18. Kansas City Chiefs
Last week: 13th
We have to be fair and objective, even though it’s the Kansas City Chiefs. Right?
The Chiefs are obviously one of the best teams in the NFL over the last decade, and the modern NFL dynasty. Even though the Philadelphia Eagles have gotten the better of them multiple times now. The Chiefs have earned so much respect, and yet at 0-2 to start the 2025 season, we’ve got to be real with the way things are, not talk just about the way things used to be.
It’s obvious that this is a team in transition. Are the Chiefs going to be able to rally, put together enough wins to get into the playoffs, and make some noise? Most likely, yes, but until that happens, this team is struggling badly and there isn’t really much of an end in sight. Next Sunday night, the Chiefs will head to New York to take on the winless Giants in a battle of desperate teams trying to avoid a dreaded 0-3 start.
The Chiefs will probably be favored, but are they truly that much of an obvious favorite over the Giants with what we’ve seen so far this season?
17. Houston Texans
Last week: 18th
Texans play Monday vs. Buccaneers
It doesn’t feel overly fair for the Houston Texans to be rising in this week’s power rankings without actually playing a game yet, but sometimes being dormant has its benefits. The Texans scored just nine points in a loss back in Week 1, so the pressure is on for this team to avoid not only an 0-2 start, but getting into a pretty ugly hole with the Colts playing some good football to start the season.
The first month of the season is always crucial, but it feels like the Texans are in a particularly tough spot overall. They struggled badly on offense last year, to the point that many were wondering if CJ Stroud fooled us all during his rookie season.
It’s hard not to look at this team and think of what they can be with the best of 2023 Stroud, because we did see that team a handful of times last season (including the playoffs). We’ll see if Monday night against the Bucs can bring out the best in them, in which case they’ll be huge risers in next week’s rankings.