The Kansas City Chiefs are football's best team, at least in terms of winning percentage.
The Chiefs won only two games all last season, but they've already quadrupled that total midway through 2013. And at 8-0, Kansas City remains the lone unbeaten team in the NFL.
The revamped Chiefs are almost certainly headed for the postseason. Yet the Chiefs' 8-0 record belies the quality of their opposition and the team's razor-thin margins of victory, both of which suggest the Chiefs' win-loss record may overstate how good Kansas City really is.
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The Chiefs' defense has been dominant all year. The team ranks first in the NFL in points allowed at 12.3 per game, roughly half the league median. And with their win Sunday, they became the first team since 1977 to allow 17 or fewer points in their first eight games.
Their 20 forced turnovers — 10 interceptions and 10 fumble recoveries — are also tops in the game, as are their 36 sacks. Linebackers Tamba Hali and Justin Houston rank first and second in the NFL, respectively, in hurries — an unofficial stat measuring how often a player forces an opposing quarterback to get rid of the ball before he's ready — according to Pro Football Focus. Houston's 11 sacks, meanwhile, are second best in the game, with Hali close behind with nine of his own.
By stifling opponents' offenses, the Chiefs have ensured their own starts drives in great field position. On average, the Chiefs have taken over from about their own 34 yard line, easily the best mark in the league.
But the Chiefs's offense has been rather uninspiring. The team ranks a middling 16th in offensive yards per game, a hair better than the floundering New York Jets. And the Chiefs average 1.54 points per drive, placing them 22nd out of 32 teams.
Quarterback Alex Smith, once known for his reliable if boring passing game, is completing under 60 percent of his throws. To put that in perspective, he has a worse completion percentage than Christian Ponder, whom the 1-6 Minnesota Vikings recently demoted from his starting role. The Chiefs' only real offensive weapon is running back Jamaal Charles, whose 1,018 yards from scrimmage have him tied (with the Eagles' LeSean McCoy) for the most in the NFL.
And while Kansas City's defense has certainly been a bigger factor in the team's success than its offense, the Chiefs' cakewalk of a schedule deserves some credit, too.
Entering the season, Kansas City had, on paper, one of the easiest schedules in the NFL. That has proven true so far this year, as the Chiefs have yet to beat an opponent with a winning record. Among their foes, the Chiefs have beaten the Jaguars (0-8), Giants (2-6), and Texans (2-5.)
Even against subpar competition, the Chiefs have on several occasions barely come away victorious. They topped the .500 Cowboys and Texans by just a single point each, and had only a three-point lead on the lowly Browns before kicking a last-minute field goal to inflate the final margin.
Their schedule, though, is about to get much tougher. Three of the team's next four games come against opponents with winning records — including two versus the Denver Broncos and their league-leading offense.
How those upcoming games play out will provide a better idea of just how strong the Chiefs really are. They're likely not quite as good as their 8-0 record would have you believe, though they're at the very least a solid playoff team, combining a fantastic defense with a so-so offense that's more than potent enough to get the job done.
