Kansas City Chiefs take a hit in latest power rankings
The Kansas City Chiefs played their worst game of the season on Sunday night against the Buffalo Bills so it should come as no surprise that they have dropped in almost all the latest batch of NFL power rankings.
And with Kansas City once again below .500 and sitting in last place in the AFC West, it is not hard to see why.
The Chiefs had looked shaky at best so far this season, but had a chance to make a statement with a good performance against the Bills in a rematch of last season’s AFC Championship game. Instead, it was Buffalo who cemented their status as the new top contenders in the AFC with a dominant 38-20 win over a woeful Kansas City.
Kansas City’s defense showed once again why it is the worst in the league, allowing big play after big play as the Bills moved the ball up and down the field at will. The Chiefs struggled with turnovers once again and the offense looked uncharacteristically inept.
The Chiefs are still clinging to a top-10 spot in some of the latest power rankings – but not all of them.
NFL.com’s Dan Hanzus has Kansas City dropping down two places from eighth to 10th, labelling the Chiefs as “mistake-prone on offense and overmatched on defense”.
The Chiefs also sit in 10th spot in Nate Davis from USA Today’s latest power rankings, falling one spot from ninth last week, as he pointed out that Patrick Mahomes’ six interceptions so far this season already match his total from 2020.
Arrowhead Addict’s own Matt Verderame has KC ranked 11th, down one spot from last week, and was brutal in his assessment of the Chiefs, saying: “Patrick Mahomes was dreadful, the defense invisible, and now the Chiefs have a real uphill climb.”
Here at FanSided, Kansas City now sits in ninth spot in Russel Baxter’s rankings, having dropped down from seventh the week prior. Baxter has the Bills atop his rankings, ahead of Arizona and Tampa Bay.
Barry Werner from Yahoo! Sports has the Chiefs down in 13th spot on his power rankings, the joint-lowest among this group. He has Kansas City as the seventh-ranked team in the AFC behind the Bills (1), Ravens (4), Chargers (6), Browns (7), Bengals (10) and Titans (11).
While he expressed some hope that Kansas City can still turn things around, Werner also said: “with Mahomes making mistakes that have hurt the team, there still should be some concern in KC”.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer also has KC sitting in 13th spot on his rankings, but unlike Werner has the Chiefs ranked ahead of Tennessee.
Surprisingly, the Chiefs actually moved up in ESPN’s power rankings, despite getting monstered by the Bills. ESPN had Kansas City in 11th spot after week four, but this week has them moving up into 10th.
Overall, most analysts have the Bills as the top-ranked team in the NFL right now, while the Arizona Cardinals and Tampa bay Buccaneers also earned top spot in some rankings.
***LINKS***
https://www.nfl.com/news/nfl-power-rankings-week-6-2021-nfl-season
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/columnist/nate-davis/2021/10/12/nfl-power-rankings-week-5-2021-bills-chargers-cardinals/6099996001/
https://www.si.com/nfl/2021/10/12/nfl-power-rankings-cardinals-keep-rolling-chargers-make-statement
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/32382626/nfl-power-rankings-week-6-1-32-poll-plus-team-most-improved-player
