reporters set up the CHIEFS game

Keep telling ya @PatrickMahomes5 is way more then just “a kid with arm talent”—watch what he does here with protection and knowing exactly what the D is doing. @ArrowheadPride @ChiefsInsider #ChiefsKindgom pic.twitter.com/8MB5pMlIZF

— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) November 11, 2018

Andy Reid draws from California roots, and now brings his masterpiece of a Chiefs offense to face the Rams in L.A.

SAM FARMER

http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-chiefs-andy-reid-20181113-story.html

Every so often, the artist comes out in Andy Reid.

It has nothing to do with coaching, instead those times when he puts pen to paper and allows his mind to wander.

“One time when we were talking on the phone, and he was telling me how much he remembered about when we were growing up,” said his brother, Reg, nine years older than Andy. “While we were talking, he sketched a picture of me, then emailed it. It’s just a sketch of my head, but it’s pretty realistic.”

Fans of the Kansas City Chiefs have a deep appreciation for Reid’s creativity. He draws up the offense for one the NFL’s hottest teams; finds new ways to harness the spectacular talent of quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Even now, in his 20th season as an NFL head coach, Reid remains a pigskin Picasso.

That figures. His dad, Walter, did jaw-dropping work as a scenic artist in Hollywood, creating backgrounds and props for film, television and stage production.

“My dad worked on all the Broadway plays that would come to the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion,” said Reid, 60, sitting behind his desk at Chiefs headquarters. “They had these huge backdrops they’d lower from the second floor, whether it was ‘Annie Get Your Gun,’ or ‘The Wiz’ back in the day. My dad went down and worked on ‘Hair.’ It was unbelievable. You’d stand up there and look over the edge, and if you took a wrong step, you’d go down like a mile.”

The Chiefs too have reached toe-tingling heights. They’re 9-1 heading into Monday night’s game against the 9-1 Rams at the Coliseum, moved there by the NFL on Tuesday when field conditions in Mexico City became unsatisfactory. On paper, at least, it would have been the most compelling international game the league has staged. Now it will be the Rams’ first Monday night home game at the Coliseum since Nov. 19, 1979, when 54,097 watched a 20-14 victory over Atlanta.

Reid has been in plenty of huge games throughout the course of his career, including coaching Green Bay’s offensive line when the Packers won the Super Bowl in the 1996 season. Reid coached Philadelphia from 1999-2012, led the Eagles to five NFC title games and a Super Bowl, then took over in Kansas City in 2013.

There’s still a lot of Los Angeles in Reid, who grew up on Holly Knoll Drive, just around the corner from John Marshall High, his alma mater, and Walt Disney’s first California home. Reid still eats Tommy’s burgers, and not just when he’s at his offseason home in Capistrano Beach. He has frozen ones delivered by mail.

“I love those things,” he said. “It’s good for your joints — the grease. Keeps you lubed up, man.”

Comically gruff and unrevealing with the media, Reid is beloved by his players, who refer to him as “Big Red,” his hair color at an earlier age.

“He’s actually more funny than you would think,” running back Spencer Ware said. “Most people think of him as just serious. I can kind of relate to him because I always kind of have a serious look on my face and people think that I might be mean mugging. Maybe I’m joking around. So I can kind of relate to Big Red in that area.”

Reid might show his lighter side to his players, but he also gets to the point. They appreciate that.

“The biggest thing is he treats us well, treats us with respect,” tackle Mitchell Schwartz said. “I know he’s got a hard training camp and practices are long and all that. But we don’t have 20-minute meetings every day with rah-rah speeches. It’s just, ‘These are the goals, these are the expectations. Now, it’s on you to go do them.’ So he doesn’t have to be up there every day trying to get us to work hard.”

Reid, a onetime offensive tackle at Glendale College and Brigham Young University, developed his work ethic at an early age. His mother, Elizabeth, was a radiologist, and his father got him occasional work in the entertainment industry. Once, young Andy got a job serving food in the green room of a popular TV talk show, and his rule-following ways clashed with one of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

“I’m not sure whether it was the Merv Griffin or the Johnny Carson show,” he said. “But they put me in charge of dishing out the sweet-and-sour meatballs — they were unbelievable — and I was told I could only give three of them out to people.

