Kansas City Chiefs: 5 Reasons Why Their ESPN Power Ranking Is Wrong

Earlier today, ESPN released their most recent power rankings for the entire NFL.

The Kansas City Chiefs were ranked 14th, which does not give enough justice for the great regular season that they enjoyed last year.

Some of this could be due to their upcoming tough schedule that they will face this season, but they should still be higher than the middle of the pack at this point in time.

Here are five reasons why ESPN got it all wrong with their ranking of the Chiefs today.

The Chiefs Should Not Be Lower Than the Chargers

The Chargers are always a favorite to win the AFC West division due to having Pro Bowl QB Phillip Rivers and many talented players around him.

However, the media love-fest for San Diego over the past few seasons is starting to get out of hand.

As we all know, it takes a team to get the job done in the NFL, not a collection of talent.

There is no reason why the Chargers should be higher than the Chiefs right now, considering that KC has improved immensely over the last year and San Diego has regressed by around the same amount in that same time frame.

The Talent Level on the Team Has Improved This Offseason

The Chiefs knew that they had some holes on the team coming into the '11 NFL season.

They have done a solid job in filling those holes by adding wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin through the draft and wideout Steve Breaston, NT Kelly Gregg and ILB Brandon Siler through free agency.

Not to mention they added a potential pass-rushing giant in Justin Houston and long-term center in Rodney Hudson in April's draft as well.

The overall talent has definitely improved across the entire team, and they also did a good job by adding guys who are team players and will only help the Chiefs get better in the future.

The Chiefs Are a Team on the Rise

The amount of young talent on the Chiefs is unbelievable.

Star running back Jamaal Charles is only 24 years old, star receiver Dwayne Bowe is only 26, and stud linebacker Tamba Hali is just 27 years old.

This is without mentioning that the KC secondary is all 25 and under, led by 22-year-old Pro Bowl safety Eric Berry.

With all of this young talent likely improving even more this season, the Chiefs deserve to be higher than 14th overall in the NFL rankings.

The Chiefs Should Be More Than One Spot Higher Than the Rams

I get it, the Rams are another young team that is on the rise in the NFL.

However, the Chiefs are further ahead in the process than St. Louis is to this point.

Sam Bradford should improve in his second second in the league, but as last year's blowout showed, KC is a much better team right now.

The Rams should be a very good team in a matter of time, just not good enough to be one spot under Kansas City in any current NFL ranking system at the present time.

The Chiefs Continue to Get No Love from the National Media

Another year, and it's the same old story.

The Kansas City Chiefs don't get the respect from the national media that they now deserve.

After going 10-6 and winning their first AFC West division title in seven years, head coach Todd Haley and general manager Scott Pioli managed to turn around a team that had only won four games in the previous season.

Not surprisingly, ESPN and other national publications do not believe that the Chiefs are here to stay and would rather go with a team that has all the talent but can't put it together in the San Diego Chargers.