In Week 9 of the 2026 NFL regular season, the Kansas City Chiefs beat up on the New York Jets to advance to 6-2.
Let’s see how the national media reacted to it in this week’s sampling of power rankings:
ESPN: 6
(No change)
Most important game of the second half: Week 12 at the Bills
If the Chiefs want any shot of earning the AFC’s top seed, which would include a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the postseason, they’ll have to go on the road and beat one of their biggest rivals. A win over the Bills
on Thanksgiving night would also boost the Chiefs’ odds of passing the Broncos to win the AFC West crown. The Chiefs have played their best this season when at Arrowhead Stadium, averaging 30.0 points per game. — Nate Taylor
The Athletic: 4
(Up from 5)
Midseason grade: A
Sunday was just another example of Patrick Mahomes leaning on Travis Kelce (four catches for 72 yards). The two have now connected for 9,365 yards, surpassing Phillip Rivers and Antonio Gates for the most of any NFL quarterback-tight end pair. The Chiefs may have injuries at wide receiver, but they still rank fourth in the league in EPA per play.
— Chad Graff and Josh Kendall
Pro Football Talk: 6
(Up from 7)
The kicker position shouldn’t be a pick-your-poison proposition.
— Mike Florio
CBSSports.com: 6
(Up from 7)
The defense came alive in a big way against the Jets, getting five sacks. That’s something they will need going forward. The good news was they escaped a possible major injury for Patrick Mahomes.
— Pete Prisco
Yahoo! Sports: 6
(Up from 7)
The most promising part of the Chiefs’ win on Sunday against the Jets might be that Chris Jones and George Karlaftis each had two sacks. Karlaftis had two sacks for the season before Sunday, Jones had just half of a sack, and that’s a big reason the Chiefs’ pass rush ranked near the bottom of the league. Even with five sacks as a team Sunday, Kansas City still has just 14 sacks. That’s the fourth-lowest mark in the NFL.
The Chiefs have been doing fine on defense without much of a pass rush, ranking top 10 in yards and points allowed. But it’s hard to be a top-10 defense while ranking in the bottom five in sacks. Perhaps the performance against the Jets will get the pass rush going, and in turn boost a defense that has already played well.
— Frank Schwab
USA Today: 9
(Up from 10)
It’s easy to miss, but coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s defense is starting to find a groove − allowing more than 300 yards just once since the Week 5 bye and surrendering more than 20 points just once over the same period.
— Nate Davis
Sports Illustrated: 9
(Up from 12)
I wonder if there was a more wild series of events in a professional football game this year than, right before the half, Patrick Mahomes appearing to have sustained a horrific injury, the Jets squandering the subsequent possession with a missed field goal, Mahomes returning after mere minutes on the sideline and Harrison Butker missing both the initial field goal attempt and the post-penalty field goal attempt. The beautiful game, my friend.
— Conor Orr
Sporting News: 5
(Up from 6)
Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce are up to connecting for 9,360 passing/receiving yards, a new record for a quarterback and tight end combination. Kenneth Walker III is on pace for 24 total TDs and can challenge the single-season franchise record of 27.
— Vinnie Iyer
FOX Sports: 4
(Up from 5)
Patrick Mahomes’ elbow injury gave everybody quite a scare, but the guy is just superhuman, I guess. He got right back in the game and led the Chiefs on a few more touchdown drives in their rout of the Jets, and Andy Reid made it sound like he’s going to be OK in his Monday morning press conference. Obviously, they’re not the same team without him, so his injury needs to be monitored. When healthy, the duo of Mahomes and RB Kenneth Walker is as dangerous as any combo the Chiefs have had during their dynasty. And don’t forget, they’ve got a great chance coming up to prove it in the game they circled on their calendar all along: Thanksgiving night in Buffalo against the Bills.
Stat To Know: Patrick Mahomes improved to 18-0 against teams entering at least four games below .500, extending the best record by a quarterback since 1970 (minimum 15 such starts).
— Ralph Vacchiano
