The Kansas City Chiefs notched their ninth win of the season in Week 12, tying the Minnesota Vikings for the second-most wins in the league this season. Only the Philadelphia Eagles have 10 wins through 11 games.
Given the Eagles’ better record, there’s a little debate about which team deserves the top spot in the power rankings this week. That said, the pundits all seem to have extremely lofty expectations for Kansas City. They’re held to a standard above.
Here is a look at where pundits have placed the Chiefs in their rankings and what they’re saying about them with Week 12 of the 2022 NFL season now behind us:
USA TODAY
Ranking: 2
Last week’s ranking: 3
Author: Nate Davis
Author’s take:
It may seem like the Mahomes-to-Kelce show every week, but a club on the verge of a seventh straight AFC West championship is steadily getting more juice from rookies like RB Isiah Pacheco and WR Skyy Moore. And the rich could get richer with veteran RB Melvin Gordon apparently set to join the league’s top offense.
The Ringer
Ranking: 2
Last week’s ranking: 2
Author: Austin Gayle
Author’s take:
The Chiefs can do whatever they want offensively. They’re averaging an NFL-high 1.23 expected points added (EPA) per offensive drive; no other team is above 0.52. For context, the Chiefs were at 1.22 in that same metric in Patrick Mahomes’s MVP season in 2018. They’ll have a big test this week against the Bengals, but the bottom line is that no team is able to consistently move the ball as well as the Chiefs right now.
The Athletic
Ranking: 1
Last week’s ranking: 1
Author: Bo Wulf
Author’s take:
Another week, another ho-hum dominant offensive performance for the Chiefs, unsatisfying as it may have been. Dating back to 2000 when TruMedia’s EPA database began, the Chiefs have the fifth-best offense by EPA per drive. They’ve been remarkably consistent, too. Their worst offensive performance of the season by EPA per drive (0.17) came in the 20-17 win over the Titans in Week 9. That was still a 56th-percentile performance for all offenses this season.
With only two teams with a winning record remaining on their schedule, the path to the AFC’s No. 1 seed looks awfully clear.
NFL.com
Ranking: 2
Last week’s ranking: 1
Author: Dan Hanzus
Author’s take:
The Chiefs weren’t quite themselves on Sunday, but their margin of error was significant against the fallen Rams and backup QB Bryce Perkins at Arrowhead. The 26-10 win was decisive despite special teams issues, red-zone flubs and a general air of “meh” that left Patrick Mahomes unimpressed after it was over. “You like the win, but we have a lot to get better at,” Mahomes said, “especially me.” Mahomes threw an end-zone interception in the fourth quarter, but he also found Travis Kelce for yet another touchdown. Kelce has set a new career high with 12 receiving touchdowns, and there are six games yet to be played.
Bleacher Report
Ranking: 1
Last week’s ranking: 1
Author: Gary Davenport, Maurice Moton and Brent Sobleski
Author’s take:
So it goes for Kansas City. Its standard is just higher. One touchdown pass and a passer rating of 85.4 wasn’t good enough for Mahomes. One touchdown in six trips to the red zone wasn’t good enough for Reid. Less than four yards per carry on the ground almost assuredly wasn’t acceptable.
Those shortcomings mattered not against a bad team. But the Chiefs will have to do better next week against the Bengals in Cincinnati. After that, Kansas City will have a five-game stretch with just one matchup against a winning team to prepare for the playoffs. To smooth out the rough spots and iron out the kinks.
Because anything less than a win in Super Bowl LVII won’t be acceptable, either.
ESPN
Ranking: 1
Last week’s ranking: 1
Author: Adam Teicher
Author’s take:
At 9-2, the Chiefs have the best record in the conference and a schedule conducive to holding on to their lead over the rest of the field. Winning another Super Bowl is also a realistic goal with QB Patrick Mahomes having an MVP-like season. He has thrown for over 300 yards in six straight games.
Sports Illustrated
Ranking: 1
Last week’s ranking: 1
Author: Connor Orr
Author’s take:
The Chiefs remain at No. 1 because they have the MVP front-runner, and, in games where almost nothing seems to be working, something still works. Their game against the Rams reminded me a bit of L.A.’s playoff run last year, where they were forced away from Cooper Kupp and showed us enough grit to make sure it didn’t matter.
CBS Sports
Ranking: 1
Last week’s ranking: 1
Author: Pete Prisco
Author’s take:
They face a huge road conference game this week at Cincinnati against the Bengals as they try to avenge last year’s loss in the AFC title game. The defense will be tested.
Pro Football Talk
Ranking: 1
Last week’s ranking: 1
Author: Mike Florio
Author’s take:
They sometimes make it look so much easier than it is.
