2025 NFL schedule: Chiefs get considerable edge with neutral-site game

The NFL took care in scheduling most of its worldwide games, making sure to avoid divisional matchups. In the first 6 games it announced, just one was even a conference game. The global schedule was heavy on NFC vs. AFC games.There’s good

reason. Any international game is taking a home game away from one of the groups. The advantage acquired by the designated roadway group is decreased a bit if it’s not a conference game.Advertisement Then there

‘s the second game of

the NFL season.The Los Angeles Chargers signed up for a game

in Brazil. The NFL chose the Kansas City Chiefs, the Chargers’biggest barrier in the AFC West, to be their challenger for that Week 1 game on Sept 5. The Chiefs’ Travis Kelce made the statement on his” New Heights”podcast before Wednesday night’s official league announcement.Let’s remember this if the AFC West race is close at the end of the season.Chiefs-Chargers will remain in Brazil The NFL enables teams that are the designated host for an international game to safeguard 2 home games, and the

Chargers didn’t designate the Chiefs as one of the two home games to protect, according to Sports Company Journal. They picked to safeguard teams that do not come to Los Angeles frequently, such as the Pittsburgh Steelers, Philadelphia Eagles or Washington Commanders, thinking those games would be “a lot more lucrative,”according to SBJ.Advertisement So if the Chargers lose abroad to the Chiefs and that matters in the final standings, the group is worthy of blame for focusing on cash over getting a home game against a team that has won the AFC West

9 straight seasons.If the Chargers secured two games, the NFL had 7 other Chargers home challengers to choose from. The league didn’t have to select the Chiefs, however it did. That came in spite of preventing a divisional game in every other international match this season

and a long history of doing so. Considering that the global games begun in 2007, just 6 of them have actually been divisional games.The Chiefs have actually gotten an overblown track record as being preferred by the NFL. However the Chiefs were handed an essential edge by getting to play the Chargers in a neutral-site game. Nobody else in the NFL this season will have that benefit. Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton( 98)sacks Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert(10)in a matchup last season.(Tammy Ljungblad/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service through Getty Images)(Kansas City Star via Getty Images)Chiefs do not have to dip into Los Angeles The Chargers should feel they can compete with the Chiefs for an AFC West championship

. They are coming off a playoff season and appear to be on the rise.Advertisement And as the NFL reveals its schedule, 127 of the 128 divisional games will remain in home arenas and one will be in a neutral website. The Chargers need to play at the Chiefs this season, but the Chiefs don’t need to play the Chargers in

Los Angeles. That’s a huge edge for the Chiefs versus a team that could be its most significant hazard in the division.The NFL has consistently put business interests ahead of fairness in the schedule, and Chiefs vs. Chargers will do fantastic ratings for the standalone game on the Friday of Week 1. The league wasn’t stressed over offering the Chiefs a benefit. It was likely considering taking full advantage of the audience for YouTube, which will stream the game. The NFL will accomplish that. And again, the Chargers could have avoided the Chiefs as a neutral-site opponent by securing that game and chose not to.That decision could affect the shape of the postseason. There’s no assurance the Chargers would have won a home game versus the Chiefs, and the Chargers can make it a moot point by winning the neutral-site match. The Chargers might lose in Week 1 and go on to win the division. It may not matter at all. But there’s one divisional match on the entire schedule that removes a conventional roadway game for a team, and it happens to be the Chiefs versus their viewed biggest competition in the AFC West.The concept that the NFL favors the Chiefs through officiating was among the most exhausting talking points of last season. When it comes to the 2025 NFL schedule nevertheless, the Chiefs were offered an indisputable edge.