Chiefs' 6-2 record deserves more respect than critics are giving it

When the dust settled at Arrowhead on Sunday evening, the Kansas City Chiefs had improved to 6-2 with a 35-12 blowout over the New York Jets. You wouldn't know it by the response of the media and the team's fan base. The prevailing reaction is that the win ultimately says nothing about who the Chiefs are right now. The Jets are a woeful team that isn't a viable litmus test for how good Kansas City currently is. In fact, you can extend that same criticism to their entire slate of games thus far. In short, the Chiefs haven't played anyone.

However you feel about Kansas City's schedule to date, this team deserves its share of criticism. Before the get-right game with the Jets, the Chiefs were coming off two troubling losses. They no-showed against a .500 Seattle Seahawks team at Lumen Field. The following week, the team lost in heart-wrenching fashion to the division-leading Denver Broncos. There are serious questions about the receiving corps, the pass rush, and the continuity and overall consistency of the offensive line. These are valid concerns, but should they disqualify the Chiefs as a legitimate contender come January?

How the Chiefs' strength of schedule compares to other contenders

It's fair to wonder if a team's record has been artificially inflated by a weak strength of schedule. Are the Chiefs uniquely benefiting from inferior opponents, or are other teams also collecting "soft" wins? I took a look around the league at other teams with six or more wins to determine this. My methodology comprises the list of opponents each team has beaten, the records of those opponents, their winning percentages, and how many wins each team has against teams at or above .500.

Patterns emerge when you assess the data points. The Broncos lead the pack with four wins against teams at or above .500; the Jaguars, Niners, and Bills have three each; five teams have two, and the Chiefs and Bengals sit near the bottom. The key takeaway here is that the majority of these teams are more alike than they are different. If so many of them have similarly benefited from "soft" schedules, is that a useful metric to determine who the real contenders are?

Right now, we only have a partial picture and don't need to draw hard-line conclusions based on incomplete data. Many of these teams have tougher games ahead, which will create a more natural separation of the field. Each of these teams is flawed, but we can learn more from assessing their individual flaws and how they comparatively impact postseason aspirations. Most of these résumés are incomplete entering Week 10, so qualifying contenders based on strength of schedule alone feels unreliable.

The Chiefs' toughest tests are still ahead

Tougher challenges are on the way for the Chiefs. We'll soon collect enough data to have a more nuanced and complete picture of where they're headed. It will depend on the stability and consistency of their pass rush, offensive line protection, and whether their receiving room becomes more dynamic through a potential addition at the trade deadline. It also hinges on the willingness of the coaching staff to make key changes and on the late-season development of young players.

Ultimately, the Chiefs can only play the games slotted on their schedule. Kansas City has a stretch ahead where they'll face the Bills, Rams, and Bengals in three consecutive road trips before returning home to square off with the Patriots and Niners. That span will organically reveal more about the feasibility of this team's Super Bowl aspirations. In the interim, it's fair to assess them as a good but flawed team, not unlike many in a similar position across the league.

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