NFL power rankings: KC Chiefs are right where they should be

Another Sunday, another close football game that the Kansas City Chiefs shouldn’t have been involved in. But what do we expect from these Chiefs? If all three phases of the team can magically work together one of these days the entire team might be unstoppable.

But as it is, that hasn’t happened yet. And so the seven straight time AFC West Champions continue to struggle against bad and mediocre teams. But what’s interesting is, as some of the Arrowhead Addict writers pointed out, neither the offense or the defense played particularly bad.

Aside from the Isiah Pacheco fumble, and Carl Cheffers refusing to let the defense go three and out, the team as a whole looked…fine? Sounds weird right? But the Texans just had a solid game and went toe to toe with one of the best teams in the league, just like they did last week against Dallas. It happens.

And so because of that, I think the Chiefs are right where they should be. Not the top team in the Power Rankings, but not below the top 5 either.

The farthest down the list they find themselves is right at #5 according to NFL.com. Dan Hanzus worries that the Chiefs’ turnover issues could come back to haunt them. On the other hand he also acknowledges that the Chiefs tend to sleepwalk through the season and really ‘hit the accelerator’ when they need to.

Frank Schwab at Yahoo! Sports is a little more generous and has the Chiefs as his #3 team. He acknowledged the weirdness of the Texans game, by pointing to what I mentioned above: statistically, the Chiefs were fine. Even dominant.

"They outgained the Texans 502-219. Mahomes completed 36-of-41 passes and never turned it over. Yet the Chiefs needed overtime to win. But they did win, which is the most important thing as they chase the Bills for the No. 1 seed."

Adam Teicher at ESPN had high praise for Jerick McKinnon as he ranked the Chiefs #3, and CBS Sports also moved the Chiefs up one spot this week to #3.

Overall, I think the Chiefs are right where they deserve to be in the Power Rankings. Number five might be a little low, but it’s understandable. The Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills have just been better, so it makes sense that they are higher than the Chiefs in most Power Rankings (the 49ers are also sneaking in occasionally).

I’d still like to see the Chiefs get a true signature win over the next few weeks (never mind that they need to win out). Until then, they are just a top 5 team.