Week 7 NFL Power Rankings Roundup: KC Chiefs’ Questions Remain

The Chiefs are still ranked among the NFL's best, but they didn't clear up any questions in the eyes of some major outlets this past week.

The Kansas City Chiefs, winners of five consecutive games, enter Week 7 facing their second AFC West opponent in a row. Now that Kansas City's Thursday Night Football victory over the Denver Broncos is in the books, the Los Angeles Chargers will come into town looking to pull off an upset over the first-place squad in the division. As the 2023 season heats up, teams are beginning to find their respective identities.

For Andy Reid's group, surprisingly, the identity has been a combination of grinding out close games, playing very good defense and doing just enough on offense to come out with wins. The Broncos game is a perfect example of that, as the home team pulled away after being close early on and turned in one of its best defensive performances of the year. Kansas City is 5-1, although it seems like there's still significant room for improvement as far as this season's team is concerned. 

With the previous week of games in the books and a new slate on the horizon, where do the Chiefs stand? Let's look at some Week 7 NFL power rankings to see where major outlets rank Kansas City among its peers in the AFC and NFC.

NFL.com: 2 (last week: 3)

The NFL.com power rankings put the Chiefs' first handful of outings into perspective, as this is far from the concerning start the team had just a few short seasons ago. With that said, the offensive inconsistencies are still noteworthy and need to be cleaned up by the time the schedule gets tougher: 

The Chiefs have won five straight, but four of those contests were grinders, and the offense remains hamstrung a bit by middling red-zone production and too many turnovers. They would rather be in the position they are now than where they were in 2021, when the defense struggled early before getting back on track. Don't forget that that team opened the season at 3-4, yet still made the AFC Championship Game (and led 21-3 before ultimately falling to the Bengals). The most concerning part about this team is its inability to slam the door shut. The Chiefs have only 12 fourth-quarter points this season -- all Harrison Butker field goals. There's no reason to freak out, but the lack of four-quarter production is out of character, and if it continues, it will come back to bite them against better opponents.

ESPN: 2 (last week: 3)

All year long, many have been waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop with Steve Spagnuolo's defense. Six weeks in, nothing has set off an alarm. The defense appears to be the best of Mahomes's career so far, which is what's helping bring the team along on its winning streak: 

Through six games, the Chiefs are second in points allowed per game (14.7), sixth in yards allowed per game (284) and fifth in defensive efficiency (74.3), according to ESPN Analytics' Football Power Index. The schedule gets more difficult from here as the Chiefs will face five teams currently in the top seven in scoring. But what they've accomplished when Patrick Mahomes is not on the field doesn't look like a mirage. -- Adam Teicher

Bleacher Report: 4 (last week: 3)

For teams like Kansas City, how things look in Week 6 or Week 7 isn't of particular importance. The end goal is to be playing clean, mistake-free, efficient football in December and January. Gary Davenport notes in Bleacher Report's weekly power rankings that while that is certainly true, there haven't been many offensive flashes that indicate things will be fixed down the road when games matter more: 

"It's hard to worry too much about the Chiefs," Davenport said. "After all, they have hosted the last five AFC Championship Games, played in three of the past four Super Bowls and won two championships. Plus, there's the whole Patrick Mahomes thing. But Kansas City's passing game hasn't been as lethally efficient as in years past, and the team's wide receivers have been disappointing. Against the bumbling Broncos, that didn't matter. But against teams like the Buffalo Bills, it most assuredly could."

The Athletic: 5 (last week: 5)

No change for the Chiefs in this week's rankings on The Athletic. Echoing the same sentiments about the offense, there's worry about how challenging things seem to be for a unit that has previously been able to get just about whatever it wanted: 

Thanks to losses by the Eagles and 49ers, the Chiefs now have the longest active winning streak in the league. Still, everything just feels harder than usual on offense. Patrick Mahomes is 31st in the league in air yards per attempt (6.4), and the Chiefs are 29th in air yards per reception (4.6). Kansas City’s explosive play percentage (9.7) is 19th in the league, the worst of the Andy Reid era, and the Chiefs have only one win against a team with a winning record.

Yahoo Sports: 3 (last week: 3)

Yahoo also keeps Kansas City in the same spot as last week. Rookie wideout Rashee Rice is praised, however, as someone who might be capable of being the de facto No. 1 receiver the offense seems to need so desperately: 

The Chiefs need a receiver to step forward, and the one who keeps popping up is rookie Rashee Rice. He had 72 yards on Thursday night. The Chiefs' passing game hasn't been great yet. KC needs to expand Rice's role and see where it leads.

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