NFL.com | ||||
Analysis
A scan of the Chiefs' schedule shows a clear dichotomy: There's a delectable home slate and a challenging spate of road games.
For instance, Kansas City—which owned a 6-2 mark at Arrowhead Stadium last season—will face just one 2015 playoff team at home in 2016.
The Chiefs' other toughest home dates figure to come against the rapidly rising Oakland Raiders—who poached former Kansas City cornerback Sean Smith during free agency—and feisty New York Jets. The Raiders, in particular, will be out for vengeance after the Chiefs swept the 2015 season series.
The story differs quite drastically on the road, though.
While the Chiefs posted an AFC West-best net-scoring differential of plus-56 and notched a 5-3 record away from home last season, per NFL.com, their 2016 road slate is an absolute gauntlet.
Division dates with the Broncos, Raiders and San Diego Chargers are generally difficult enough given the environments Kansas City has to travel to, but that's just the beginning. The Chiefs will round out the NFC South portion of their slate with clashes against the Atlanta Falcons and reigning NFC champion Carolina Panthers, and they'll also have to play the remainder of their AFC South schedule on the road.
That's bad news for several reasons.
First, the Indianapolis Colts are primed to rebound from an injury-riddled 2015 season with quarterback Andrew Luck back under center at full strength. Second, the Houston Texans look like one of the league's true ascendant squads after securing quarterback Brock Osweiler and running back Lamar Miller in free agency to help take the pressure off a stingy defense that carried the load last season.
Finally, the Chiefs will need to travel to Heinz Field for a meeting with the Pittsburgh Steelers. And while Kansas City downed Pittsburgh, 23-13, last season at Arrowhead, the Black and Yellow were without quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
If the Steelers are healthy this time around, the meeting should represent an intriguing clash of styles as Kansas City's vaunted defense seeks to slow down Pittsburgh's top-flight offense.
Pivotal Matchups
If the Chiefs want to capture their first AFC West title since 2010, they'll need to show up against the division's strongest teams. This year, that means finding ways to shut down the Broncos and Raiders.
That's hardly an easy task, but the Chiefs did march into Sports Authority Field at Mile High and down the eventual Super Bowl champions in a convincing 29-13 Week 10 win last season after choking away a 31-24 Week 2 loss to the Broncos in front of the Arrowhead faithful.
Ultimately, that early-season loss stood between the Chiefs and a division title as Denver finished a game up in the final AFC West standings.
But with the Broncos' roster in flux following the departures of defensive tackle Malik Jackson, linebacker Danny Trevathan, Osweiler and Peyton Manning, the door is wide open for the Chiefs to capture divisional superiority.
Doing so will require some serious focus when they travel to hostile environments, but as 2015's late-season push demonstrated, the Chiefs are among the NFL's most disciplined teams when they're faced with adversity.
