KC Chiefs: Three straight division titles not enough to earn respect

NFL Network’s Elliot Harrison released his post-draft preseason power rankings  (see tweet below) for the 2019 NFL season. These preseason power rankings could also be referred to as the annual KC Chiefs preseason disrespect.

This year was no exception to the yearly Kansas City Chiefs disrespect.

Most would consider the Chiefs a consensus top four team, and one would also think that they would at least earn the highest ranking in the AFC West. Both of these assumptions are wrong in the NFL’s preseason power rankings though.

In these most recent power rankings, the Chiefs are starting out the season eighth, which is too low anyway, but even worse is that the division rival Chargers are ranked fourth.

https://twitter.com/NFL/status/1123218410626674689

Now, I’m not trying to be cocky and say there’s no way the Chargers win the AFC West this year because they are a great team. However, with an MVP quarterback, an improved defense, and three straight division titles, it’s not crazy to at least expect the Chiefs to open the season as favorites to win the division, if not being ranked amongst the top four teams in the league.

Seeing the eighth ranking for the Chiefs had me thinking about past power rankings.

Despite the division titles in each of the past three seasons, the Chiefs did not open up in the preseason power rankings as the highest ranked team in the division a single time. Let’s take a look at the preseason and postseason power rankings for the AFC West teams over the past three seasons.

• 2016 Preseason Power Rankings: Broncos 4, Chiefs 9, Raiders 10, Chargers 29
• 2016 Final Regular Season Power Rankings: Chiefs 4, Raiders 11, Broncos 16, Chargers 26
• 2017 Preseason Power Rankings: Raiders 4, Chiefs 9, Broncos 17, Chargers 24
• 2017 Final Regular Season Power Rankings: Chiefs 6, Chargers 11, Raiders 22, Broncos 27
• 2018 Preseason Power Rankings: Chargers 12, Chiefs 17, Raiders 20, Broncos 22
• 2018 Final Regular Season Power Rankings: Chiefs 4, Chargers 7, Raiders 25, Broncos 28
• 2019 Preseason Power Rankings: Chargers 4, Chiefs 8, Raiders 22, Broncos 25
• 2019 Final Regular Season Power Rankings: To be determined.

The KC Chiefs never opened as the favorites in the past three seasons despite winning the division title in each of these seasons. Also in the past three seasons, each of the other AFC West teams have opened up as the favorites to win the AFC West once except the Chiefs. Again, the Chiefs won the division in all three of those seasons.

The Chiefs have also improved upon their preseason power rankings the past three years. In 2016, they opened at nine and finished at four, in 2017 they opened at nine and finished at six, and in 2018 they opened at 17 and finished at four. So what else do the Chiefs need to do to earn the NFL’s respect?

MVP quarterback? Check. Improved defense? Check. Three straight division titles? Check.

Not that power rankings actually matter at all, but this year the Chiefs deserved to open as the highest AFC West team in the power rankings and it would be nice to get the respect that the Chiefs have continued to show they deserve. Apparently they will just have to go out there and prove the doubters wrong again.

This season has the potential to be a great one for the Kansas City Chiefs and although no goal is more important than a Super Bowl title in the 2019 season, a little side goal that would be fun to achieve is to prove the NFL power rankings wrong for the fourth straight year.