Week 15 NFL Power Rankings Roundup: KC Chiefs Avoid Drop After Loss

Kansas City is still generally held in the same regard despite losing to an AFC playoff hopeful on Sunday.

Another week saw another loss for the Kansas City Chiefs, who now sit at 8-5 and have plenty of directions the rest of their 2023 season can go in.

In the best-case scenario, Andy Reid's squad wins out and gets some help from the Baltimore Ravens and Miami Dolphins en route to securing the No. 1 seed in the AFC. In the worst-case scenario, however, the Denver Broncos storm back to win the division and send Patrick Mahomes on the road for Wild Card weekend. Somewhere in the middle, the Chiefs continue trucking along and finish the season favorably but still miss out on the one-seed in the conference.

A recent loss to the Buffalo Bills raises some questions about Kansas City. Can this team still be counted on to win close games? Is expecting fewer mistakes moving forward realistic? What's the actual floor for this year's Chiefs? Some of those questions won't be answered until playoff time, so many are left wondering what the identity is in the interim. 

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 Week 15 NFL power rankings to see where some major outlets rank Kansas City among its peers in the AFC and NFC.

NFL.com: 6 (last week: 6)

No change for the Chiefs in this week's NFL.com power rankings, which focus on a controversial late-game penalty involving Kadarius Toney. There's been plenty said by both Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes regarding that call, and Mahomes himself apologized for his reaction to it this week. This set of rankings believes the Chiefs have bigger fish to fry than that: 

When was the last time you heard Patrick Mahomes or Andy Reid challenge an official's (correct) call after a loss like they did on Sunday? It felt strange, seeing two of the NFL's best competitors say that the referee needed to warn Reid about Kadarius Toney lining up offside when, really, the onus was on Toney to check with the line judge on that one. You want to gripe about the lack of a call late against the Packers? Be my guest. Have at it. But Sunday's gripe felt desperate and petty for a team that has been the league's preeminent organization over the past five years.

To Reid's credit, he reversed course on Monday, saying it was indeed Toney's responsibility to check with the official. The bottom line is that Kansas City's problems go far beyond a few unfavorable calls here and there. Mahomes' opening-drive pick killed a promising drive, and the reigning MVP's just not playing great ball right now. Neither is a defense that had carried this team for much of the season. The way things are trending, Mahomes might be staring at his first road playoff game.

ESPN: 7 (last week: 7)

The theme of this week's power rankings on ESPN is where each team has improved the most this season. Adam Teicher chooses rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice, who started off the year as a wide-eyed rookie with far less understanding and efficiency in the offense than he has now:

The rookie went from a part-timer who was in the lineup for only a third of the snaps in Week 1 to the Chiefs' only consistently productive wideout. Rice has 23 catches for 243 yards and two touchdowns in the past three games. The other wide receivers have 16 catches for 147 yards and one touchdown combined in that same span. The Chiefs have gone to Rice in some big situations, including a big third down in the fourth quarter of a Week 12 game against the Raiders while holding a slim lead -- he scored on a 39-yard touchdown to break the game open. -- Adam Teicher

Bleacher Report: 6 (last week: 6)

The Bleacher Report weekly power ranking trio of Gary Davenport, Maurice Moton and Brent Sobleski keeps Kansas City in the No. 6 for another week. Davenport, specifically, describes the Chiefs as a "mortal" team that needs to get things in order quickly in time for the playoffs:

"Here's the thing," Davenport wrote. "Offensive offsides is a thing. It's being called more this year. And Kadarius Toney was obviously offside. The zebras didn't tell him to line up in that spot. The Chiefs lost because Travis Kelce is the only pass-catcher on the roster that scares opponents at all. They lost because they lost the turnover battle and committed more penalties than the Bills. They lost because Buffalo made more plays in critical moments than Kansas City. The Chiefs have a great 'get right' spot in New England next week, but Kansas City needs to spend less time whining about the officials and more time figuring out how to play better. Because right now, the Chiefs look—flawed. Mortal. Beatable."

The Athletic: 6 (last week: 7)

Somehow, even after a loss, the Chiefs rose one spot in The Athletic's power rankings for Week 15. The outlet places a fantasy football spotlight on Toney, who hasn't taken a step forward in 2023 despite the team and many of its fans expecting him to do so:

All the NFL’s focus is on Toney this week after his offside penalty wiped out what would have been his game-winning touchdown against the Bills on Sunday night, and all the Chiefs freaked out about it. This is not what Kansas City expected when it traded a third- and a sixth-round pick for Toney last season. He is 106th among wide receivers in fantasy points (25.5) this season. In 22 games with the Chiefs, he has only two games with more than 50 receiving yards. This season, he has none with more than 35.

Yahoo Sports: 7 (last week: 7)

Yahoo football/betting writer Frank Schwab slots the Chiefs in at the same spot as last week. Following in others' footsteps by chiming in on the Toney penalty, Schwab isn't a fan of how the team reacted to it: 

Here's the funny thing: Have you heard the Chiefs say Kadarius Toney wasn't offsides? No. Just that a penalty shouldn't have been called for whatever reason. It's a bad look to have a complete meltdown over a penalty being called a penalty.

Patrick Mahomes Apologizes for Behavior After Bills Loss