The Kansas City Chiefs opened the season in convincing fashion on Sunday, defeating the Arizona Cardinals by more than three touchdowns to begin the campaign in the win column while also climbing up the various NFL "power rankings" from around the web.
The folks at NFL.com, for example, moved the Chiefs up to No. 2 in their rankings – a five-spot jump from last week – following Sunday's victory, trailing only the Buffalo Bills.
Here's what "Around the NFL" writer Dan Hanzus had to say about the Chiefs' performance:
"…Patrick Mahomes reminded everyone of his otherworldly brilliance in a blowout of the overmatched Cardinals in Arizona. Mahomes completed passes to nine different receivers and threw five touchdown passes, connecting with four different targets for scores. The heart of the attack remained Travis Kelce (8/121/1 on nine targets), but an eye-opening 2022 debut from Clyde Edwards-Helaire makes you wonder if Andy Reid's new-look attack will turn the running back into the impact chess piece Kansas City envisioned when it made him a first-round pick in 2020."
CBS Sports also moved the Chiefs to No. 2 in their rankings in response to Sunday's victory, once again citing Mahomes' brilliant performance as the catalyst for Kansas City's rise.
Here's what CBS Sports' Pete Prisco wrote about Mahomes:
"Patrick Mahomes showed against the Cardinals that he can still play at a high level without Tyreek Hill. That offense will be just fine."
It was more of the same at The Athletic, too, as they moved Kansas City to No. 2 in their latest rankings. Here's a portion of what they had to say about the Chiefs in their analysis:
"…You may have heard the Chiefs had an outrageous 33 first downs on 66 offensive plays. Against the Cardinals' blitzes, Mahomes turned 21 plays into 14 first downs. Gnarly stuff from the offensive brain trust that deserves the most faith in the league."
Here's a look at where the Chiefs landed in a handful of other "power rankings" from around the web:
USA Today: No. 2
Yahoo! Sports: No. 2
ESPN: No. 2
Sporting News: No. 2
