With the release of the NFL Schedule coming later today, the AFC West race is already heating up, and the Los Angeles Chargers should be on the edge of their seats as they await their full slate of games for 2026.
The Chargers, for their part, should be poised for Super Bowl contention this season. They've addressed many of the depth issues that plagued them in 2025, and they've reworked their entire offensive scheme. If everything comes together, this team could be a serious threat for the AFC West title in 2026.
So could the Denver Broncos, who found their offensive footing under Bo Nix last season and had a real chance to advance to the Super Bowl if Nix hadn't gotten injured at the end of their Divisional Round matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
The Kansas City Chiefs, though, have a lot of questions to answer this year. Their offense (and, to some extent, their defense) fell entirely flat in 2025, and they've now reworked much of their secondary and portions of their offensive arsenal in an attempt to work their way back into contention. A rough start to the season, however, could grant the Chargers a rare opportunity to get a headstart in the race for the AFC West.
The Chiefs will get no grace period from the NFL when the full schedule comes out
Chargers fans will remember Patrick Mahomes' ACL tear in Week 15. As it stands, he appears to be headed for a Week 1 return, which Los Angeles should undeniably be rooting for. Mahomes is one of the NFL's premier quarterbacks, and the league is more entertaining when he's active.
But that doesn't mean the Chiefs will get any sort of grace period from the NFL. Only their Week 1 matchup has been confirmed so far. It will be at home against the Denver Broncos on Sunday Night Football. But Kansas City has the fifth-most difficult strength of schedule in the entire league this season— their opponents' average winning percentage in 2025 sits at .536.
We don't yet know how the full slate will shake out. But we do know that the Chiefs will have road matchups against the Buffalo Bills, Los Angeles Rams, and Seattle Seahawks at some point in 2026. It's clear from the scheduling of the Denver matchup that the NFL is looking to elevate Kansas City back into their usual primetime position as quickly as possible.
If Mahomes isn't at full strength, or the new Chiefs offense takes a few games to find its footing, it wouldn't be unreasonable to anticipate a slow start for Kansas City.
The Chargers, for their part, don't yet have any games confirmed. Like the Chiefs, their most difficult matchups will also be road games.
But depending on how the final schedule turns out, there should be room for Los Angeles to create an early buffer between them and their greatest rival in the race for the AFC West.
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