The Kansas City Chiefs’ path to defending their newly won Super Bowl championship won’t be easy in 2023 after the NFL released a schedule that has them playing no less than six of their last seven games with a rest disadvantage to their opponents.
Though many thought the team would face an uphill battle to emerge as league champions for a second-straight season, none could have predicted that they would be put so far behind the eight ball. Warren Sharp of Sharp Football recently appeared on the Ross Tucker Podcast to bring this detail to light.
“The Chiefs will play with less rest than their opponent SIX straight weeks!”
Incredible info from @SharpFootball on today’s EVEN MONEY podcast: pic.twitter.com/43uMj3TZQs
— Ross Tucker Podcast (@RossTuckerPod) May 16, 2023
Rest is sure to factor in for the reigning champs as their 2023 campaign progresses, especially if there is a late-season fight for a playoff berth. In the midst of an AFC arms race, Kansas City will need to have an underdog mentality over the course of this crucial portion of their schedule to have any chance of securing a top seed in the postseason.
Chiefs are next
this is SHOCKING 👀
KC plays 6 STRAIGHT GAMES with less rest than their opponent
SIX! 🤯
late in the year (Wk 12-17), EVERY SINGLE GAME the Chiefs play is at a rest disadvantage
I researched back 35 years, never happened before
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) May 16, 2023
Sharp added in a later tweet that this kind of disadvantage hasn’t been given to a team in more than 35 years. It is time for Chiefs fans to ask the question so often posed by fans of other teams about Patrick Mahomes: Just how much help does the rest of the AFC need?
