NFL power rankings Week 8 roundup: Chiefs a consensus mid-tier team

After being embarrassed by the Titans in Nashville, Kansas City falls in the rankings again.

If you were expecting good Kansas City Chiefs news in the Week 8 NFL power rankings, we’ll just have to assume that since Saturday, you’ve been frozen in carbonite. You might consider asking Princess Leia to just freeze you again.

Here’s this week’s sampling:

NFL.com: 14

(down from 9)

This was a Sunday of red flags … and not the kind team personnel race across the field after touchdowns at Arrowhead. The Chiefs were down 24-0 before a pass rusher sniffed Ryan Tannehill. The Patrick Mahomes-led offense didn’t convert its first third down until 12:46 remained in the game. And then there was the most somber of all scenes for Chiefs fans: Down 27-3, late in the third quarter and facing fourth-and-forever, Andy Reid sent out Harrison Butker to attempt a 57-yard field goal. Butker, like the rest of the Chiefs on Sunday, didn’t come close. There are too many special players involved to count out K.C. — but this is no longer a case of working out the kinks. The Chiefs have reached a crisis point.

— Dan Hanzus

ESPN: 14

(down from 9)

Prediction we missed: The Chiefs would have a potent pass rush.

The Chiefs have just eight sacks, and their two highly paid rushers, Chris Jones and Frank Clark, have combined for only two. Entering Sunday’s game against the Titans, the Chiefs were 28th in ESPN’s pass rush win rate, getting pressure within 2.5 seconds on just 34% of the snaps. Jones, who is playing more snaps this season from an edge-rushing position, appeared poised to challenge his career-best single-season sack mark (15.5), but that’s not going to happen.

— Adam Teicher

Sports Illustrated: 10

(down from 3)

The Chiefs are struggling; they need to get healthy, they need to diversify their target share, they need to run the ball and they need some kind of defensive revival meeting. They are a long way from the bye, which means they’ll have to figure all this out on the fly.

— Conor Orr

CBSSports.com: 17

(down from 10)

It’s amazing they are down this low. The defense is awful, but the offense isn’t doing anything either. They have a must-win game this week against the Giants. Can Patrick Mahomes get it going?

— Pete Prisco

Yahoo! Sports: 13

(down from 8)

The Chiefs aren’t the worst team in football or anything, but it’s clear this is a flawed team in a few ways, some of which are unexpected. You can’t rule out the Chiefs figuring it out and getting hot, but it’s time to wonder if this is just an average team.

— Frank Schwab

The Sporting News: 13

(down from 9)

The Chiefs are falling apart fast as an offensive-minded team that cannot win when the offense slumps or is hurting like it is now with Patrick Mahomes. Andy Reid will need to do some amazing coaching to turn this around and point KC back toward a third consecutive Super Bowl trip.

— Vinnie Iyer

USA Today: 13

(down from 10)

Going back to Super Bowl 55, they’ve been torched for 29.3 points per game while averaging 24.6 and are -12 in turnover differential during that eight-game stretch. Time to get back to fundamentals, fellas.

— Nate Davis

The Washington Post: 19

(down from 11)

This isn’t a great team playing poorly. It’s simply not a very good team at the moment. QB Patrick Mahomes threw another interception before failing to finish the game in Tennessee. He and Coach Andy Reid said Mahomes was cleared under the concussion protocols but, by that point, there was no reason for Mahomes to remain on the field. The Chiefs have reached the point at which they can’t even keep a game close. There’s still time for Reid, Mahomes and the Chiefs to turn this around. But it does not look good right now.

— Mark Maske

Mile High Report: 16

(down from 13)

The most complete AFC team is the Tennessee Titans who just delivered blows to the Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. However, I see five complete teams in the NFC and all five rank above the Titans right now. It’s going to be interesting to see how this race continues to play out through the middle part of the season.

— Tim Lynch

Bleeding Green Nation: 13

(down from 9)

Sometimes it’s just your year. This clearly isn’t it for the Chiefs. Patrick Mahomes has struggled in two of his last three games, both of which have resulted in blowout losses for KC. Everyone should know that Andy Reid has the ability to right the ship. It’s impossible to count this team out entirely. But the likelihood is they won’t be winning a title this year, making the season a failure.

— Brandon Lee Gowton