The Kansas City Chiefs find themselves ranked #3 in most Power Rankings once again, and that has me fuming. They deserve to be higher.
Okay, now I’m mad. If you’ve been keeping up with our weekly NFL Power Rankings round-up, then you know that the Kansas City Chiefs have been the No. 3 team in the league for pretty much the entire season. During that time, they have trailed both the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles.
“Third best team'”made sense for a while, especially after the Chiefs lost to the Bills. The Eagles, because of their cupcake schedule (yeah I’ll say it!), are undefeated and the longer that goes on, the more it matters, I guess.
But this week two things happened: The Chiefs beat the Tennessee Titans, who are leading the AFC South and had the same record at the beginning of the night. The Buffalo Bills also lost to the *checks notes* New York Jets.
Now I know what you’re going to say, “The Jets are actually pretty good this year and their defense held the Bills to 17 points.” Do you know who also has a pretty good defense and held the Chiefs to just nine points for three-quarters of the game, and a combined twenty overall? Oh yeah, the Tennessee Titans. Guess who didn’t lose? The Kansas City Chiefs. And they did it thanks to record-setting night from Patrick Mahomes.
So I’m calling BS on NFL Power Rankings this week. The Eagles aren’t as good as their record, the Bills lost and the Chiefs won against an “inferior” opponent that turned out to be tougher than both teams thought. And yet, here we are. The Chiefs are still #3.
Frank Schwab at Yahoo! Sports knocks the Chiefs for a lack of run game. But for the Bills, he says, “They can’t lose games like this.” He’s right. And you know who didn’t lose a game like that? The Chiefs.
NFL.com has similarly frustrating statements. Dan Hanzus properly observed, “How maddening must it be to try to stop Patrick Mahomes?” But apparently, his praise of the Chiefs wasn’t good enough to put them over the Bills, of whom he says, “Consider Sunday’s stunning 20-17 loss to the Jets a wakeup call to the Bills.”
At least CBS had the common sense to see the Chiefs as I do when they ranked KC as #2 (and put Buffalo at #4!).
"They didn’t look great in beating the Titans, who were playing without Ryan Tannehill. But they found a way, which is a sign of a good team."
I’m going to walk it off, but what do you think? Are the Chiefs still the #3 team? Or have they overcome the Bills in the Power Rankings?