So every now and then I need to take a break from reviewing film to talk about things. Usually, it’s going to be a thing that bugged me OR a thing that I find particularly awesome. Today is the former.
So apparently, according to preseason rankings in March by Bleacher Report (which, if you’re looking for a sure sign that we have entirely too much time on your hands, the fact that there are preseason rankings in March should do the trick), the Chiefs are the third best team in the AFC West. Third. Behind the Raiders and the Broncos.
Oh.
Do power rankings ever matter? No. Do I really buy into the narrative that the Chiefs get no respect? Not really. Am I still writing this article? I am.
Let’s look at a few numbers. I’ve been told that numbers are good (though we’ve already proven over the years as I’ve written here that math is evil, but whatever) and that they provide quantifiable facts. So let’s quantify things a little bit, shall we? I’ll name a number, then tell you what that number means.
557
That is the number of days it has been, as of the time I am writing this article, since the Chiefs have lost to an opponent in the AFC West.
557 days is a lot of days. People have obtained associates degrees in the amount of time since the Chiefs last dropped a game to the AFC West. Approximately 200 million people have been born (including my 11-month-old son). The Shamrock Shake has come and gone twice.
Or think of it this way... if you started counting out seconds, you would count to 48,124,800 before you counted as high as the amount of time since the Chiefs lost to the AFC West. OR think of it this way... if you ate the same number of slices of pizza as days since the Chiefs lost to the AFC West, you would definitely die. OR... imagine if someone punched you in the face 557 times. I bet you’d die doing that, too.
So yeah, it’s been a long time since the Chiefs have lost to the AFC West.
132
That’s the number of points the Chiefs have outscored the AFC West by over the last two years (333 to 201). Which leads us to this number.
11
That’s the average number of points by which the Chiefs have outscored their AFC West foes over the last two years. That’s only 3 fewer points per game than the L.A. Rams averaged in total. Think about that for a second (then maybe call a Rams fan and tell them it’s gonna be OK).
3
That’s the number of AFC West teams who have surrendered over 100 points to the Chiefs over the last two years (in case you did not know this, there are 3 teams in the AFC West. 3 out of 3 is 100%, which is another number that is interesting). Oh, and since we’re doing numbers outside of the captions here, it’s worth noting that the team who has surrendered the MOST points to the Chiefs is the Denver Broncos, who have allowed 116 points to be scored on them by the Chiefs in the last 2 years.
0
That is the number of AFC West teams who have scored 100 points against the Chiefs during this same time span. That, unlike the big numbers earlier, is a small number. In fact, it’s as small as a number can get in this context. In fact, the most any other AFC West team has scored against the Chiefs is 81 points (Denver). Both Oakland (you know, the top-ranked AFC West team per Bleacher Report) and San Diego have scored 60 points against the Chiefs over the last two years, both being outscored by more than 40 points by the Chiefs.
0
The number of time an offense led by Derek Carr and coached by Jack Del Rio has scored more than 21 points against Bob Sutton’s defense.
0
The number of times the Broncos have held the Chiefs under 24 points over the last 2 years (as opposed to allowing 29+ in 3 other games).
6
The number of games the Chiefs have won by double-digits against the AFC West in the last 2 years (including 2 against Denver and 2 against Oakland).
0
The number of times Derek Carr has thrown more touchdowns than interceptions against the Chiefs in the last 2 years. Also the number of times Derek Carr has thrown for over 7 yards per attempt against the Chiefs.
1
The number of points that I have here. The point is NOT that the Chiefs are guaranteed to be better than Oakland or Denver or San Diego. it’s a wacky league, and you never know how things will play out. The single point is this: the Chiefs have absolutely owned the AFC West over the last two years, including the Broncos and Raiders.
That’s all, really. Thanks for your time.