When the NFL announced its 2023 schedule on Thursday night, there were more than a handful of Kansas City Chiefs fans who were surprised by the league’s decision to have the team’s season begin with the Detroit Lions watching as a new championship banner is revealed above GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Many fans were apparently expecting the Philadelphia Eagles — the team the Chiefs defeated for the right to raise that new banner — to be the team’s first opponent in 2023.
According to Mike North — the league’s vice president for broadcast planning — that was an option the league did consider.