“You name it, all of Hollywood would come through those shows. I knew all the athletes, so if it was Wilt Chamberlain or one of those guys, they’d get as many meatballs as they wanted.”

But when John Wayne asked for more than three, the kid had to break the bad news.

“I found out later he was a great athlete,” Reid lamented. “Maybe I should have given him a few more meatballs.”

Reid was enormous for his age. There’s a hilarious video clip of him in a Punt, Pass and Kick competition in the early 1970s. He’s a 12-year-old man-child in a Rams uniform, with a line of kids behind him no taller than his beltline.

“The kid behind me was 8,” Reid is quick to note. “I was like 12 or 13.”

Whatever. The YouTube video leaves his players doubled over.

“Damn, that boy was huge,” Chiefs receiver Tyreek Hill said. “He’s the size of Justin Houston.”

Well, maybe Reid wasn’t the size of that 6-foot-3, 258-pound Kansas City outside linebacker, but he was big enough that when he was a waterboy at Marshall, some of the varsity players asked him why he didn’t join the team.

“Mike Haynes was between my brother and me,” recalled Reid, referring to the future Hall of Fame defensive back. “He and his buddies were riding me, ‘How come you’re so big and don’t play?’ I said, ‘Listen, I’m in sixth grade.’

“They go, ‘No way!’ It’s like, I’ve been doing this waterboy thing longer than you guys have been around. I’m like the professional waterboy.”

Haynes recalls that, and more.

“I remember that when our kicker would kick the ball through the uprights, our field was so small that the ball would leave the school property and go across the street,” he said. “Andy would go get the ball and bring it back. He’d wear his youth football outfit.”

Nowadays, Reid wears shorts to practice, even when the temperature drops below freezing. He’s spent most of his adult life in cold-weather cities and is hardy like that, an artist whose medium is now Xs and O’s, a Southern Californian in spirit only.

Rich Hammond@Rich_Hammond
Andy Reid is very happy to come back to his hometown: “I want nothing but the best for the city of Los Angeles. I was born there. I lived there through high school. I think it’s the greatest place around. It’s phenomenal. Great city.” Reid went to Marshall High and Glendale CC.

Rams are now favored by 3.5 points over the Chiefs. It was 2.5 before the game got moved. Over/under sits at a large 63.5

==

NFL Week 11 questions: Is Monday night's Chiefs-Rams game a preview of Super Bowl LIII? https://t.co/R04DQmuirf

— Joe Curley (@vcsjoecurley) November 15, 2018

Are 2018 Chiefs the new ‘Greatest Show on Turf?’ Here’s what 2 architects of the ’99 Rams say

https://sports.yahoo.com/2018-chiefs-new-greatest-show-turf-heres-2-architects-99-rams-say-003400715.html

Al Saunders doesn’t miss much these days. From his press box vantage point high above the field at FirstEnergy Stadium, the Cleveland Browns’ senior offensive assistant is charged with surveying defenses and suggesting concepts the Browns can hit their opposition with in games.

Saunders will occasionally peek at the opposing team’s offense. Some teams are harder to ignore than others, and the high-scoring Kansas City Chiefs, the team the Browns faced on Nov. 4, certainly qualified for that distinction.

Throughout the course of the game, which the Chiefs won 37-21 while racking up a ridiculous 499 yards of offense, Saunders couldn’t help but experience déjà vu.

Saunders, 71, has been fortunate to be an assistant on the staffs of three generational offenses in the late ‘90s St. Louis Rams, the early aughts Chiefs and Dan Fouts-led Chargers of the ’80s.

For Saunders, the 2018 Chiefs — who are outpacing the Rams in points-per-game (35.3 to 32.9) and yards per game (305.5 to 272.1) — are channeling the spirit of those teams, not so much in the concepts they run, but in the efficiency, speed and confidence they play with.

“You can see there’s no hesitation with what they do, and you can sense how players move … they believe every time they have the ball, they’re going to score — and that’s what we always used to feel [on those other teams],” Saunders told Yahoo Sports. “If we didn’t [score], we knew it was because of something we did, not what the defense did to us.”

Saunders, who was an assistant head coach and wide receivers coach in St. Louis, isn’t the only staff member with a link to the ’99 Rams to see the connection. While Mike Martz, the offensive coordinator of the ’99 Rams, said through a spokesman that he hasn’t watched enough tape of the Chiefs to make a comparison, the head coach of that team, Dick Vermeil, sees similarities.

