Chiefs’ own NFL special-teams rankings show how badly they’ve struggled in 2025
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Chiefs' internal ratings place Colts special teams No. 2 while Chiefs fall to No. 22
- Chiefs use a 22-category weighted system for special-teams analysis to expose faults
- Recent errors — 70-yard punt return, blocked extra point, kickoff mistake — drove drop
The Colts bring the top-ranked scoring offense into Sunday’s game against the Chiefs, and Indianapolis also has the NFL’s No. 9 scoring defense.
And they have the second-best special-teams unit in the league. That’s according to the Chiefs own ratings.
“In our ranking system that we use, they’re 2,” Chiefs special-teams coordinator Dave Toub said Thursday. “We’re not too good after last week. ... We’re like 22. You got 22 versus 2, that gets your guys’ attention.”
The Chiefs gave up a 70-yard punt return, had an extra-point attempt blocked and saw a kickoff come down outside the landing zone. All bad mistakes.
And it knocked the Chiefs down in their special-teams rankings, which Toub said was similar to what former Dallas Morning-News writer Rick Gosselin had started. Before going to Dallas, Gosselin worked at The Star.
But the Chiefs put their own spin on their rankings.
“Mike Frazier has put it together,” Toub said of the Chiefs’ statistical analysis coordinator. “It’s a weighted system that has 22 categories a lot like Gosselin used to do. It’s a little bit more specific. It’s a good thing we use for motivation for our guys and to see where everybody’s at.
“We’re not skewing it. We’re 22. It’s not like our system, we’re here.”
Toub held his hand high to make a point that the Chiefs don’t pad the rankings in their favor.
“I think it’s a good indicator of where teams are,” Toub said.
The Colts’ high ranking in the Chiefs’ own calculations seemingly gives them an advantage on Sunday. With the Chiefs being scored in the lower half of the NFL, it’s a David vs. Goliath meeting*. On paper, at least.
*Or as Chiefs Insider Pete Sweeney put it: Dave (Toub) vs. Goliath
The rankings should be enough to get the attention of the Chiefs special-teams players. But Toub noted the film study does, too.
“Then you see it on tape, the speed is across the board,” he said. “Great speed, great returners, it’s like pick your poison, who are you going to kick to? They’re all good. (Ashton) Dulin is good, (Ameer) Abdullah is good. Got our hands full, and I feel like I say it every week, but this is a special group we’re facing.”
This story was originally published November 21, 2025 at 9:10 AM.
