The Kansas City Chiefs are suddenly the belle of the ball in the NFL as they’ve landed atop the ESPN Football Power Index.
Apparently all it takes to earn a decent shred of credibility in the NFL is to march into Bill Belichick’s home, make Tom Brady look like the current model of Matt Cassel and dominate his football team. It also helps if Belichick’s team won the most recent Super Bowl, by the way.
One week after the Chiefs pulled off a minor miracle with their dominating win at Gillette Stadium to open the NFL season, Kansas City is earning high marks as the best overall team in the NFL. Specifically over at ESPN, the Chiefs have been named the top team in the network’s Power Football Index, a complicated algorithm of levers and pulleys, cranks and keyboards. Or maybe you could just read here what it means.
Not only does the Football Power Index list the Chiefs as 6.8 points better than the “average” NFL team on a neutral field, but ESPN’s Seth Walder says that the metrics also gives the Chiefs a 20% chance to win the Super Bowl. That’s the highest of any team in the NFL, including the Patriots who are also in the AFC. It also bodes well for their postseason hopes.
"More from Arrowhead AddictFormer Chiefs cornerback in legal trouble in Las VegasChiefs Kingdom: Get ready to break contract newsChiefs news: Travis Kelce wants to host fan ‘chug-off’ in GermanyPodcast: Breaking down the Chiefs biggest roster battlesKC Chiefs send Dave Merritt to NFL coaching acceleratorAll that improvement means that after just one game, Chiefs fans can be just about certain to see their team play January football this year. Well, according to FPI, 90 percent certain."
If the Chiefs are able to keep up this level of success, it will be interesting to see whether the Pats can earn a rematch in the playoffs. Imagine getting ready for a re-match in which both teams will have been through the gauntlet of a full regular season. That would be a game to remember.
Of course, the Chiefs have already had a game to remember: a dominating win in Foxboro. Andy Reid and company are now getting the attention they’ve deserved all along as a perennial playoff force and a team that should be favored to win each and every week.