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In the introduction to his Week 2 power rankings, The Athletic’s Josh Kendall reminds us of a couple of NFL teams that lost in 2022’s Week 1, but went on to their respective conference championship games.
“What does that tell us?” asks Kendall. “To be careful about reading too much into Week 1.”
And then Kendall drops the Kansas City Chiefs from first to 17th.
Here’s our Week 2 sampling:
NFL.com: 2
(down from 1)
Now that we’ve all had time to breathe — and watch the other Week 1 games — the Chiefs’ loss to the Lions doesn’t feel quite as cataclysmic. Yeah, Travis Kelce is making progress in his recovery from a knee injury and Chris Jones will be back now that he and the team have agreed to a new one-year deal. The fact that only the Raiders won in the AFC West also is a nice development. But there’s no getting over the fact that Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore had bad, no-good nights. They combined for one catch (and two drops, per PFF) on eight targets and three yards on two rushes. These are two players the Chiefs were — and I think still are — counting on pretty heavily this season. Can one of them step up? I think so, but Toney’s performance in Week 1 scares me.
— Eric Edholm
ESPN: 3
(down from 2)
Best debut performance: WR Rashee Rice
Week 1 stats: 3 receptions for 29 yards, TD
It’s an extremely low bar, but the 2023 second-round draft pick led the team’s wide receivers in catches and scored the group’s only touchdown in the loss against the Lions. Rice has run-after-the-catch ability that can help provide some big plays to an offense that badly needs them. If the other wide receivers continue to struggle as they did in the opener, the Chiefs should continue to give Rice more playing time.
— Adam Teicher
The Athletic: 17
(down from 1)
Maybe tight end Travis Kelce was the key to the whole thing and not Patrick Mahomes. With Kelce watching from the sideline because of a bone bruise, running back Isaiah Pacheco led all Chiefs with four catches and Mahomes was Kansas City’s leading rusher (45 yards). Yuck.
— Josh Kendall
CBSSports.com: 4
(down from 1)
Without Travis Kelce in the lineup, the offense struggled against the Lions. He should be back this week against the Jaguars. The defense played well to open the season and now they get Chris Jones back.
— Pete Prisco
Yahoo! Sports: 3
(down from 1)
The Chiefs will be fine. Of course they’re not the same team without Travis Kelce and Chris Jones, but they also won’t drop everything thrown to them every week. Kansas City probably still wins in Week 1, without two of their three best players against a good Lions team, if a Kadarius Toney drop doesn’t turn into a pick six or another Toney drop in field-goal range on the final drive doesn’t happen. It’s hard to figure on all of that happening again. Just remember: Not everything we see in Week 1 means Team A is better than Team B. It’s why there are plenty of teams in these rankings I’m not overreacting about, good or bad.
— Frank Schwab
The Sporting News: 5
(down from 1)
The Chiefs missed Travis Kelce a ton against the Lions, and Chris Jones even more. Patrick Mahomes is superhuman, but he also needs help from time to time to take advantage of being in position to win a game late. They need to get well fast vs. the Jaguars in Week 2.
— Vinnie Iyer
USA Today: 4
(down from 1)
After so much offseason speculation regarding AFC supremacy, the conference’s first entry lands here — and Kansas City didn’t even win. That said, let’s not knock the champs too much considering they were missing their second- and third-most important players, TE Travis Kelce’s knee buckling just days before the opener. Even if he’s not back in Week 2 — and, at least, DT Chris Jones will be — the bet here is that a much better offensive performance will be forthcoming.
— Nate Davis
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