Monday 8 October 2018 06:31, UK
Through the first five weeks of the NFL season, only two teams remain unbeaten - the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Rams.
Both teams boast a 5-0 record so far and for the most part, have been flawless, particularly their high-octane offenses.
Will either be stopped? Will either side perhaps emulate the 1972 Miami Dolphins or the 2007 New England Patriots in going 16-0 for the season?
The Chiefs are fronted by second-year quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who has taken the league by storm in his first season as a starter. He broke Peyton Manning's record for the most touchdown passes thrown in the first three weeks of a season, with 13, and then added another - and completed a pass left-handed - in the Week Four, Monday night comeback win over the Denver Broncos that extended Kansas City's streak. His first interceptions of 2018 followed against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the Chiefs were still victorious.
Complimenting the play-making ability of Mahomes, the QB has got some of the league's best offensive weapons at his disposal. Last year's leading rusher Kareem Hunt is effective in both the running and passing game, while Tyreek Hill is one of the NFL's premier deep-threat wide receivers. Added to that, there's the big-bodied, top tight end target Travis Kelce and more speed at receiver in the form of Sammy Watkins.
The offense in Kansas has already put up a whopping 175 points, at an average of 35 points per game. If the Chiefs were to keep this remarkable pace up, then they're projected to score 560 points in the season!
To put that into perspective, the '07 Patriots fronted by the dynamic QB-WR combo of Tom Brady and Randy Moss scored 589 points at an average of 36.8 per game. The Patriots went 16-0 and set numerous league records, before they famously fell to Eli Manning and the New York Giants 17-14 in a shock Super Bowl upset.
Although the offense is rolling smoothly, the Chiefs' defense could potentially be their downfall. They rank dead last in yards allowed per game (461.8), though they did turn things around somewhat with an impressive display against the Jaguars, forcing five turnovers.
A huge factor in this is without doubt the absence of All-Pro safety Eric Berry, who has been missing since injuring his Achilles in Week One of the 2017 season. The 29-year-old has registered 14 interceptions in his NFL career, five of which he has returned for touchdowns. The secondary has proven to be a real issue for the Chiefs since, and they've allowed a league-leading 1,802 passing yards this season. On top of that, their run defense is even worse. The Chiefs rank dead last in yards allowed per carry, at an average of 5.8 yards per attempt.
Another potential speed bump in the road, is the Chiefs' schedule isn't exactly the easiest going forward. But, having safely negotiated the Jaguars and their No 1 defense, they'll now go into a tricky meeting with the Patriots in Week Six with confidence sky high. If they can take down the Brady-led juggernaut in New England, then talk of a perfect season would really gather pace.
But, Kansas City aren't the only ones chasing perfection. The only other unbeaten side left in the NFL are the Rams, and they are arguably even stronger than the Chiefs.
The Rams are stronger on defense, possessing the league-reigning Defensive Player of the Year in Aaron Donald. Since being drafted 13th overall in 2014, Donald has nine forced fumbles and 41 sacks. And, this season, he has been paired at defensive tackle with former Miami Dolphin, Ndamukong Suh, as part of a hugely intimidating defensive front. L.A. are strong in the back-end too, with star names such as Marcus Peters, Aqib Talib - both new additions for 2018 too - and Lamarcus Joyner taking place in their secondary.
That's not to say this team are incapable of winning in a shootout. Far from it. The Rams side of 1999-2001, which returned a Super Bowl in the first of those years, were nicknamed "The Greatest Show on Turf", scoring over 500 points in each of those seasons and, skip forward to 2018, second-year head coach Sean McVay is trying to recreate such a deadly attack.
Back in the early 2000s, Kurt Warner and Tory Holt connected on 19 touchdown passes, while running back Marshall Faulk added a further 22 in the air and 37 on the ground, the perfect mixed offensive scheme. This year, Jared Goff is showing he's fully capable of running an offense at a similarly high level, while Todd Gurley is also putting up some impressive numbers, pounding opponents into submission with his bullish running style.
Goff showed he had potential to be special last season when he passed for 3,804 yards and 28 touchdowns, but this year he's gone up another notch. The 23-year-old is averaging 345.4 passing yards per game and has 12 touchdown passes to his name, five of those coming in the Week Four beating of the Minnesota Vikings and their No 1 defense from 2017. Goff's numbers have certainly been boosted by the lethal trio of targets in Brandin Cooks, Cooper Kupp and Robert Woods he has at his disposal, with them combining for nine of his 12 TD passes.
Gurley also plays a massive role in the way this Rams offense is run. His ability to pound the ball, but also catch it out of the backfield makes him a nightmare for teams to cover. He showed this last season especially, when he rushed for 1,305 yards and 13 touchdowns alongside having 788 receiving yards and six receiving TDs. And, he has already found the endzone nine times this season - seven rushing scores (three coming in the Week Five thriller against the Seattle Seahawks) and two receiving.
The Rams' schedule looks just as challenging as the Chiefs. They come up against the equally-explosive New Orleans Saints offense in Week Nine and face the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, in Week 15.
They too, like the Chiefs, would love to go 16-0 on the season. But they both can't. If not before, a loss (or a tie) is guaranteed for one of them when they face each other in Week 12 in a real battle of the titans. While that game could put paid to one team's perfect season, the way these two are currently going, there's also a real chance that it could serve as a potential Super Bowl LIII preview.
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