NFL Power Rankings and the KC Chiefs schedule
Don’t Stand A Chance
The previous tier were teams that I see as at least having a shot at the playoffs if everything went right, but this last tier aren’t even there yet. These are teams that should be thrilled if they can get to six or seven wins this season.
Kansas City at Cincinnati: Week 17 – 1/2/22
I went back forth on making the Bengals the best team in the “Don’t Stand a Chance” tier or the worst team in the “Competitive Teams That Will Miss The Playoffs” tier, but decided it doesn’t really matter.
I like Joe Burrow and think he has a couple nice pieces to work with on offense, but I think it’s going to be another year or two before things really start clicking, and the Bengals’ defense is still a problem. I think they’ll have a couple of games where they surprise people this season, but they’re still a few years (and maybe a different coach?) away from being a playoff team.
The Chiefs get the Bengals late in the season when K.C. may have things pretty well wrapped up and the Bengals will be well out of contention. Honestly, I hope this doesn’t turn into a trap game for the Chiefs. I can see Burrow wanting to make a statement going head to head with Mahomes and a road game against a losing team has trap written all over it.
The Chiefs should be able to win this game without any problems if they show up ready to play (fingers crossed).
There are a few people out there who seem to think Urban Meyer and Trevor Lawrence will instantly make the Jaguars into a competitive team. I am not one of them. While I think Lawrence has a great future in the NFL, I don’t think Meyer is going to be successful. I believe he thinks he can just do things like he’s always done in college and will get the same results, but that’s not how the league works. In the NFL you have to adapt, and that doesn’t seem like something Meyer is willing to do. They’ll win a few more games than last season, but I think that’s about it.
Kansas City at Philadelphia: Week 4 – 10/3/21
I think the Eagles downgraded at head coach this offseason, and I think their roster may have taken a slight step backwards as well. That’s not good for a team that went 4-11-1 last season.
I’d love to see Jalen Hurts get a real shot to prove he can be a good starting quarterback in the NFL, but he’s going to have to overcome a lot next season to do it. This feels like a team that will be drafting high next season and looking for an excuse to start over at quarterback—again. Maybe Hurts will get a better shot with another team in the future.
I think the Chiefs are going to steamroll the Eagles. Some might call this a trap game because it’s squeezed in between a bunch of tough games at the start of the season, but I just don’t see Andy Reid going on the road to his old team and losing. The Chiefs are an elite Super Bowl contender and the Eagles are a team that needs a rebuild. I think the score in this game will reflect that.
30. New York Jets
I really like Robert Saleh and think if the Jets give him enough time, he will eventually get this team turned around. The problem is that they had by far the worst roster in the NFL last season and you don’t fix that in one offseason. I’m curious to see what Zach Wilson can do in the NFL, but even if he’s good it’s going to take some time for him to adjust to the NFL and for them to build a good roster around him. If the Jets were a stock, I would invest in them for the long term, but I don’t think the payoff will come this season.
31. Detroit Lions
The Lions should thank the Houston Texans for being a giant flaming dumpster fire because it kept them from being the hands down worst team in the NFL next season. Dan Campbell can give all the funny soundbites that he wants, but his offense is going to be just awful this season. Jared Goff was not good with a good offensive coach and great wide receivers. Now he has questionable coaching and by far the worst group of receivers in the NFL. I don’t know how they are going to score any points this season.
32. Houston Texans
The Texans were 4-12 last season with one of the best young quarterbacks in the NFL in Deshaun Watson. Now he’s facing charges that could keep him out of the NFL this season, and even if he can play, he has said he doesn’t want to be in Houston anymore.
Big name star players like DeAndre Hopkins and JJ Watt are now gone with nothing to show for it. In fact, not only did they not get big draft capital in return for their best players leaving, they somehow traded away all their draft picks building that awful roster so they couldn’t even reload with young talent in the draft. They did sign a whole bunch of running backs this offseason, so there’s that I guess?
Bottom line: if Watson doesn’t play they may not win a game. If he does play then maybe they win enough games to pass the Lions and become the second worst team in the NFL.
Finally let’s review how the Chiefs schedule looks overall based on these power rankings.