“There are similarities, and I take pride in it,” Vermeil told Yahoo Sports. “To me, in my mind, the Chiefs are the team to beat. If you’re going to win it all, you’re going to have to beat the Chiefs.”

Start with QBs: Patrick Mahomes vs. Kurt Warner

Vermeil, 82, is focused on his wine business these days, but football is never far from his mind. A notorious grinder during his coaching prime, he still has a very curious mind about the game, and he devotes his Sundays to watching the game he still deeply loves.

“I have three sittings — one o’clock, 4:30 and 8 o’clock, and I very seldom stay awake until the end of the game unless it’s someone I really like,” Vermeil says with a hearty laugh.

Like Saunders, Vermeil appreciates the Chiefs’ fast-paced, efficient offense, which is led by 23-year-old wunderkind, Patrick Mahomes, an MVP candidate who is on pace to complete 67 percent of his passes and throw for 5,040 yards, 50 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in his first year as a starter.

“They have a quarterback excelling beyond expectations, which is a direct parallel between an undrafted free agent who became a Hall of Famer,” Vermeil said, referring to his MVP quarterback on the ’99 Rams, Kurt Warner.

“I’ve watched about three whole games of the Chiefs, and the first time I watched them, I kept saying ‘Holy mackerel, is Patrick Mahomes for real or what?’” Vermeil said. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a kid that can throw the ball accurately from so many body positions.”

Key emphasis is on the word “kid” because Warner’s ability to throw from different platforms and arm angles was without peer during his time.

Saunders sees two more similarities between Mahomes and Warner, too, traits that he says are shared by the likes of Joe Montana and Fouts.

“The two [other] things they have that are similar are accuracy and courage,” Saunders said, “Pat reminds me of Kurt because he has courage enough to stay in the pocket in the face of a rush, and he throws the ball very accurately and gets the ball out of his hand quickly.

“You take those three qualities, and the Joe Montanas, Dan Fouts and Kurt Warners can do all that. They were mentally, emotionally and physically very tough and those are the similarities I see in him.”

Coaching and supporting cast matters

For all of Mahomes’ brilliance, Saunders and Vermeil agree that he wouldn’t be ripping the league up like this without significant help, particularly when it comes to coaching.

“It didn’t surprise me that [Alex] Smith could run it well,” Vermeil said of the Chiefs’ former quarterback. “He’s bright, he’s talented. But to take a kid in his second year and put him in that sophisticated, mature system and have him operate it like he does, I think it’s way beyond normal.”

Much of the credit for that goes to the 60-year-old Reid, who is in his 20th season as an NFL head coach. What started out as the shotgun-less, West Coast offense taught by Bill Walsh in the 80s, Mike Holmgren in the 90s and Reid in the 2000s, has morphed into a shotgun-heavy, college-style spread that has become known for its multiple formations, personnel groupings and pre-snap motions.

Reid’s offense is ahead of the curve, and one that’s a perfect fit for Mahomes, who played in the pass-happy Air Raid system at Texas Tech in college. No team in the NFL runs as many run-pass options as the Chiefs, and on a week-to-week basis, you’ll see a few teams outright run a play the Chiefs put on tape weeks before.

The degree to which the Chiefs (and New Orleans Saints, for that matter) are ahead of the league like this reminds Saunders of what happened when the “Greatest Show on Turf” was ripping up defenses with its commitment to deep passing concepts, creative use of Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk in the passing game and varied rushing attack.

“The similarity is the creativity on offense, the willingness to think outside the box and be trendsetters in [a] way [the] offense is designed, rather than being conservative and predictable,” Saunders explained.

View photos
Marshall Faulk had a career-high 2,429 yards from scrimmage in the Rams’ Super Bowl season of 1999. (AP)
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Conceptually, the Chiefs incorporate running back Kareem Hunt in the passing game a tremendous amount, just like the Rams did with Faulk, and when you add in a supporting cast that is elite at multiple skill positions — which is incredibly difficult to replicate in today’s era of parity — you get the final similarity between the ’18 Chiefs and ’99 Rams.

