The 7-4 Chiefs sit atop the AFC West division, and though they’ve lacked the consistency of a top contender, their bye may be arriving at the perfect time.
The Kansas City Chiefs aren’t having the season that their strongest adherents would have hoped for whilst viewing the football landscape through red-and-gold glasses. A 3-4 start certainly didn’t help.
But suddenly, the defending AFC champions are winners of four straight and are beginning to look the part of a contender. At 7-4, they’re alone at the top of the AFC West division and possess the third-best record in what remains a wide-open conference.
Entering their Week 12 bye, it’s time to take stock of what’s cooking in KC this season as the race for the playoffs heats up.
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KC by the Numbers
Record: 7-4 (No. 1 in AFC West, tied for No. 3 in AFC, tied for No. 6 in the NFL)
Rushing offense: 111.9 yards/game (No. 18 in NFL)
Passing offense: 290.5 yards/game (No. 2 in NFL)
Scoring offense: 25.5 points/game (No. 12 in NFL)
Rushing defense: 111.6 yards/game (No. 16 in NFL)
Passing defense: 243.7 yards/game (No. 17 in NFL)
Total defense: 364.4 yards/game (No. 22 in NFL)
Scoring defense: 22.7 points/game (No. 16 in NFL)
2021 Arrowhead Attendance
- The Chiefs are averaging 73,201 fans per game (technically 100.4% of listed capacity) at Arrowhead Stadium, which ranks No. 5 in the NFL.
- In 2019 (the last season of full attendance pre-COVID) KC averaged 73,465 fans per game at home, which ranked No. 6 in the NFL and 96.1% of listed capacity. The current season’s home attendance average represents a 0.36% decrease from that 2019 umber.
- They’ve attracted 587,723 total fans to Arrowhead this year, sixth in the league to date.
The Fantasy Chiefs
If you’re a Cheetah-oriented fantasy owner, this season has been kind to you.
In standard PPR formats, Tyreek Hill is the No. 5 overall player in all of fantasy entering the bye week, with 232.6 points on ESPN, good for the No. 2 position among wide receivers and No. 3 among non-quarterbacks. His 932 receiving yards are No. 5 in the NFL, and his eight receiving touchdowns tie him for third. He leads the league in targets with 122 (yes, even more than Cooper Kupp, as hard as that may be to believe).
On the tight ends board, Travis Kelce is the No. 1 fantasy option with 183.5 points on ESPN, nearly a full 30 points ahead of No. 2 man Mark Andrews. He leads all players at the position in targets (97) and yards (832), and his five touchdowns trail only Hunter Henry’s seven.
Your No. 4 quarterback in fantasy? Patrick Mahomes, whose 229.8 points on ESPN rank behind only Jalen Hurts, Tom Brady, and Josh Allen. His 3,200 passing yards are No. 1 in the league, while his 25 passing TDs are second only to Brady.
Outside of this Big Three, there aren’t too many appetizing fantasy options for the Chiefs unless you’re playing in the deepest of deep formats. But any one of these guys makes for a solid backbone of a fantasy team gunning for a league title — and that production might just translate to another year of Super Bowl contention.
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