Chiefs won't have Christmas game for first time in 3 seasons, and more predictions about the 2026 NFL schedule for Kansas City

Dec 25, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (left) and tight end Travis Kelce (right) open their Netflix Christmas GameDay cake after the Chiefs defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Making some predictions regarding the Kansas City Chiefs’ schedule for the 2026 NFL season ahead of its official release on Thursday, May 14. Editor’s Note: These predictions will be published on the morning of Monday, May 11.

NBC, FOX, & Amazon will announce select games throughout the day on Monday. The Kansas City Chiefs will officially share their schedule with the public on Thursday, May 14. The league faces a unique scheduling challenge for the Chiefs’ games in 2026.

They remain one of the league’s biggest draws, with six games in the top 100 broadcasts of 2025. At the same time, they’re coming off their worst season record since 2012. I think the one thing we can expect is that Patrick Mahomes’ status coming off an ACL/LCL injury will factor into the NFL’s 2026 scheduling.

We know what Andy Reid and Brett Veach have said about Mahomes’ status recently. With all that said, here are three predictions for Kansas City as the NFL schedule release approaches. The Chiefs won’t play on Christmas, but will play their last primetime or standalone time slot around Thanksgiving I’m putting this one into the universe after three consecutive seasons of playing on Christmas.