Ah yes. Those pesky NFL power rankings. What do they mean? Why do we care?
I don't know the answer to either one of those questions. But the Kansas City Chiefs are moving up in power rankings across the Web and you gotta say that's a good thing. But, judging by most of the comments, the media is still skeptical of the Chiefs' ability to perform.
Here's a sampling of how the media is ranking the Kansas City Chiefs after their Week 1 win over the San Diego Chargers (Last week's rank is in parenthesis):
- ESPN: 23 (27) "Young talent sent a loud message in upset of San Diego." (H/T GenericBrand)
- FoxSports: 22 (27) "Did anyone really believe they had a chance to beat the Chargers? Yes, other than Chief fans. Color me surprised. How many times can you win with your quarterback throwing for just 68 yards?"
- CBS Sports: 23 (27) "You have to give that defense a lot of credit for coming up big at the end against San Diego. The return game will really help the Chiefs. They have speed at a lot of spots."
- Walter Football: 26 (30) " I'm not buying a team that won because of a long run, fumble and punt return."
- RealGM: 26 "The Chiefs will carry a lot of momentum coming out of their Week 1 victory over San Diego, but must produce better than 9.1% on third down to win those games where they don't receive punt returns for a touchdown."
- Pro Football Talk: 16 (25) "The Chiefs gave Philip Rivers a much-needed 'Code Red.'" (H/T Saint)
For just being Week 1, I think the rankings in the 23rd area are probably pretty accurate relative to the rest of the NFL.
Thoughts on these rankings? Are the Chiefs overrated? Underrated?