The Kansas City Chiefs have had a weird, uncharacteristic season thus far through five weeks.
Kansas City lost their first two games which caused a mini panic within Chiefs kingdom, followed by two wins before losing a thrilling Monday Night Football game to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5.
The Chiefs are 0-3 in one-score games, a usual strength for quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Head Coach Andy Reid. Their two wins have point margins of 13 and 17 points.
Despite the unusual start for Mahomes and company, the Chiefs own the National Football League’s highest Football Power Index score according to ESPN.
ESPN’s Football Power Index measures several factors including injuries to make record and playoff predictions among other things. The Chiefs hold the best mark in the American Football Conference West, and the division ranked third by Dan Graziano. The division rankings come from which division has the best shot of sending all four teams to the postseason.
“We slid the AFC West here because the Raiders feel a lot less likely to turn their season around than the Cardinals. And once again, the purpose of this exercise is to rank these divisions in order of which is most likely to put all four teams in the playoffs,” Graziano wrote Thursday.
“The Broncos have the third-ranked defense by FPI, and the Chiefs, believe it or not, have the top-ranked offense to go with the seventh-ranked defense, which explains their standing at the overall top of the FPI ranks in spite of their 2-3 record.
“Worrying about the Chiefs' chances to make the playoffs feels like wasted energy in the year 2025, so we won't do it. But they are 2-3, which is the worst record of any FPI division leader. I think it's fair to have some questions about the consistency and sustainability of Denver's offense (ranked 13th by FPI), as well as the Chargers' health situation. So with all of that in mind, it feels as if the AFC West belongs just behind the NFC West in these rankings, regardless of the fact that FPI sees it differently.”
The Chiefs are far from the same team they have been in years past, but it just doesn’t feel right that the team is under .500 through five weeks. Kansas City’s next chance to reach .500 again is when they host the Detroit Lions on Sunday Night Football in Week 6.