:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71570333/1430771650.0.jpg)
Once in a while, an NFL team will move up (or down) in the power rankings while it is taking a week off. This tends to happen when other teams close to it in the rankings unexpectedly win (or lose) a game in that week. So it was possible that the Kansas City Chiefs could have found themselves in a different spot in some of the Week 9 rankings. Alas, neither the Philadelphia Eagles or Buffalo Bills fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers or Green Bay Packers in Week 8. So the Chiefs were unchanged across the board — and without a game to discuss, writers were forced to improvise.
Here’s this week’s sampling:
NFL.com: 3
(unchanged from 3)
The Chiefs stayed busy during their bye week, pulling the trigger on a trade that sent a third-round compensatory pick and a sixth-rounder to the Giants for Kadarius Toney, a 2021 first-round pick with star potential but plenty of question marks. A hamstring issue has kept Toney sidelined since Week 2, but he flashed elite traits as a run-after-catch receiver in his rookie season in New York. It’s telling how a new Giants regime found a recent first-round pick like Toney so instantly expendable, but it’s also understandable why Kansas City decided to roll the dice. Toney’s talent could translate beautifully in an offense run by Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes.
— Dan Hanzus
ESPN: 3
(unchanged from 3)
Reason for optimism: Patrick Mahomes
The Chiefs have three comeback wins after trailing by 10-plus points already this season. Mahomes is 13-9 (including playoffs) after trailing by 10-plus points — he is the only QB since the start of the 1950 season with a winning record after trailing by double digits (minimum 10 games). So they have good reason to believe they’re always in the title hunt as long as they have Mahomes as quarterback. The Chiefs have many other reasons to believe they can win another championship, including an improved pass rush that has 19 sacks.
— Adam Teicher
The Athletic: 3
(unchanged from 3)
Fact: The Chiefs sent the Giants a 2023 compensatory third-round pick and a sixth-round pick to acquire second-year wide receiver Kadarius Toney, who has two catches for zero yards on the season. The last player to finish a season with two catches for zero yards: Dantrell Savage, who also played for the Chiefs.
Opinion: Just when you think Andy Reid knows how to use all of his weapons, you find out he’s been letting one waste away. The Chiefs have punted just 19 times this season, fewer than every team but the Bills (13 punts). This is despite Tommy Townsend being the best punter in the league, according to the experts. So much for offensive genius.
— Bo Wulf
CBSSports.com: 3
(unchanged from 3)
They come off their bye with a big AFC game against the Titans at home. They better get ready to tackle Derrick Henry.
— Pete Prisco
Yahoo! Sports: 3
(unchanged from 3)
It will be interesting to see how Kadarius Toney fits. Surprise, surprise, he was deemed healthy not long after the Giants traded him. He’s an elite talent. He is also entirely unreliable. The Chiefs traded a conditional third-round pick and a sixth-rounder for him, and that’s a significant price. That’s not a low-cost move in which it doesn’t matter much to the team if they don’t get much out of Toney. He could be a real difference-maker late in the season. He could also do some more quiet quitting, and nobody should be surprised by that either.
— Frank Schwab
Editor’s note: While the compensation for Toney was initially reported to include a conditional third-round pick — as Schwab states here — it was actually a compensatory third-round pick. We know this because that is how it was described in the official NFL transaction report on October 27. That pick is part of the compensation the Chiefs will acquire after 2023’s third round (making it essentially an early fourth-round pick) because Ryan Poles left Kansas City’s staff to become general manager of the Chicago Bears.
The Sporting News: 3
(unchanged from 3)
The Chiefs deserved to get some rest after showing more exciting and explosive offense around Patrick Mahomes before the bye. They are rolling with more big-play ability than last season, which also will help the defense in more favorable second-half situations.
— Vinnie Iyer
USA Today: 3
(unchanged from 3)
The league’s top scoring offense imports WR Kadarius Toney and will only leave Kansas City once before December.
— Nate Davis
Editor’s note: While the Chiefs will travel in November only for the Week 11 game against the Los Angeles Chargers, they’ll also open December with a three-game road trip against the Cincinnati Bengals, Denver Broncos and Houston Texans. By the way... the Chiefs schedule is always available under the Resources tab of any Arrowhead Pride page.
Mile High Report: 2
(unchanged from 2)
The top five teams stayed put this time around; the Eagles and Chiefs are just too good to have any team moved above them, even during their bye weeks. There was also some sporadic movement across the board, and I think the most surprising thing so far has been the Vikings staying inside the Top 10 for as long as they have.
— Tim Lynch
Loading comments...