NFL power rankings: Kansas City Chiefs are back in Top 10
By Matt Conner
The latest round of NFL power rankings are out and the Kansas City Chiefs are earning notice again that they are a team with some serious postseason potential.
It’s not just that the Kansas City Chiefs are back to their winning ways. It’s that they are taking out the very teams they needed to, showing they can respond when their backs are against the wall. That’s why the NFL power rankings are taking note.
Three teams were staring at each other in an Wild West sort of showdown, each one able to take control of their own destiny and the AFC West if they would simply respond accordingly and beat the teams ahead of them. Over the course of two weeks, the Chiefs stared down both the Oakland Raiders and Los Angeles Raiders and mowed them over, one by one.
The Raiders game in particular wasn’t even close until Derek Carr decided to add some late heroics and then add an onside kick into the mix. Yet even then, the loss was still double digits as Steven Terrell intercepted the ball to close things out.
As for the Chargers loss, the Chiefs dialed up the aggression on both sides of the ball all day and Philip Rivers imploded down the stretch, tossing 3 interceptions. The Chiefs in the end were able to run away with it and finished with a 17 point win.
In response, NFL power rankings are giving the Chiefs their due having taken full control in the AFC West. Over at ESPN, the Chiefs are now back in the Top 10 and look like a team no one will want to face in the postseason. Yahoo! Sports have also given the Chiefs a top 10 look, at No. 10 to be exact, a jump from 14 overall. Sports Illustrated also has the Chiefs right at No. 10, a leap of 3 spots from the previous week.
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Basically the Chiefs are right where they are seeded in terms of playoff positioning. The Chiefs are No. 4 overall right now, after the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars. That makes good sense given that all of those teams already have double digit wins. The Chiefs are still dangerous yet other teams have a better track record until now, without the in-season drama experienced by K.C.