Chiefs stay No. 6 in ESPN's Week 10 power rankings as Buffalo trip looms over second half
ESPN keeps the 6-2 Chiefs sixth and names Thanksgiving night at Buffalo their key game. First up is Sunday's trip to 3-6 Atlanta.
The Kansas City Chiefs hold their place in the NFL's top tier at the midpoint. ESPN's Week 10 power rankings left the 6-2 Chiefs at No. 6 for a second straight week after their 35-12 win over the Jets. Two of the teams ranked above them, Denver and Jacksonville, are also chasing them in the AFC.
The ranking itself stays put. What stands out is the game ESPN's panel picked as the most important one left on Kansas City's schedule. Chiefs reporter Nate Taylor chose the Week 12 trip to Buffalo on Thanksgiving night. His reasoning is that a road win over the 7-1 Bills, ESPN's No. 1 team, is the clearest path to the AFC's top seed, which comes with the only first-round bye and home field through the playoffs. Taylor added that a win in Orchard Park would also help the Chiefs catch the 7-2 Broncos in the AFC West. Denver split the season series and sits a half-game ahead. The same package shows the late-season schedule getting heavier. Cincinnati's reporter picked the Week 14 home game against Kansas City as the Bengals' biggest remaining test and noted that ESPN's FPI rates it close to a coin flip.
Taylor called Arrowhead the place where the Chiefs have "played their best this season," pointing to 30.0 points per game at home. The road splits from this site's season lines show the gap. Kansas City is 2-2 away from home and has averaged about 20 points in those four games, including a 3-20 loss at Seattle and a 24-28 loss at Denver. Both of the team's losses came on the road in back-to-back weeks. Overall the Chiefs have outscored opponents 202-143.
What it means for Atlanta
The next road test arrives before Buffalo does. Kansas City visits the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, Nov. 15, at 1 p.m. ET on CBS, according to NFL.com's schedule. ESPN dropped Atlanta two spots to No. 23 after a 34-17 loss to Cincinnati. The Falcons are 3-6, have lost four of their last five and are 1-3 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. They also play in an NFC South where every team has three wins, so a home upset heading into their Week 11 bye would carry real weight in that race.
The Chiefs have won three straight one-score or better games against non-division opponents away from Arrowhead this year, at Miami and Las Vegas, but they haven't won on the road since the trip to Las Vegas. Sunday is a chance to tighten up those splits before Thanksgiving.
Across the 12 venues on this site's board, the Chiefs are favored. Novig lists Kansas City at -178 on the moneyline. The shortest price anywhere is Hard Rock Bet's -175, so the venues sit within a few cents of each other. Atlanta is +170 at Novig and +173 at Polymarket, the longest price available. The spread is split between 3 and 3.5. Novig has the Chiefs -3.5 at +113 and the Falcons +3.5 at -117. Pinnacle has Kansas City -3 at -117, and BetRivers has the best Falcons +3.5 price at -114. Novig's total is 44.5, while Pinnacle is a point higher at 45.5. Sportsbook hold on the game runs from roughly 3% to 5%.
You can follow the rest of the season on our Chiefs team page.