This week’s NFL power rankings are in and you can guess where the 5-0 Kansas City Chiefs are ranked. Indeed, they are No. 1 in the NFL. It’s unanimous. I searched and searched and I couldn’t find anyone ranking them lower than No. 1 after their hot start. Not only have they won all their games and done it convincingly but they’ve also played some really good teams.
The Chiefs are very good. Let’s read these power rankings to prove it:
The nature of the NFL makes me want to believe that the downfall of the Kansas City Chiefs is coming. The defense isn’t that good and Alex Smith is eventually going to turn back into a game-managing pumpkin at some point, right?
With three touchdowns and no interceptions in a 46-34 win over the Texans, Smith became only the fifth quarterback to start the first five games of an NFL season and have a passer rating over 125.
Three of the other four to accomplish the feat — Peyton Manning in 2013, Tom Brady in 2007, Daunte Culpepper in 2004 and Kurt Warner in 1999 — finished as the NFL MVP. Only Culpepper didn’t, although he definitely had an argument with 39 touchdowns, 11 interceptions and an NFL-best 4,717 yards.
99.4 percent chance. No team is ever a lock to make the playoffs after five games, but the Chiefs are pretty close right now. They are undefeated, lead the NFL in scoring and haven't committed a turnover since the very first snap of the season. They have the best chances in the NFL through Week 5.
The Chiefs are quite simply the league’s best team. The offense has been next to unstoppable while the defense has been more than adequate, even if it permitted Deshaun Watson to post some impressive numbers Sunday night. Get used to the idea of Alex Smith as an MVP candidate. Does Smith’s excellence this season complicate the Chiefs’ long-term plan to move on to Patrick Mahomes at QB? That’s an issue for another day.
Parity rules in the NFL this year. Only one team remains undefeated (the 5-0 Kansas City Chiefs) and just five of the other 31 NFL squads have one loss.
Still the only remaining undefeated team in the National Football League. Andy Reid is heckuva coach.
They finished off the Texans with -- what else -- a punt return touchdown by Tyreek Hill Sunday night to remain unbeaten.
At the top, the Kansas City Chiefs hold it down with another big win. They went into Houston and held off the Texans in a shootout. They got another solid game from Kareem Hunt, but Alex Smith boosted his MVP credentials in the win. He threw for 324 yards and three touchdowns. He has the most touchdowns to no interceptions through five games in NFL history, and is just chugging along
This is Andy Reid's best chance at a Super Bowl since 2004. As the rest of the AFC scuffles, the Chiefs are far and away the best team in the sport.
Raise your hand if you're still not completely sold on Andy Reid's club. Sure, the only undefeated in the land deserves a spot on the mountaintop for the second consecutive week, but I'll feel a lot more confident if Kansas City avenges last year's divisional round loss to the Steelers this week. Note to Travis Kelce: No dumb penalties, please.
If the Chiefs beat the Steelers at home this week, they’ll be 6-0 with wins (and the tiebreaker) against the Patriots, Texans and Steelers. If that happens, they couldn’t possibly have a clearer path to the No. 1 seed in the AFC.