{"id":74119,"date":"2025-12-03T07:55:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-03T07:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/74119\/"},"modified":"2025-12-03T07:55:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-03T07:55:11","slug":"nfl-power-rankings-week-14-roundup-chiefs-plummet-after-loss-in-dallas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/74119\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Power Rankings Week 14 Roundup: Chiefs plummet after loss in Dallas"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> suffered a disappointing 31-28 loss<\/a> to the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> in front of a national audience on Thanksgiving Day. The Chiefs have dug themselves into a trench they have to climb out of to make the postseason. The collective power rankings reflect the dire position Kansas City is in.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s this week\u2019s sampling:<\/p>\n

The road loss to the Cowboys all but made it a must-run-the-table situation for the Chiefs. There might be a one-loss avenue to the playoffs, but let\u2019s start with whether this team is capable of ripping off five straight to close out the regular season. The Chiefs won five of six games earlier this year. They had win streaks of nine and six games last season. We know they\u2019re capable. Just look at the point differential (plus-73) or their touchdown differential (10 more than their opponents). But will they do it? Close games have not been their friend this season after it was their lifeblood a year ago. Which is why we can\u2019t assume they can replicate anything of 2024 magnitude this time around, with three tough games left. I\u2019ll never truly bury the Chiefs, and they\u2019re better than their record would indicate, but it\u2019s going to take a heroic effort from the future Hall of Fame trio to prevent us from not seeing them in the playoffs for the first time.<\/p>\n

X factor for final stretch: Wide receiver Rashee Rice<\/p>\n

After missing the first six games while serving a suspension, Rice has been a difference-maker for quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Alongside tight end Travis Kelce, Rice will need to continue to elevate his play, in particular his ability to gain yards after the catch, to keep the Chiefs\u2019 playoff hopes alive. Mahomes will likely need to rely even more on short passes to Rice because Kansas City is dealing with numerous injuries along its offensive line.<\/p>\n

Best-case scenario: Just get to the playoffs<\/p>\n

If they reach the postseason, they\u2019ll be the team no one wants to play, given their experience and quarterback. But for the first time this season, our playoff simulator gives them less than a 50 percent chance of reaching the playoffs, which is hard to imagine in the midst of Patrick Mahomes\u2019 prime.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs are backed up and facing a weekly do-or-die scenario in order to reach the playoffs. Andy Reid wants you to know that he\u2019s going to\u2026tickle your throat?…on every play between now and then?<\/p>\n

In all seriousness, don\u2019t Urban Dictionary this one.<\/p>\n

If it was any other team, we\u2019d say they have no chance. The Chiefs aren\u2019t any other team.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to believe they are down this far in the rankings this late in the season. They will need a miracle to make the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs aren\u2019t that much worse than last season. They were sixth in DVOA last season; they\u2019re fifth this season. Their point differential was +59 last season and it\u2019s +73 through 12 games this season. They were 16th in yards gained and ninth in yards allowed last season, and are up to fifth in yards gained and again ninth in yards allowed this season. Luck in close games has completely flipped. That\u2019s it. But at some point, it\u2019s a team with six losses and a real chance of missing the playoffs. They might be better than this ranking, but they\u2019ve earned this ranking by not making enough plays when it has mattered.<\/p>\n

The Chiefs went back to losing close games with their defense giving up too much to the Cowboys just when was Patrick Mahomes and their passing game was hitting on all cylinders. Missing the playoffs grows as a real outcome.<\/p>\n

The state of their tattered offensive line has to be a real concern with Houston\u2019s pass rush coming to Arrowhead.<\/p>\n

My instinct is to tell you they\u2019re not dead yet, but after their Thanksgiving loss in Dallas, they sure are close. They\u2019re only 6-6, but trending in the wrong direction, losing three of four.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Kansas City Chiefs suffered a disappointing 31-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in front of a national…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":74120,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,35148,36809],"class_list":{"0":"post-74119","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news","11":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs-news","12":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs-power-rankings"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74119\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/74120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}