It’s too early to tell whether the Chiefs’ dynamic skill players — from Hunt and receiver Tyreek Hill to tight end Travis Kelce — will be in the Hall of Fame like Faulk (and likely receivers Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce). But Hunt, Hill and Kelce are all Pro Bowlers who are on pace to approach or exceed their career-best seasons, due largely to the combination of Mahomes’ quick release and accuracy in an up-tempo scheme designed to hit ’em where they ain’t, just like the ’99 Rams.

“What they do really well is spread the field from sideline to sideline and from end zone to end zone,” Saunders explained. “They use the entire field and put playmakers in space and allow them to run — they don’t beat their head against the wall. And by giving the defense so many different looks, it allows them to create big plays because the defense does one or two things to Kansas City: you either pressure them man to man or play very conservative.

“Either way, Kansas City’s offense is able to take advantage of that.”

Here’s where the Rams have an edge

While the ’18 Chiefs are primarily a zone-running team — albeit one that’s designed with shifts and motions to provoke pre-snap confusion in a defense — the ’99 Rams were more multiple with their run game.

“We had a conglomeration of everything and an offensive line that could do it all,” Vermeil says. “We could run the power O, we could run the trap, we could pull the tackles, we could pull the center and we could zone block.”

What’s more, while the Chiefs are similarly creative with their short passing and screen game, the concepts with which they accomplish that are different. Run-pass options, an integral part of the Chiefs’ offense, didn’t exist in the NFL in ’99.

“They also don’t have a Hall of Fame left tackle,” Vermeil added. “That was a big edge for us.”

Indeed, Orlando Pace’s brilliance allowed the Rams to consistently execute those deep pass plays — often with little blocking help, other than Faulk — they became so well known for.

“One thing that separated us in St. Louis was the ability to throw downfield with comebacks and deep ins,” Saunders said. “Kansas City isn’t quite into that phase of the game, but they attack the seams real well, and we all learned from Don Coryell that the best way to attack a defense is to attack the seams, and they maximize that.”

There’s also the defenses. The ’99 Rams were much better on that side of the ball than anyone remembers, while the 2018 Chiefs currently rank 29th on defense, 23rd against the run.

“We were No. 6 overall in the league, No. 1 against the run, [even though] that stat is a little distorted since people couldn’t run because they were playing catchup,” Vermeil said with a laugh.

The Rams’ defense also scored eight touchdowns, far exceeding the two the Chiefs have thus far this season.

There’s still much for the Chiefs to prove

While no team found an answer for the ’99 Rams’ offense, the Chiefs, at 9-1, may still find their nemesis. Perhaps it will come as soon as Monday night, when they take to the road to face the Los Angeles Rams (9-1) in the biggest game of this regular season.

And while the Rams’ vaunted defense — which was expected to be generational by many at the beginning of the season — has fallen short of that expectation, ranking only 13th this year, they feature a strong pass rush led by the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year, Aaron Donald.

“I think the only way you’re going to stop them is by having a dominating defensive pass rush,” Vermeil says of the Chiefs.

And if they conquer enough strong defenses over a prolonged period, Saunders said, and then — and only then — will the Chiefs earn the right to be called the “Greatest Show on Turf.”

“This is a one-year explosion, and if they can continue it for two, three, four or five years, then they can be talked about in the same conversation as the ’99 Rams or Air Coryell,” Saunders said. “Like anything in this league, it’s enduring over a period of time. They certainly have a good head start, but they still aren’t the No. 1 offense statistically — New Orleans is [second] and Tampa is [first].

“But my gut feeling is, with that young quarterback, they’re going to be very good for a long time.”

Still, Saunders doesn’t bristle at the comparison between the ’18 Chiefs and ’99 Rams. Like Vermeil, he appreciates it.

“Oh, gosh no,” Saunders said, incredulously. “That would be like Van Gogh saying, ‘Gosh, I don’t like Picasso’s work.’ Are you kidding me? You appreciate artistry as a coach.”

Vermeil broke out a similar comparison.

“The 2003 Cadillac was a heck of a car — it was ahead of the game, it had technology in it the first spaceships didn’t even have,” Vermeil said. “But each year, that car gets better with new technology. Now it’s 2018, and that new Cadillac has more technology in it than that 2003 Cadillac.

