The Kansas City Chiefs free fall continues in this week’s NFL power rankings. The Chiefs, who were once the unanimous No. 1 team, are now ranked in the 20s by many media outlets. What an incredible fall for the Chiefs. I still can’t believe it.
The Chiefs have lost six of their last seven games now at this point so it’s hard to argue with any of these rankings. You could say after losing to the Giants and the Jets they should be ranked even lower.
The Chiefs offense did come alive in last week’s game against the Jets so perhaps the Chiefs are nearing that elusive game where the defense and offense both play well.
Here are this week’s NFL power rankings...
Kareem Hunt set an NFL record by gaining more than 100 yards from scrimmage in his first seven NFL games. Although he hasn't reached 100 yards from scrimmage in any game since, he's still third in the NFL in overall scrimmage yards (1,297).
So, to be totally fair ... the secondary is terrible, with the Chiefs' hopes in the AFC West following suit. After a one-week reprieve against the Bills (who own no air game other than pitchbacks to LeSean McCoy), the league's 28th-ranked pass defense allowed Josh McCown and the Jets to go off. The perennial backup looked like Len Dawson circa '69, going 26 of 36 for 331 yards and a touchdown. When the Chiefs didn't get burned, they held. The penalty for hitting the snapper on the field goal -- after which Kansas City held the Jets on a third-down-and-goal-to-go situation and, of course, on the two-point conversion attempt that ended with Marcus Peters' bizarre self-ejection -- was as horrible a brain fart as you'll ever see. Andy Reid wanted to Michael Myers somebody after watching that endgame stanza. Kansas City's 20-spot drop in the Power Rankings this season is analogous to the drop from "Halloween" to that awful one with Josh Hartnett 20 years later.
The Chiefs are playing like the Chefs and the kitchen is out of food.
Kansas City can’t get out of its own way, as the Chiefs have lost six of its last seven games after losing to the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. The Chiefs will face the Oakland Raiders and the Chargers in the next two weeks to likely decide the AFC West.
The Chiefs got torched by the Jets receivers in a really bad 38-31 loss. Nothing is going right for the Chiefs. Kansas City is still in good shape to win the AFC West if it beats the Raiders and Chargers in home games the next two weeks, but I’m not sure it can win either game.
It's embarrassing how easy it is for teams to move the ball on the Chiefs. The Jets had their way with Kansas City in the run game and the pass game. The Chiefs couldn't get off the field on defense. New York was 13-of-20 on third down and held the ball for nearly 43 minutes. That's concerning if you're a Chiefs fan.
Man. What’s going on with Big Red? Four losses in a row now. Probably time to go to Patrick Mahomes, though that won’t fix KC’s defensive issues.