KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- If the Kansas City Chiefs are to make the playoffs again in 2014, they will do so against a more difficult schedule. The Chiefs will face the seventh-toughest schedule in the league next season, according to the 2013 winning percentage of their 16 opponents.
Chiefs' opponents had a 2013 cumulative winning percentage of .559. If there’s any good news in this regard for the Chiefs, it’s that their three rivals face an even more difficult schedule. The Oakland Raiders will play the most difficult schedule (.578), while the Denver Broncos are second (.570) and the San Diego Chargers tied for fourth (.563).
One reason the AFC West schedules are so difficult is that the Broncos, Chiefs and Chargers all made the playoffs last season. Another is that the division teams play the four teams from the NFC West, where the Seattle Seahawks won the Super Bowl and the San Francisco 49ers advanced to the NFC title game.
The eight teams from the two Western divisions have the eight toughest schedules in the league according to the 2013 records of their opponents.
The Chiefs have the most difficult home schedule (.570) among the NFL teams. They not only face the Broncos, Chargers and Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium, but also the Seahawks, the AFC East champion New England Patriots, the New York Jets, St. Louis Rams and Tennessee Titans.