“It’s the same thing with offensive football for the most part — they learn from everybody else. And right now, I think Andy Reid’s teaching everybody else.”

Comparing and contrasting Rams and Kansas City Chiefs high-powered offenses

link: https://www.dailynews.com/2018/11/14/comparing-and-contrasting-rams-and-kansas-city-chiefs-high-powered-offenses/

Vaunted offenses meet in Chiefs’ relocated clash with Rams

https://sports.yahoo.com/vaunted-offenses-meet-chiefs-relocated-clash-rams-224746696–nfl.html

Chiefs-Rams showdown: Marcus Peters-Patrick Mahomes matchup

https://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/article221732560.html

Daily Dose: Monday Night Football Picks

https://www.therams.com/news/daily-dose-monday-night-football-picks

Marcus Peters Preparing to Play Former Team

https://www.therams.com/news/marcus-peters-preparing-to-play-former-team

Quotes & Notes 11/16/18: Wade Phillips on Kansas City’s Offense, History with Andy Reid

https://www.therams.com/news/quotes-notes-11-16-18-wade-phillips-on-kansas-city-s-offense-history-with-andy-r

How a season with the Rams primed Sammy Watkins for his role with the Chiefs

https://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/article221791575.html#storylink=rss

Star power in the backfield with Todd Gurley, Kareem Hunt when Chiefs, Rams battle

https://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/article221787120.html#storylink=rss

Chiefs take on risk taking Rams on prime time Monday night

https://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/article221786815.html#storylink=rss

Two of the best teams in the NFL face off this weekend. #KCvsLAR

Which QB has the advantage: @JaredGoff16 or @PatrickMahomes5?🤔

(via @DCarr8)

📺: @NFLTotalAccess pic.twitter.com/UBude2T5uy

— NFL Network (@nflnetwork) November 16, 2018

Quotes & Notes 11/17/18: Pharoh Cooper Gets More Work, Fowler a Long-time Fan of Wade Phillips

https://www.therams.com/news/quotes-notes-11-17-18-pharoh-cooper-gets-more-work-fowler-a-long-time-fan-of-wad

Injury Report 11/17: Rams Good to Go, Chiefs List Watkins as Questionable

https://www.therams.com/news/injury-report-11-17-rams-good-to-go-chiefs-list-watkins-as-questionable

Game Preview: Rams and Chiefs Set for a Special Game in the Coliseum

https://www.therams.com/news/game-preview-rams-and-chiefs-set-for-a-special-game-in-the-coliseum

Chiefs vs. Rams: 4 key matchups to watch on Monday night
Cameron DaSilva

Chiefs vs. Rams: 4 key matchups to watch on Monday night

Chiefs WR Sammy Watkins officially questionable for MNF

http://www.theredzone.org/Blog-Description/EntryId/73571/Chiefs-WR-Sammy-Watkins-officially-questionable-for-MNF

Offenses get the spotlight, but defenses could decide outcome of Chiefs-Rams showdown

https://www.kansascity.com/sports/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/article221795155.html#storylink=rss

Chiefs vs. Rams: Crazy stats from video game-like offenses a nod to past

http://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/kansas-city-chiefs-los-angels-rams-stats-video-game-offenses/15mz133j8fnym1bu6kadk4vxdc

The Chiefs and Rams have had success with high-scoring offenses in the past. But heading into their Monday night matchup in Week 11, the former in-state rivals are more balanced and explosive than ever in 2018, the highest-scoring season overall in NFL history.

After 10 weeks and 148 games, the league’s 32 teams have combined to score 7,119 points and 815 TDs, well ahead of pace for record-shattering numbers. That’s an average of 24 per team per game. Kansas City (9-1) is averaging 35.3 points per game, and Los Angeles (9-1) is averaging 33.5.

These Chiefs would best their 2003 and 2004 teams that both averaged more than 30 points per game and finish as the fourth highest scoring NFL team of all time. These Rams would be No. 9, right in between their “Greatest Show On Turf” St. Louis teams from 2000 and 1999.

Given the teams’ scoring prowess and defensive deficiencies, it was a no-brainer for Las Vegas to set the MNF over/under at an unprecedented 64 points, especially with no more concerns about altitude or field conditions with the game moved from Mexico City to Los Angeles.

