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NFL Power Rankings: Where do the Kansas City Chiefs belong?

By Lyle Graversen

May 23, 2017; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of the team huddling on one of the practice fields after the organized team activities at the University of Kansas Hospital Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
May 23, 2017; Kansas City, MO, USA; A general view of the team huddling on one of the practice fields after the organized team activities at the University of Kansas Hospital Training Complex. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 5, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after beating the Atlanta Falcons during Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 5, 2017; Houston, TX, USA; New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady (12) celebrates with the Vince Lombardi Trophy after beating the Atlanta Falcons during Super Bowl LI at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports /

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the New England Patriots were the unanimous number one in all ten power rankings. Coming off their Super Bowl win (and not sustaining any offseason losses that would knock them down a peg), the top spot is theirs until real games are played again. So with No. 1 out of the way let’s examine the top five AFC teams when you combine all ten power rankings.

1. New England Patriots (1.0 avg)
2. Pittsburgh Steelers (4.3 avg)
3. Oakland Raiders (5.1 avg)
4. Tennessee Titans (9.8 avg)
5. Kansas City Chiefs (10.4 avg)

Author’s Note: I will return to a reasonable analysis of these rankings after a brief homer tirade.

THE TENNESSEE TITANS?!?!?! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?! I get that they’re an up-and-coming team, but they were 9-7 last year and the Chiefs were 12-4. The Chiefs, despite their often criticized offense, actually scored eight more points than the Titans last season and their defense allowed a whopping 67 less points than Tennessee’s. The Chiefs went 6-0 in their division in 2016 while the Titans went 2-4 against the Texans, Colts, and Jaguars. COME ON!!!!!

Deep Breaths. Deep… Breaths…

The Pittsburgh Steelers have every right to the number two spot in the AFC after advancing to the AFC championship last season. They have a quarterback and head coach that have won it all before and two of the best weapons in all of the NFL in LeVeon Bell and Antonio Brown. No complaints there.

As Chiefs fans I believe we have every right to argue that the Chiefs should be ahead of the Oakland Raiders until the Raiders can prove that they can beat K.C. They beat Oakland in Oakland when Derek Carr was still healthy and I’m not convinced that Marshawn Lynch is going to change things for them all that much. It was Oakland’s defense that held them back last season (they allowed 84 more points than the Chiefs). I’ve just accepted the fact that the media loves the Raiders and desperately wants them to be good. I’m not mad about it anymore. Hopefully the Chiefs will own them on the field again in 2017 and that will be the end of that.

I feel like there are only two teams in the AFC with a legit claim to go into the 2017 season ranked higher than the Chiefs and those teams are the Patriots and Steelers. I’ll admit that the Raiders are neck and neck with the Chiefs after an impressive 12-4 season last year but until they beat K.C. head-to-head all they really have going for them is media hype. I’m sure some Raiders fan will jump on here and scream about the quarterback advantage of Derek Carr vs. Alex Smith, but that hasn’t helped them beat the Chiefs so far.

As far as Tennessee goes, well, I’ll just let what I said previously stand.

Finally, let’s see how the power rankings predict the AFC West going.

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