NFL power rankings: KC Chiefs finish regular season near top

After the final regular game of the season, the Kansas City Chiefs find themselves in the Power Rankings pretty much where they began in Week 1.

It’s been a fun ride, following the Kansas City Chiefs through the NFL Power Rankings this season. If you’ve followed along with me, I appreciate you. It’s hard to believe that the season is already over, but here we are.

The Chiefs have had a fairly consistent trip through this season’s NFL Power Rankings. When the season began, Andy Reid’s squad found themselves in the bottom half of the top five, despite an offseason of doom and gloom predictions.

And there were a lot of those predictions. If you want to spend five minutes on Twitter that you’ll actually enjoy, just go check out some now freezing-cold takes that the “experts” had for the Chiefs going into the season. You won’t regret it.

Throughout the rest of the season, the Chiefs pretty much stayed within the boundaries of the top 5. Yet, surprisingly they very rarely made it to the top of most lists. ESPN was most gracious, especially near the end of the season. Yahoo! Sports also had the Chiefs at #1 a few times.

Then there was my long-running feud with Dan Hanzus from the league’s official site, who just seemed to absolutely refuse to rank the Chiefs as the No. 1 team in the league except for one lone week. (Hanzus doesn’t even know I exist, but I like to think it was a feud.)

So where do the Chiefs rank this week as the season comes to an end and the playoffs begin?

Well, out of respect for Hanzus, I’ll start with his rankings which put the Chiefs at No. 4—I think this has been his most consistent spot for them all season. He thinks that the 49ers, Bills, and Bengals are the only three teams better than the Chiefs, and I think that’s reasonable.

Yahoo! Sports also have the Chiefs at No. 4. Frank Schwab focused on Jerick McKinnon in his ranking review, but he dedicated his intro to the Chiefs and their “budding dynasty” It’s a solid read if you get a minute. I love this quote from him:

"This season was a testament to the greatness of head coach Andy Reid and Mahomes. We got bored with Mahomes, too, and did it during the season…Everyone understands Mahomes is the best in the NFL. It’s just dull to keep saying it."

Finally, CBS Sports has the Chiefs ranked the highest at No. 2. They say that the Chiefs will be a tough out in the playoffs this year. I believe it. This might be my last Power Rankings post of the season, but I’m confident that after their Super Bowl win next month, the Chiefs will be the  No. 1 team in the league again.