Rams

Todd Gurley

Hunt is having a another fine season, but Gurley is having an all-time year that puts him right up there in the MVP conversation with Mahomes. The key is the total touchdowns.

Shaun Alexander set the record with 28 in 2005, before LaDainian Tomlinson scored 31 one season later. Both running backs won MVP, and only Adrian Peterson has done so from the position since with his 2,097-yard rushing season in 2012.​

Gurley, with his 17 TDs in 10 games, is on pace to score 27 times, which would tie him for third-highest with Holmes from 2003, one more than Faulk from 2000. Gurley is also tracking to 2,224 yards from scrimmage, which would be good for No. 20 all time. Gurley actually has cooled down in the past month but has three smash spots ahead in facing the run defenses of the Chiefs, Lions and Cardinals.

Jared Goff

Goff has been overshadowed by Gurley on his team, and by both Mahomes and the Saints’ Drew Brees doing incredible things as fellow QBs. But there’s a reason Goff has graded as Pro Football Focus’ No. 3 QB, right behind both.

Goff is tied with Mahomes for the league lead (10.0) in AYPA with only 16 fewer yards (313.4) in the same amount of games. He also has posted a higher completion percentage (68.4) and is positioned to lead the league in yards per completion (13.8) for a second consecutive season. Goff also leads the NFL with three successful fourth-quarter comebacks.

Hall of Famer Kurt Warner’s 1999 MVP and Super Bowl-winning season has been the standard for Rams quarterbacks. But short of Warner’s 41 touchdowns, Goff can exceed that performance in every other way, on pace for 5,014 yards, 35 TDs to only 10 INTs.

During his big improvement last year working with coach Sean McVay for the first time, Goff was a modestly prolific passer in relation to the rest of the league. In 2018, he has made the jump to entrench himself in the top 10.

Brandin Cooks and Robert Woods

Cooks came to the Rams after posting three consecutive 1,000-yard seasons in which he scored a combined 14 touchdowns. He was an explosive wide receiver for both Brees and Brady, with his speed and quickness deployed well by two of the league’s premier play-callers, Sean Payton and Josh McDaniels.

But what he’s doing in his first season in Los Angeles with McVay has managed to take his New Orleans and New England work into overdrive. Cooks leads the NFL in yards per touch at 15.8. He’s on pace to turn 91 touches into a career-high 1,436 scrimmage yards.

In terms of only receiving yards, Cooks is line for 1,371, which would be No. 9 in Rams history, in between two Holt’s great seasons. The way McVay uses him is reminiscent of Mike Martz using Az-Zahir Hakim to complement Holt and Isaac Bruce. Hakim averaged 18.0 yards per touch with eight TDs in 1999.

It’s unfortunate the Rams will no longer have slot ace Cooper Kupp (torn left ACL) healthy for the rest of the season, because between Cooks, Woods, Kupp and Gurley, they were on pace to finish with 4,336 total receiving yards, not far from what Holt, Bruce, Faulk and Hakim combined to produce (4,670) in an incredible 2000 season.

Woods continues to be one of the NFL’s most underrated wideouts. Cooks went into Week 11 No. 8 in the NFL in receiving yards (857), but Woods is not far behind at No. 10 (832). Their 1,689 combined receiving yards make them the most prolific teammates in the league, edging Hill and Kelce (1,678).

In 12 games last season, Woods had 56 catches for 781 yards. This season, he has 55 receptions and more yards already at 15.1 yards per catch over 10 games.

Cooks is third among wide receivers in yards per target at 11.9 and fifth in air yards at 616. Woods is No. 12 in yards per target at 10.5. and No. 11 in air yards at 543.

Chiefs

Patrick Mahomes

Mahomes leads the NFL with 31 TD passes and 3,150 yards passing. He’s also leading in TD pass percentage (9.0) and adjusted yards per attempt (10.0). The second-year quarterback is on pace for 5,040 yards and just fewer than 50 TDs.

At that rate, Mahomes would crack the top 10 in single-season yardage and finish behind only Peyton Manning in 2013 and Tom Brady in 2007 for most passing scores. Given Mahomes already has scored two rushing TDs, he has a chance to break Manning’s record (56) for total QB TDs.

