USA TODAY’s latest power rankings were surprisingly kind to the Kansas City Chiefs.
After an uncharacteristic loss to the Baltimore Ravens on “Sunday Night Football” in Week 2, the Chiefs are only moving down one spot in USA TODAY’s power rankings. They’ve held the No. 2 spot heading into the season and after their Week 1 win against the Cleveland Browns.
Now, USA TODAY’s Nate Davis has Kansas City falling down to No. 3 behind the Los Angeles Rams (No. 2) and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 1).
“They’re not in first place in the AFC West for the first time in nearly five years,” Davis wrote. “But let’s not overreact to one untimely Clyde Edwards-Helaire fumble.”
It seems like people are overlooking the poor defensive play in their power rankings this week. The Chiefs’ offense is still one of the best in the NFL and that’ll have them in every game they play no matter how bad the defense is.
Our friends at Touchdown Wire also seemed to agree with Davis, with Nick Wojton placing the Chiefs at the No. 3 spot behind the Rams (No. 2) and the Bucs (No. 1) as well. They too didn’t seem too concerned about the defensive play from Kansas City, but they were cognizant of the other mistakes made in Week 2.
“The Chiefs weren’t without their mistakes, like turnovers, even from quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He’s a notable winner in the month of September, but he wasn’t against the Ravens. But he did get his team inching toward a win despite all those shortcomings. Clyde Edwards-Helaire fumbled this one away.”
The fact that Kansas City was still in the game until the final minute and a half does have some meaning. However, the Chiefs need to fix the mistakes and get better on the defensive side of the ball moving forward. Otherwise, they’re going to keep falling in the power rankings and also the NFL standings.
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