NFL power rankings: Can KC Chiefs reach the top once again?

I can almost feel it. The Kansas City Chiefs feel this close to just going full scorched earth on everyone. I said in this column last week that if all three phases of the game played well together, the Chiefs would be unstoppable. They pretty much did on Saturday, and sure enough, they blew out the Seattle Seahawks.

I know the score was only 24-10, but anyone who watched the game knew it wasn’t nearly that close. The Chiefs kept a comfortable 14-point lead the entire game. Would another touchdown or two have been nice? Sure, but when the defense plays as it did, the offense doesn’t need to score 30 points a game.

Despite the promising and balanced game, the Chiefs didn’t really move all that much in NFL Power Rankings this week, except for one. While most Power Rankings have them in the bottom half of the top 5, ESPN was bold enough to shoot Kansas City straight to the top.

In addition to their weekly rankings, ESPN also asked their analysts to give each team’s ‘defining moment’. Adam Teicher’s pick for KC? Trading away Tyreek Hill. To him, it was defined in that it not only set the Chiefs up well for the future, but it didn’t hurt them in the present either.

It’s hard to disagree with that assessment. I miss Hill as much as the next person, but the Chiefs haven’t really skipped a beat without him. In fact, it could be argued that they’ve gotten better offensively. The future draft picks that they still have from the trade will only keep this team fresh.

Elsewhere, Dan Hanzus still has the Chiefs at #5, and honestly, I’ve given up my feud with him. While I don’t love that the Chiefs are still as low as #5, it seems that he just can’t accept the Chiefs as being great.

To his credit, Hanzus did point out that the Chiefs had no turnovers for the first time since week 5 (!), and the defense did look better. A promising showing for sure.

Yahoo Sports! kept the Chiefs at #3 in their Power Rankings, as did CBS Sports. The former noted that the most important game of the Chiefs season won’t even include them – next week’s Bengals-Bills showdown. As much as I don’t like the Bengals or Joe Burrow right now, I’ll be rooting for them to win.

I’m glad that this team is finally getting some well-deserved recognition in the Power Rankings again, at least by ESPN. I think that if the Chiefs burn down the already burning Denver Broncos this week, and then wrap things up against the Las Vegas Raiders next week (especially if it leads to the #1 seed), many media outlets won’t have much of a choice other than to see them as the top team heading into the playoffs.