In terms of AYPA, Mahomes is No. 7, right behind Manning in 2004, Matt Ryan in 2016 and Aaron Rodgers 2011. All those recent seasons locked down league MVP for those QBs. All those QBs also were well seasoned in the NFL when they posted those stats. That might make Mahomes’ age (22) at which he’s doing all this the most impressive number of all.

Kareem Hunt

Hunt won the NFL rushing title with 1,327 yards last season. He’s “only” on pace for 1,206 yards this season, but he also is doing something sensational as a receiver. He has only 23 receptions on the season, but he has exploded for 337 yards and six TDs. His 14.7 yards per reception would set a record for a running back, besting even what both Todd Gurley did last season (12.3) and what Faulk did (12.0) during his record, 1,048-receiving season in 1999.

Hunt has 13 total TDs, putting him on track to score 21, ahead of Jamaal Charles and tied with Larry Johnson as the second-most prolific scorer the Chiefs’ backfield has ever seen, only behind what Priest Holmes did in 2003 and 2004.

In his past with the Eagles and Chiefs, Andy Reid has been criticized for not feeding his feature back enough, whether it’s been Charles or Brian Westbrook, and becoming too reliant on passing to others. He learned well to the point of making Hunt a critical part of everything Kansas City does despite the way Mahomes is playing.

Tyreek Hill

Many expected the NFL’s fastest player to have a regression in terms of yards per touch and TD percentage this year. Hill has simply found another gear with Mahomes after busting out with Alex Smith last season. Hill is on pace for 88 catches and 1,555 yards from scrimmage at an increased 14.3 yards per touch. He’s scoring on 13 percent of his touches and set to more than double his TD total from last tear to 14.

When Mahomes throws to Hill downfield, his passer rating is 132.9. Hill also ranks No. 10 in air yards (550) and No. 7 in both yards per target (11.1) and yards per pass route (3.0). He’s a good bet to post his fourth multiple-TD game Monday when working against former Chiefs cornerback Marcus Peters, who has been burned for big plays all season.

Travis Kelce

With Rob Gronkowski fading, Kelce is neck and neck with the Eagles’ Zach Ertz and the 49ers’ George Kittle for the new best receiving tight end in the league. Kelce has a good case with more yards per reception than Ertz (13.8 to 10.5) and more receiving TDs (six) than both.

Kelce is on pace for a career-high 1,269 receiving yards and 10 TDs on 80 catches. Gonzalez, a Hall of Famer, had 1,258 yards as his career high in 2004 and hit 10 TDs three times.

With three more 100-yard receiving games this season, Kelce will have 13 since 2016. That puts him only behind wide receivers Julio Jones (17), Adam Thielen (15) and Antonio Brown (14). Kelce not only can pass Gonzalez, but with a few more big games, he has a shot at break the tight-end record for single-season receiving yardage Gronkowski (1,327) set in 2011. If Kelce just gets to 1,000 again, he will join Greg Olsen as the only tight end to do that in three consecutive seasons.

Chiefs vs. Rams

The Chiefs have had 11 players find the end zone on runs and receptions this season, including Mahomes. The Rams have been more simplistic than you think, as only eight players have scored all their offensive touchdowns.

Kansas City will be back up a weapon for Monday with former Ram Sammy Watkins (foot) set to return to complement Hunt, Hill and Kelce in the passing game, while the Rams need to find someone else to stay as effectively multiple behind Gurley, Cooks and Woods.

When Kupp missed two games earlier this season, Goff, Cooks and Woods weren’t as effective together because there was one less versatile, smooth route-running wideout to create favorable matchups. As the Rams have already seen the big drop-off from Kupp to No. 4 wideout Josh Reynolds, look for McVay to deploy tight ends Gerald Everett and Tyler Higbee more in the passing game — especially in the red zone.

That was strongly suggested when both Everett and Higbee scored in Week 10 vs. Seattle. Everett is every bit the athlete Kelce is and can become a game- and season-changer for the Rams now that he’s fully healthy.

The Chiefs and Rams are back to dominating the league offensively as they once did in the early 2000s with the influence of their former shared head coach, Dick Vermeil. They were innovative then at a less pass-happier time when RPO wasn’t a household term.

With Reid and McVay at the controls now, they are enjoying a whole new level of a joystick ride. Buckle up for the most entertaining Monday night game we’ve seen in years.