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After a lot of disagreement about the Kansas City Chiefs going into Week 1, the national rankings have come to an early consensus.
Here’s this week’s sampling:
NFL.com: 2
(up from 7)
No Tyreek Hill? No problem for Patrick Mahomes, who reminded everyone of his otherworldly brilliance in a blowout of the overmatched Cardinals in Arizona. Mahomes completed passes to nine different receivers and threw five touchdown passes, connecting with four different targets for scores. The heart of the attack remained Travis Kelce (8/121/1 on nine targets), but an eye-opening 2022 debut from Clyde Edwards-Helaire makes you wonder if Andy Reid’s new-look attack will turn the running back into the impact chess piece Kansas City envisioned when it made him a first-round pick in 2020. It took only one dominating performance to put the ghosts of the 2021 postseason in the rearview. The Chiefs are ready to roll.
— Dan Hanzus
ESPN: 2
(up from 4)
Rookie who stood out: RB Isiah Pacheco
Pacheco led the Chiefs in rushing with 62 yards and scored on a 3-yard run. Sixty of his yards came in the fourth quarter, with the Chiefs resting their starters and protecting a 37-7 lead. But he still showed the hard-running style that led the Chiefs to draft him in the seventh round. One negative for Pacheco was a fumble, though he wound up recovering the ball himself.
— Adam Teicher
The Athletic: 2
(unchanged from 2)
No Tyreek Hill, no problem. The Chiefs’ 2.89 EPA per drive, according to TruMedia, was the second-best performance of the Patrick Mahomes era behind only their 42-30 win against the Eagles in Week 4 of last season (which is also the best single-game EPA per drive performance in the league over the past five years). The Cardinals blitzed Mahomes on 51.2% of his dropbacks, per TruMedia, the highest mark in the league in Week 1. You may have heard the Chiefs had an outrageous 33 first downs on 66 offensive plays. Against the Cardinals’ blitzes, Mahomes turned 21 plays into 14 first downs. Gnarly stuff from the offensive brain trust that deserves the most faith in the league. The Chiefs will be appointment television even more than usual over the next few weeks. On Thursday, they welcome Justin Herbert to town. In Week 4, they travel to Tampa for a Sunday night showdown with Tom Brady. And in Week 6, we get the gift of Bills-Chiefs.
— Bo Wulf
CBSSports.com: 2
(up from 3)
Patrick Mahomes showed against the Cardinals that he can still play at a high level without Tyreek Hill. That offense will be just fine.
— Pete Prisco
Yahoo! Sports: 2
(up from 3)
Rookie running back Isiah Pacheco, a darling of training camp and preseason, got some run late in Week 1 and ended up rushing for 62 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. If he keeps flashing like that, the Chiefs are going to have to expand his role.
— Frank Schwab
The Sporting News: 2
(unchanged from 2)
The Chiefs also ripped a NFC West playoff-caliber team on the road by coming out firing with Patrick Mahomes and a different but still dynamic Tyreek Hill-like offense in Arizona. Andy Reid and his staff won’t let the Bills breathe easy above them.
— Vinnie Iyer
USA Today: 2
(up from 6)
They haven’t lost in Week 1 since 2014. But now it’s on to the Chargers, who have taken two of the last three from K.C. (And to you non-cord cutters who don’t live in Kansas City or Los Angeles, reminder: you’ll need an internet connection to watch this game on Amazon this Thursday night.)
— Nate Davis
Mile High Report: 2
(unchanged from 2)
Well, that was quite the first week of football, wasn’t it? The opening week of the NFL season featured seven betting underdogs that now start the season either 1-0 or 0-0-1.
— Tim Lynch
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