Kansas City Chiefs’ 2026 NFL season primetime matchup with the Los Angeles Rams just got a boost after the Myles Garrett trade
Circle the Los Angeles Rams game on your calendar, Kansas City Chiefs fans. The game already had the makings of an instant classic, but after the Myles Garrett trade, it’ll could be that much more exciting.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 13 game against the Los Angeles Rams was already shaping up to be an instant classic. The blockbuster trade shipping Cleveland Browns all-world edge rusher Myles Garrett to the Rams just made it that much more exciting.
The Week 13 tilt already had the makings of an offense vs. defense showdown with Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson as new cornerstones on the Los Angeles defense. McDuffie was traded to LA during the offseason, while Watson joined him via free agency. The pair of former Chiefs starters are obviously eager for a chance at their former team.
Everything to know about Chiefs’ 2026 matchup with Rams on ‘Thursday Night Football’
The Chiefs and Rams will face off for the 14th time during the 2026 NFL season. It’s their first matchup since 2022 and their second of the Patrick Mahomes era.
- Where: SoFi Stadium – Inglewood, California.
- Date & Time: Thursday, Dec. 3 at 7:15 p.m. CT
- Broadcast: Amazon Prime Video
Chiefs’ matchup with Rams now features more than Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson’s revenge
While the McDuffie and Watson storylines won’t be going anywhere, Myles Garrett is a generational talent. Patrick Mahomes has a ton of respect for Garrett and vice versa. Why wouldn’t they? They’re both on the same level, juggernauts of the National Football League at their respective positions. Seeing them square off is a rare matchup that will bring out the best in both players.
“I think you have to prepare for it as an entire offense,” Mahomes said of Garrett in 2024. “You have to give him (Browns DE Myles Garrett) different looks. You can’t let him just pass rush over and over again. I mean, he’s – he won Defensive Player of the Year for a reason, man. He’s going to win a lot of those matchups, and so we’ll throw him changeups, we’ll throw him different pitches that he can hopefully keep his mind racing, but at the end of the day, he’s going to make plays happen. When he starts to win reps or win certain plays, you have to not make them negative plays, get rid of the football, even if that’s throwing it away, and live to play another play.”
“He’s always more elusive than you give him credit for, and he has very good balance,” Garrett said of Mahomes in December of 2024. “He doesn’t go down easily, and even when he does, his eyes are always looking downfield. He’s always looking to make that next play. That’s really the tough part about it. He’s always looking down the field. He’s unflappable, really, when the rush is coming, and he’s not deterred too much about pressure from the middle, from the edges.”
Beyond the matchup between future Hall of Fame talents, these two clubs always play each other tough. Just think back to the legendary 54-51 matchup in 2018. The 105 combined points in that game on Nov. 19, 2018, still rank as the third-highest-scoring regular-season game in NFL history.