KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- In case you missed it, Pro Football Focus put together an interesting chart looking at how many players it defined as good or elite each NFL team was from being a Super Bowl-caliber team.

PFF concluded the Chiefs were eight above-average players away from being serious contenders for this year’s Super Bowl.

PFF rated each player who participated in at least 250 snaps in one of four categories: elite, good, average or bad. The scary news for the Chiefs: They had more players rated as bad (eight) than elite or good (five total).

You can see how PFF rated each Chiefs player by clicking on their ranking in the chart. I disagree with their assessment on a few players, and you can read that there as well.

But eight is probably a fair number with regard to the number of solid players the Chiefs are from being a Super Bowl contender.

To make up the gap, the Chiefs must retain their above-average players. Linebacker Justin Houston and center Rodney Hudson are two of their five players in that group. Both have expiring contracts. The Chiefs have to find a way to keep them both.

They also have some younger players who need to make the climb into that the above-average groups. Dontari Poe, Eric Fisher, Allen Bailey and Dee Ford are among the players who have that ability.

The Chiefs also have their full load of draft picks for the first time since 2012. So they can cut into the gap by next season. All that will take is money, good coaching, keen personnel skills and, most of all, good luck.

One last thought on these player rankings and the Chiefs: They paid a lot of money to a lot of players PFF rated as average. That group includes Alex Smith, Eric Berry, Dwayne Bowe, Tamba Hali and Jamaal Charles.