6 Things I Learned From Week 7 of the NFL Season

Don't Sleep on the Chiefs

I'm not sure if you've realized this, but the Chargers have been really good this year. Entering Week 7, they ranked 11th in team nERD, which measures the number of points you'd expect a team to win by versus a league average team.

Our numbers had the Chiefs ranked ninth.

The problem with Kansas City and the perception most of us have with them is that they had a slow start. Losing - getting destroyed - to Tennessee in Week 1 didn't help things. But since then, the Chiefs played a tight game against Denver, beat Miami and New England, and lost by just five on the road against San Francisco.

Week 7's game against San Diego was big. Huge. The defense held MVP candidate Philip Rivers to a Passing NEP score of 0.64, his lowest total of the season. Meanwhile, game manager Alex Smith added 7.41 points with his arm, winning the game's quarterback battle.

The Chiefs sit at 3-3, but we can't ignore that our metrics see them as a top-10 team. Expect them to be in the playoff hunt this season.