Where do the Kansas City Chiefs Rank After Two Weeks of Action?

Two weeks into the NFL season, let's take a look at where the Kansas City Chiefs fall in a few key rankings compared to their production in 2019.

The Kansas City Chiefs take their 2-0 record into a Monday Night Football showdown against the 2-0 Baltimore Ravens this week, which we previewed on It's Always Sunny in Chiefs Kingdom. It should make for an excellent game, as the Chiefs are on an 11-game winning streak and the Ravens have won 14 of their last 15.

I thought it would be instructive to check in on where the Chiefs rank among NFL teams throughout the season to see if there are any concerning areas of improvement or unsung explanations behind their success. I'll try to provide some context where necessary and compare them with their 2019 team rankings. Note that through only two games the sample size is fairly noisy, and should level out as the season progresses.

We'll start with points scored, where the Chiefs are tied for eighth in the NFL at 57 points scored. Last year, the Chiefs were the fifth-highest scoring team in the NFL at 28.2 per game, and so far in 2020 they are at 26.5, which includes a tough game on offense against the Chargers where they only had six points at halftime. I'd expect this number to rise up a bit closer to the top of the league before the season ends.

The Chiefs are 13th in total offensive yards (783) and ninth in total plays (137) putting them at 16th for yards per play (5.7). Compared to 2019, where they were sixth in total yards, 25th in total plays, and second in yards per play (6.2), this is a significant drop-off. It appears that Andy Reid has played the first two games of the season quite conservatively compared to his usual antics, and I would expect the offensive pace to increase heavily moving forward.

Kansas City is one of three teams in the NFL to not turn the ball over in the first two weeks, joining the Green Bay Packers and Tennessee Titans, which is right in line with their 2019 season where they were third in fewest giveaways. The defense has taken the ball away twice so far (two L'Jarius Sneed interceptions) which puts them tied for 16th on the young season, and they were 10th in takeaways last season. That's a very noisy sample size though, as the range is only from 0-5 takeaways through two weeks.

One area that the Chiefs are really struggling in is net yards gained per pass attempt. That category is yards per pass attempt with sacks taken into account, and the Chiefs are currently 20th in the NFL at 6.1 net yards per attempt. In 2019, including the games with Matt Moore under center, the Chiefs finished second in the NFL at 7.5 net yards per attempt. That's another example of a conservative offense through the first two weeks of the season.

Flags haven't been an issue so far, where the Chiefs are 20th in number of penalties, 26th in total penalty yards, and have only given up one first down via penalty on defense. Compared to 2019, where the Chiefs gave up the fourth-most first downs via penalty in the NFL and they committed the 10th-highest number of penalties for the 13th-most penalty yards, this is an area that they have tightened up so far in 2020.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Chiefs have allowed 40 points through two weeks, good for the ninth-best scoring defense in the NFL. That's right in line with the performance from last year, where they were seventh in scoring defense. Yards per play, however, could use an improvement, as the 2019 team ranked 12th at 5.4 yards per play allowed, while the 2020 team has dropped to 22nd at 6.1 yards per play. They have played two pretty dynamic offenses so far in the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Chargers and should see some improvement here when the schedule softens up a bit.

One area where the defense still struggles is in giving up first downs via rushing. Last year, the team gave up the fifth-most rushing first downs in the league, and so far in 2020, they have given up the third-most rushing first downs.

Overall it appears that many of the Chiefs' tendencies from last season have held firm, which is good news considering last year's ultimate outcome, but the offense has clearly shown itself to not be as explosive as the previous year and fans have to wonder if Andy Reid has been saving some wrinkles for the big Monday Night game.