Who will Kansas City play in Week 1?

It hasn’t even been 72 hours since Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs won Super Bowl LVIII, and I can’t stop thinking about who they will play Week 1. 

The Chiefs' win on Sunday means they will open the 2024 NFL season, playing host to whichever team the league sees fit. 

Earlier this week, I highlighted the odds at FanDuel for Super Bowl LVIX. Today I dive into the odds of which team will play Kansas City in Week 1. 

What team will Kansas City play Week 1? 

The favourites to open next season against Kansas City are Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. 

The rivalry between these two teams is as real as any in the league at the moment, and a rematch of the 2023 AFC Championship would be an awesome way to start the season. 

Not far behind are the Baltimore Ravens and Los Angeles Chargers, each at +260. Both teams offer box office-worthy quarterback matchups and would spotlight some of the game’s biggest and brightest names on the opening game of the year. 

The only other team on the list with odds shorter than 16-1 is the Houston Texans. 

I’ll touch on the Texans in a minute, but as the odds suggest, this is a four-horse race to me. And I like Houston. 

The Bengals, Ravens, Chargers and Texans all make sense to be the Chiefs’ Week 1 opponent. 

But I can’t imagine a timeline where the Broncos, Raiders, Buccaneers, or Saints get that game. 

So, let me sell the Texans. 

You can argue for all three teams ahead of them on the odds board, but you can also make an argument against all three. 

Here’s that argument. 

Cincinnati: Does the league really want Joe Burrow’s first game back from injury to be in prime time against the Chiefs? Does this NFL want either of these teams starting 0-1? I’m willing to bet no on both of those. 

Baltimore: Congrats, Lamar, you won MVP. Now, go open the season on the road against the Chiefs. That just wouldn’t be right. Don’t do that, Roger. 

Los Angeles: Since 2004, the current Super Bowl champion has opened the NFL season at home on the opening night of the season. Those games has been against divisional opponents just three times. The Chargers also scream Week 1 Monday Night Football 

Why the Houston Texans will open the NFL season against Kansas City 

Coming in at +500, I’ve landed on the Texans as the team headed to Arrowhead for the opener. 

The NFL does a good job of striking while the iron is hot. And after an impressive late-season push to a divisional title, I expect this Texans team to garner a lot of off-season chatter. 

After an abysmal 3-13-1 season in 2022, the Texans cleaned house and made three big off-season investments. 

1. Brought in San Francisco 49ers defensive co-coordinator DeMeco Ryans as the new head coach. 

2. Drafted quarterback C.J. Stroud as the second overall pick in the draft.

3. Traded a 2024 first-round pick to move up to No. 3 and selected pass rusher Will Anderson. 

Winner. Winner. Winner. 

Ryans and his staff led the Texans to the team’s first divisional title (and winning season) since 2019. Stroud won Offensive Rookie of the Year, and Anderson took home Defensive Rookie of the Year honours. 

In a league of storylines, the Texans are a story waiting to be told, and one the league might want to display on the opening night of a new season. 

Plus, in a market like this, something that is a little different from a normal game or future, I lean towards longer numbers. 

If you feel differently, let us know on X at @TSN_Edge