Could the Los Angeles Rams really come into Arrowhead with a back-up QB and defeat the Super Bowl-caliber Chiefs today? No. Article over. See you next week. Okay no, there are intriguing aspects of this match-up to look over first. Concussion issues for the Rams' starting QB clearly poses a problem for L.A, but their defense has disappointed them this year, too.
The Rams defense allows the 10th-fewest yards per game this season, but they allow the 17th-lowest points per game. Aaron Donald only has five sacks. Bobby Wagner leads his team with 84 tackles, which is 16th league-wide. Conversely, only five guys in the league have more total tackles than KC's Nick Bolton. Only four have more sacks than Chris Jones. The Chiefs allow more passing and rushing yards per game than the Rams, but KC only allows 0.6 more points per game to their opponents.
The Chiefs enter today's game with a decisive advantage, and the quarterback situation for these banged-up Rams makes matters worse. Bryce Perkins is expected to start today in place of an injured Matthew Stafford. He's a dual-threat, athletic guy who went undrafted in 2020. Patrick Mahomes is Patrick Mahomes. He's top-three in average yards per throw, QBR and Passer Rating. He's first in yards, yards per game and touchdowns. If the season ended today, only Mahomes and Tua Tagavailoa would likely receive #1 votes for MVP.
KC will end their day as the only AFC team with nine wins if they simply avoid beating themselves. If the Rams do anything well, it's avoiding penalties. L.A has the fewest flags thrown against them and the third-fewest yards lost to penalties in the NFL. I'm predicting a clean game and a relatively comfy 31-16 victory for KC.
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